TakFS-60CB vs WO star 71 vs SW ED80 vs 150-600mm lens?

[casstony]

Some of the Chinese scopes give you most of the premium scope performance for half the money but it's common knowledge (and in my experience) Takahashi is a little better, offering consistently excellent optics. TS, WO, etc can be great scopes too though.

I wouldn't buy a new Tak but I did buy a new Esprit. Lots of choices to suit different wallets

[casstony]

Logan, if you can find a used Esprit 80 they are a nice scope, with an included flattener and adapters. Maybe haggle with Lewis a little

[sharpiel]

In the riiiight corner weighing in at...is Takahashi...

In the left corner...

Let's get reeeadddy to ruuuuuuuuuuumble!

[Atmos (Colin)]

Not sure what the price is like but there is probably a Borg or two that would fit in there.

[Lognic04 (Logan)]

Originally Posted by sharpiel

In the riiiight corner weighing in at...is Takahashi...

In the left corner...

Let's get reeeadddy to ruuuuuuuuuuumble!

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by casstony

Logan, if you can find a used Esprit 80 they are a nice scope, with an included flattener and adapters. Maybe haggle with Lewis a little

Hmmmm....MT-160 plus $200 cash would do it.

[Lognic04 (Logan)]

Hmm, Lewis ive got no idea if I want to keep the 160 or get your esprit, I'm just not sure about using a 400mm scope compared to the mt at 1330mm

[LewisM]

Guiding at short focal lengths is VERY easy compared to longer ones. f/5 vs f/8.3 guiding...like night and day.

[Wavytone]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

The Star 71 is a quadruplet, no CA, 45mm flat field.

OK some serious competition does exist for small APO's and depending on the value of our stupid peso, can be had under the $1k mark landed here.

For starters the TS Photoline quad APO which I have - http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/tele...refractor.html Flat fully corrected and diffraction-limited field 32mm diameter, no colour whatsoever visually and quite capable of stupid magnifications that you wouldn't expect from a 70mm, and resolving the disks of Uranus and Neptune for example. Mechanically beautifully built and the TS focusser makes Taks look primitive.

There are several other APOs on the APM site under $1k in the range 60-80mm f/5-f/7, some FPL-53, ED doublets and triplets or quads. Ditto the TS site.

Only reason to keep a small refractor sub 100mm is sheer convenience or photography.

But if you are a visual observer a better buy is a 127mm ... 150mm SCT or Mak which can be had for around $1k.

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

Back to Logan's original post, and ignoring all the Tak bashing and defence (although I must say I have a Tak TSA 102, and am very happy with it, plus I got it a few years back from Claude at a price that was very competitive... oh: and check out the Strehl diagram: Tak is the only manufacturer I have ever seen that gives Strehl across the visible spectrum)

Sorry, back to Logan: have you seen the post in the classics for an ED80: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=159828

(Disclaimer: I don't know anything about it and I have never met Zane (the seller): I just noticed it was for sale.)

All the best,

Dean

[DJT (David)]

I found that for visual the Tak is really versatile especially with the extender q module( FS60Q). A very good grab and go with mount or tripod and a pleasure to view through.

With the Q module you get a very flat field, not so with the native FL so you would need the flattner as well if you plan to image.

So you could consider getting the basic ota then adding the q later when budget allows or when one comes up on classifieds but depends on what you will use the scope for.

The takettes rack up the cost though so check what you are in for based in purpose.

Can't comment on the others

Cheers

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

The little experience I have with the FS60CB reflects the preceding post. I was fortunate to buy a package with many of the tackettes and added a camera rotator - as you own a Tak you will be aware of the routine.

Had it not been for the offer, I might have settled on something else, but I do like the flexibility of the system. It's an OK wide field instrument with a flattener or reducer.

Compared to a Canon 200mm USM and an explore scientific ED80, the FS60 has better resolution, though not immune from wobble in the focus draw tube and will need support with a heavy camera, if you use it for AP. Lenses don't suffer from this.

It's not an fsq and focus is not as sensitive to temperature, from what I can tell and neither is it as difficult to set as the Canon. Focus is locked and hasn't changed over several uses. It won't slip. The ES was problematic. The tractor like rack and pinion on the 60 ain't perfect but it is very functional.

[Lognic04 (Logan)]

If I got the esprit, what would I miss from my MT? Are the optics as good as a tak in the esprit? (from what I've read yes)

[Lognic04 (Logan)]

Also, after what's been said here I'm a bit weary of Chinese scopes

[gregbradley]

There are 2 main advantages of fluorite and one big disadvantage.

Fluorite has way less dispersion. If you get a green laser and shine it through an FPL53 triplet you will see each lens. If you do that with a fluorite the laser will be invisible in the fluorite lens component.

Fluorite also enables the optical designer an extra degree of freedom. It lets them make a faster scope with the same levels of chromatic aberration.

The disadvantage is its soft.

I noticed in my uses of fluorite versus FPL53 that fluorite based scopes tended to produce more colour in the images.

I noticed it immediately when I went from an FSQ106EDX111 to a TEC110 F5.6 fluorite. The TEC produced much richer colours. Of course processing comes into this but I am saying with similar levels of boost etc.

I have used both fluorite and FPL53 and I would take Fluorite lensed scopes over FPL53 if I could get it but I would not care too much if I couldn't.

Greg.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Some of the Chinese scopes give you most of the premium scope performance for half the money but it's common knowledge (and in my experience) Takahashi is a little better, offering consistently excellent optics. TS, WO, etc can be great scopes too though.

I wouldn't buy a new Tak but I did buy a new Esprit. Lots of choices to suit different wallets

At the risk of being "uninvited" to the next Tak attack, I tend to agree with Tony here. Hard to tell the difference between some of the chinese offerings and the premium makes these days. Comes down to mechanical features and the "strehl" claim which you pay the premium for. Me, I like Taks but not the weight or complication that comes with them. Almost bought an Esprit 150 (Tak copy) but put off by the weight.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Lognic04

If I got the esprit, what would I miss from my MT? Are the optics as good as a tak in the esprit? (from what I've read yes)

It's just a different image scale from the different focal length - depends what you want to image. The Esprit optics are plenty good enough for imaging. Some of the early Esprits had issues with uneven pressure on the lens edges causing pac man star halos, but that is fixed in the current model and Skywatcher is good about replacing any defective units under warranty.

The uneven star halo has been a problem in many other Chinese refractors from time to time too, including some from WO. WO does have good warranty practices though.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Lognic04

Also, after what's been said here I'm a bit weary of Chinese scopes

You get a better deal with a Chinese scope but quality control is less consistent. Warranty issues are easy to deal with if you've purchased in Australia (eg. Skywatcher Esprit). If you're buying from overseas you need to stick with more reliable models and buy from a reliable dealer. The TS triplets which Glen refers to have a reputation for being of good quality in general.

[LewisM]

Seriously , whatever floats your boat. Chinese scopes don't thrill me yet as IMHO they are NOT good enough still. Getting better though. Your mileage may vary

[gregbradley]

I don't really know not having one but I thought the usual problem with the Chinese scopes is more the rigidity of the focuser, how wide the corrected illuminated circle is, quality of the correctors/reducers?

Not an issue with a smaller camera. As soon as you go to a larger sensor all these things become of major importance.

Greg.