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Hi Rob,
I only bought a UHTC 12in scope a month ago so I might not be the best qualified to comment, but when I was looking around and working out what I wanted I asked the same question. The answer I got was that the ACF feature is a bit gimmicky and there's very little if any difference to the quality of the optics with it. Basically it's been 'put on' newer models as a technology advance but also I guess because Celestron have a similar thing with theirs. If anyone knows different I'd be glad to hear too!
Just starting to get into photography with a scope myself so I thought a slightly older (and cheaper) scope would be a better starting point. Even if the newer ones are better, the older ones are still very very good.
I remember from my early days in astronomy that a scope is like a light bucket - the bigger you have the more light it collects. I stretched my budget to a 12in and I'm glad I did - dark sky views are amazing, but you need to have money left over for eyepieces, camera adaptors etc too if they don't come with the scope.
Are you a member of the Astronomical Society of SA? If not I would recommend it as the Society has many members that can help with this sort of thing. Check out their website too.
Wayne
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