ED80 or Megrez triplette APO?

[allan gould]

I'm really caught in the horns of a dilemma. I can't make my mind up between the Saxon ED80 with a WO replacement 10:1 focusser at a total cost of ~$900 or going the whole bottle and getting a William Optics Megrez 80mm triplette ED apochromatic with vixen mounting plate, mounting rings, 2" quartz diagonal, 7x50 spotting scope at a cost of ~$2300. I want to use the scope purely for photographic work with a Canon 350D.
My question is - "is the Megrez worth the extra in the long run or will the ED80 prove to be 95-98% as good as the Megrez". I really would like some opinions from those that use these scope as one minute I go towards the ED80 for rational reasons and cost (as I know it will do a great job from what I have seen of others work and what I have read) and then I swing to the WO Megrez and all the bells and whistles.
:shrug:
Any opinion would be most welcome
Allan

[Harb]

G'day Allan,
I have the Megrez and it is just the best,
The build quality is outstanding and given the quality overall, it is great value.
Remember the old saying "the price difference fades away long before the sour taste of a cheap compromise".

I believe the ED80 is ok as well, but I don't think they are in the same league as far as overall quality is concerned IMHO

I suppose it comes down to how much you can afford and more importantly hide from the other half!!

cheers
John

[Dennis]

Hi Allan

If the 'scope will be purely for photographic work, have you considered buying a Canon lens for a similar investment? You could probably get an excellent zoom lens or a fast, fixed focal length ED lens for that amount.

Cheers

Dennis

[janoskiss]

Geez, I know the Synta ED80s are amazing scopes when used visually (for 80mm scopes) and people have produced wonderful images with it. I have not used the Megrez or anything in that league but the thought of spending $2000+ on an 80mm scope makes me cringe but if you're rich, you might as well get the best. But then why not spend a little more and get a Tak Sky-90? :shrug:

[rogerg]

There's no comparison between a Saxon and a WO scope in my opinion. I can't see how the Saxon would possibly NOT be out classed. WO gear is built like a finely crafted tank. I only have the non-apo original Megrez I. If it had better optical qualities I'd never consider selling it, but I have my eye on the APO version to get the nicer optics (optics in mine are sharp, but there's colour fringing on the bright stuff).

Roger.

[g__day]

I have a second hand Megrez non-apo and if I found a spare $600 I'd upgrade, but that aside the sheer build quality stands out the moment you pick it up. Its heavy and it gave me the impression of the Rolls Royce of scopes. Contrast is excellent vs a MAK, some slight colour fringing as noted above on bright objects that an APO would likely fix totally.

I've never used a ED80 so I can't compare unfortunately, but I love my Meg!

[Striker]

The color fringing is enough for me to stay away from these apo's.

I've never been able to understand when you pay thousands for these scope that dont perform as well as a cheap ED80 regarding color fringing.
No doubt the WO is much better build quality but regarding image quality...I have yet to see it...I hate color fringing with Apo's.

No brainer ED80 or save for a nice Tak.

[g__day]

Hey Tony,

I can't speak definitevely but the colour fringing that Roger and I spoke of was on NON APO, not APO gear. As far as I've read the APO's don't colour fringe at all! The scopes aren't thousands (plural) for the OTA - mine was $400 second hand and for $700 I could turn it inot a APO. At Andrew's Communications for the William Optics the 80mm APOs from Walliams are usually between $1,200 for and APO doublet to $1,439 for and APO triplet

[Dennis]

Hi Allan

I have a WO 80mm f7 ED triplet APO and a Vixen ED102mm f9 APO - both show blue haloes around the brightest field stars on long exposure photographs. With my Pentax DSLR, the WO 80mm ED triplet Apo shows appreciable coma at the edges.

However, the naked eye views are superb in both 'scopes.

Some time ago I looked at the 1st Qtr moon through my ED102S f9 and a Tak FS102 f8 using the same Tak LE 7.5mm eyepiece. I first looked through my Vixen and the moon looked razor sharp and nice and white. I then looked through my friends Tak FS102 and in comparison, the Vixen's image now appeared somewhat yellow and not quite as sharp.

So, it seems there are Apo's and there are Apo's. I suspect the Tak 90mm would be superior in terms of colour correction compared to the WO 80mm ED triplet.

A difficult choice to make.

Cheers

Dennis

[jase]

If you’re an S&T subscriber (not AS&T), then it would be worth downloading the telescope test report documents:

Premium refractors: Part I - Borg 100ED, Orion/Vixen VX114-ED, and Tele Vue-NP 101 - http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/access/886664781.html?dids=886664781:88666 4781&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:PAGE&date=May+2002&author=Alan+Dyer&desc=Premium+Refractors%3A+Borg+100 ED%2C+Orion%2FVixen+VX114-ED%2C+and+Tele+Vue-NP+101

Premium refractors: Part II - Takahashi Sky 90, TMB 105-mm f/6.2 - http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/access/886661311.html?dids=886661311:88666 1311&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:PAGE&date=Jun+2002&author=Alan+Dyer&desc=Premium+Refractors%3A+Takahash i+Sky+90%2C+TMB+105-mm+f%2F6.2

An Apochromat for the masses - Orion 80ED - http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/skyandtelescope/access/886753151.html?dids=886753151:88675 3151&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:PAGE&date=Feb+2004&author=Ed+Ting&desc=An+Apochromat+for+the+Masses

I've read all three articles. You're selection is purely based on what you want to do i.e. visual or photography (as is just about every telescope you buy). There are a few good all round telescopes. Not all are good for photography as they lack a flat field. The Petzal design is a nice to work with in this regard.

Everyone agrees, you pay for what you get. Personally, I'd skip the 80mm's and settle for the 100mm (4") market. This market is still relatively cheap for aperture/quality. As soon has you move up beyond the 4" to say 5" or 6" you start having to dig deep into your pockets. Manufacturing of larger lenses with minimal defects isn't easy, hence you pay a premium.

Subsequently the Tak Sky 90 will set you back A$3,350. Note that this is only a doublet, not triplet APO and field flatners are required for photography (as with most APOs if you are using large format imaging systems).

I did some further research of the WO FLT 110. Apparently the original FLT lenses were made by TEC (Russian opticians) who made the TEC 140 (http://www.astrosurf.com/laurent/apo140e.htm) (a very impressive instrument). Not sure what happened, but the FLT's now come with TMB (Thomas Back) lenses. This has somewhat put me off the FLT. I would certainly enjoy one with the TEC lenses.


If you can afford a Tak, or one of the other premium APOs that meets you astronomy requirements go for it. Taks have always had a great resale value if what you get doesn’t work for you. Consider all investment options.

WO Megrez 80 Pics
http://www.poigetdigitalpics.com/WOMegrez.html

WO FLT110 Pics
http://www.poigetdigitalpics.com/WOFLT110.html

Off the WO site - buy yourself a FLT110 and you get a free ZenithStar 66 SD APO included in the price! http://www.william-optics.com/wowebs/prod_tel/FLT110silver/features0.htm
Bargains all round.

Cheers

[Dennis]

There is a 2nd hand Tak 90 on sale for $2500 (I think) in the current "New" Sky & Space, in the For Sale ads towards the back of the mag.

Cheers

Dennis

[Striker]

All the WO Apos I have seen posted have color fringing to some degree.

Where I dont see any color fringing is on the ed80's....strange that $500 Semi Apo scope can perform better then a $1500 Apo.

I am in no way against WO..I have had some of there scopes and gear and loved them all for the use I had for them....but for astrophotography....I would be concerned personaly.

Even the flurite WO lense's arn't true Flurite..this was brought up not long ago...dont no the details.

I wish it was around the other way around buts its not.

Like I said WO are beautifully built scope but yet to see the performance for the dollars.

I'm with Jase...there more expensive but hold there value.....go the Tak...then I will buy it off you cheap allan...lol

Good luck with your decision.

[janoskiss]

Wow! The humble Synta ED80s are amazing. Great little scopes, certainly the bang for buck refractors today.

Bert (avandonk) would be worth having a chat to. He's taken some real jawdropper widefields with the ED80 and 100 and seems to be a master of mods with field flatteners, focal reducers ...

[garymck]

Hi Allan,

I have an ed80 and a canon 350d, I'd have to say that there is no need to spend the extra dollars on the WO. I have tested several ed80's sourced from Saxon using double pass autocollimation on a 12" optical flat and the optics have beed as near perfect as one can get at ANY price. The chinese have really nailed the small refractors. No need to replace the focuser either, it is a true crayford (ball bearings) and with half an hours work can be made as smooth as silk. You will notice a small amount of field curvature on the outer 20% of a 350d frame, but you will see the same on any uncropped image of any of the small refractors as well. I'd rather spend the money on the ed80 and then buy extra toys with the change!!!

Hope this helps

Gary McKenzie

[allan gould]

Hi Gary
Thanks for that - long time no see (or talk). - great to hear from you.
I have taken all your advice on board (thanks to the other members as well) - after talking to some distributors as well as recent purchasers of both types of scopes I have decided to go the ed triplet route. I won't elaborate but small things tipped me in my final choice.
In my case I wanted a scope that I felt comfortable with the quality and apo performance and in this case money was not the deciding factor.
Sorry if some of you feel I neglected your sage advice but it really was a close thing for me to decide - but construction quality really won out in the end. However I must say that I could not afford the 2" WO dielectric quartz diagonal (1/15 wave) at $418, so I went the Guan Sheng route for the same specifications for $129. I was extremely impressed with the quality when it arrived and it appears to be as good as the WO item. Very, very impressed and exceptional value for money.

[[1ponders]]

I'll let you know how the WO Synta 10:1 replacement focuser goes Allan. I've put an order in for one about a week ago and hopefully I'll have it in about another week.

Gary is right about the existing focuser though. If you are using the ED80 at the native f/7.5 it is great, but at f/4.7 (with the Meade 6.3 reducer) I find the existing focuser just a bit to course to get the focus spot on without a lot of tooing and froing and frustration.

[[1ponders]]

Whoops...you just beat my post :lol: