[PlanetMan]

I can speak from first hand experience with a NA140

At the outset I have to say that I love Vixen products and as such really wanted to like the NA. In many respects it is a remarkable scope which looks nice and is amazingly light for a refractor in its size and gives good widefield.

However, you have to keep in mind it is primarily made in China with some final assembly and QC in Japan. The optics are 100% made in China. This is not a point of discrimination because so are the optics in the Istar. But you should be aware that Vixen makes two streams of refractors - one stream is 100% made in Japan and then there are the hybrid manufactured refractors such as the NA I just mentioned.

I earnestly tried to like the NA but the clincher for me was the planetary performance which I found awful especially for a 5.5 refractor. The final straw was the ultimate side by side comparison of petzval design scopes and thus "quantity" represented by the NA140 with 5.5 of glass versus "quality" represented by a Televue NP-101 with a mere 4 of top notch glass and all of Uncle Als pride in refractor design.

The result was a no-contest.

With respect to planetary the 101 didn't just blow the Vixen away but blasted it out of the city. This I didn't find too bad as it is easier to make smaller than bigger refractors and the 101 is more than double the price so for that kind of money it had better perform. Unfortunately, the real disappointment was despite the Vixen having all the extra aperture there was nothing in terms of DSO's etc that the NA140 could resolve that the NP101 couldn't also pick out even though it only had 4' of glass. So it was no contest as the NP101 could do everything and more than the 140 and yet was a third of the size (although more than twice the price)

For these reasons and the excellent reviews I have read (read the Neil English reviews in particular) I would recommend the Istar