Sharpstar 61EDPH vs WO or TSoptics 61 ed equivalent

[Nikolas]

Hi everyone
I know we have users here who have used one or both of these scopes,
I want to pull the trigger on either one but would love to hear people's experiences on either the Sharpstar 61 edphii or the william optics Zenithstar 61 and/or its clones (ts optics 60 ED Altair astro etc.)


What are your experiences like with both or either
I know the sharpstar is a triplet with one ED element of unknown origin and the others are fpl53 and lanthanum doublet
There is so much conflicting stuff out there I want to be sure
Also if there is any on the market I may also be interested.

[AdamJL]

Thought about the Askar FRA400? Petzval design so no need for a flattener
They’ve also released a 300

[Nikolas]

funds dont spread this far

[Camelopardalis]

I bought the Z61 early on and it’s a nice little scope. It’s well corrected with the flattener, and I don’t see any colour separation.

The Sharpstar seems to have a bit of a history of blue halos…so may carry a little more risk.

Given they are similar in price, it’s hard to fault the Sharpstar, on paper at least…

[Hoges]

I've found the Z61 an excellent all-round scope. But it definitely needs the flattener - without it, focus drops off halfway to the edge. It's got a bit of heft to it. One thing that bugs me is that the focus knobs don't quite clear the dovetail bracket which means if I want to have the focus knobs horizontal to the ground, I have to loosen the clamp screw, pop the scope out, turn, then put it back in the clamp and tighten, which I have to do whenever I take it in and out of it's bag. A very minor annoyance but the designers just needed to make the dovetail 2 mm taller. Apart from that, quality is excellent, focusser is smooth with 70mm of travel and star images seem pretty good for a doublet - certainly better than my 72/80mm skywatchers - see attached. It's a non rotating focusser, but the flattener has the ability to turn so it fixes that minor problem.

[AdamJL]

There's a similar problem with the ASKAR400, in that the focuser knobs get in the way if you want to mount a ZWO EAF for instance.
The same solution can apply to you though: rotate the scope 180 degrees and leave it setup "upside down" :)
Then the focus knobs never get in the way.

[Nikolas]

I've seen that a lot with some of the smaller scopes, it plays havoc with my OCD lol


Anyone had any experience with the Sharpstar?

[AdamJL]

Yep. I didn't do it. I just bought extensions to lift the scope :D

[Nikolas]

Hey guys I know some of you have mentioned both scopes, I really need your experiences so I can make a decision.
Cheers.

[JoelRed]

I have had the Z61 since October 2020.

Personally.... I've never really been in love with it.

I don't know if my expectations were too high for it, but it has never really wowed me.

It looks and feels very well built.

Maybe it's because I use a OSC camera on it (ASI2600MC), but I have always found the stars to have a bit of a blue bloat to them and it also suffers a bit from pinched optics. This may not be an issue with a Mono camera.

I seriously looked at replacing it with either the 61EDPH-II or the (overpriced) Raptor 61, but after talking to Adriano at Testar, I never pulled the trigger.

At this point, I am only really keeping it around to take it to FNQ and get some images of M31, NGC7000 and Veil.

Hope any of this info helps.

Cheers,

[Nikolas]

Thanks Joel,
What did Adriano have to say about the sharpstar?

[JoelRed]

I sent him a few of my raw images and he suggested that I may not see a huge difference swapping it for the Sharpstar.

[JoelRed]

At this point, I have to weigh up the pros and cons of selling the Z61 and buying a 61EDPH/Raptor. Prices have gone up since 2020 and I am not sure it would be ultimately worth it for me.

If I were starting from scratch however, I would probably go the Sharpstar/Raptor for a few reasons:

As it's almost purely to be used as a travel scope, the Sharpstar/Raptor is a slightly smaller and more compact design
If there is any blue coma on stars, Sharpstar has been know to send out replacement objectives if you contact their support
I have yet to see any pinched optics complaints about the Sharpstar online, but have seen it multiple times with the WO


I really should give the 2600MM a go on it and see what I results I get with a mono setup.

Cheers,

[Nikolas]

Thanks Joel