Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas333
Good morning ! I currently have a Celestron 5SE but have saved and am able to get a Celestron 8SE. I am comfortable with the Celestron brand. Is there a big difference going to the 8SE (planets, moon, galaxies....simple things  )and with a budget of $3,000 is the Celestron 8SE the best one ? Thank you. |
If you're wanting an 8" Schmidt, the ideal would be to consider the "Evolution" version, not the "SE". The "SE" mount is fine for a C6, but it's really not supportive enough for a C8...
https://i.imgur.com/uvDLiVC.jpg
There is one size of mount for the 4SE and 5SE, but another slightly larger for the 6SE and 8SE, but as you can see the C8 overwhelms the "SE" mount. The mount simply isn't supportive enough. It's barely doable for visual, but if you want to dabble in taking photographs in future, the "Evolution" mount would be the better choice; or, the "AVX" version.