The "One Size Fits All" principle ?
Well, for me I am happy with my ED110 f/7 travelscope. Lightweight and eligible for carry-on air travel and renders nice and crisp images even at 190x. With the field flattener, the FL is only f/5.6 (600mm) which makes really nice views with the Pan24 (2.7 degrees).
But when the budget allowance is $5000 (I assume Aussie dollars, not US$ or Euros, which is equivalent to about 3800 USD/EUR), I'd go for a
WO FLT 110 f/7 real triplet.
I do both visual and photography.
And the budget allows an extra 250mm Dobson for visual faint fuzzies if two scopes are allowed.
OR: one hand grenade (Nagler 31 or Pan 41 for A$1000) for excellent wide field views under dark skies.
About the CaNikon lens mentioned earlier upthread:
It
is a telescope in this definition:
telescope
ˈtɛlɪskəʊp/Submit
noun
1.
an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer, containing an arrangement of lenses, or of curved mirrors and lenses, by which rays of light are collected and focused and the resulting image magnified.
as it is an optical device that does this, but that is way beyond budget as my dream lens Canon 400mm f/2.8L or 600mm f/4L costs A$15000. Putting a DIY 32mm eyepiece adapter ( + diagonal + barlow) makes an excellent visual instrument of such a lens.
A nice 14cm APO refractor, even with Barlow it is f/5.6 resp f/8. And an excellent astrophoto performer.