[Leo.G (Leo)]

Wow Andrew those shots are AMAZING!


Yes, aperture is king, always been said BUT, if you want to take it somewhere with good dark skies lugging 60Kg of gear up a hill for a lunar eclipse 2 months after a heart attack, NOT FUN!


I have two 8" scopes, a Newtonian and a RC carbon (and a heap of Achromat refractors), they are both amazing in my back yard. The RC I could transport because it's very light being carbon but it's bulky and personally I've not had good results with planetary due to the central obstruction. It's a contested point about planetary and just because I've failed it could more be me. The Newt I recently obtained a coma corrector and haven't tried it yet, along with a focal reducer for the f8 RC (again, not tried). I believe I got OK results with M42 with the RC, I can't remember, there was a full moon.

I have an 80mm Megrez, the original model and it's an amazing little scope, light, portable and my grab and play in a hurry scope. I recently paired it with a TeleVue 5 times Powermate and my full frame Nikon (D810) and was blown away. I can also use it on a standard camera tripod somewhat heavy duty (25Kg capacity).
80mm with accessories can be powerful, not sure on nebulae with it using the Powermate but I believe on it's own with wide field it would be good for M42 and the like, I haven't tried it.

If you have the finances to own both, great choice. I don't, I've purchased everything I have used for bargain prices over many years after buying 1 new scope in the late 80's, a now heavily modified Tasco refractor. Keep an eye on the classifieds here, there are some great bargains on great gear to be had.