Anyone tried a oversized Lumicon finderscope?

[g__day (Matthew)]

I am thinking of getting one of these - for their superior light reach and the fact you can put a CCD or a standard 1.25" eye piece in them.

http://www.lumicon.com/astronomy-acc...nder%20Systems




The 50mm is MSRP $US130

The Lumicon 50mm Super Finder Body is the 50mm Super Finder System without eyepiece and diagonal, for custom configuration. Switches from straight to right-angle in seconds. Sharp optics. Easy to use. Wide field-of-view.

Lumicon 50mm Super Finder Body Specifications

Objective Lens: Fully Multi-Coated 50mm Achromatic Lens
Focal length: 200mm
Weight: 1 lb.
Eyepiece/diagonal holder: 1.25"


The 80mm finderscope is USD $250

Lumicons new 80mm Super Finder Body is for those who already have a suitable 1.25" star-diagonal and eyepiece. It features the same high-quality components and construction as the Lumicon LS2020, without the correct-image diagonal, eyepiece or carrying-case. As always, your Lumicon Super Finder may be configured in either Straight Through or Right Angle mode, and switching between takes only a minute.

The Deluxe 80mm Super Finder Body is also popular as a digital guide-scope, and for wide-field astrophotography. It may be used with Digital Imagers and Web-cams in its Straight Through configuration, or with SLRs by removing the straight-through adapter (T-ring Adapter & T-ring required).

80mm Deluxe Super Finder Body Specifications:

Objective Lens: Fully Multi-Coated 82mm Achromatic Lens
Clear aperture: 79.8mm
Focal length: 300mm
Focal-Ratio: f/3.7
Focuser: 1.25" with 1" travel
Focuser ratio: 2 turns per inch
Weight: 2.2 lbs.
Color: Black Anodized Aluminum

Anyone tried these and have favourable or cautionary advice?

Thanks,

Matt

[Ian Robinson]

Got one. The 50mm version.

Mine is the straight version.

They are pretty basic but OK. No focusor on them , you simply adjust the eyepiece and clamp and test until you get a good enough focus. The eyepiece comes with an barrel extender that screws in.
Haven't tried it with a star-diagonal, don't think mine will reach focus that way with the existing crosshair eyepiece as there is insufficient back focus.

I'd rather have an 80mm finderscope , better for finding faint fuzzies. I knew someone who got a 80mm version and it was "super" , I would happily toss one of them in handluggage when travelling as grab and go scope if I didn't already have a pair of 20x80 Unitron binoculars which travel with me on holidays (great for checking out the beach from a headland or high sand dunes to spy on who is fishing and spotting where fish are feeding in the surf , and oh , also for stargazing . : :


You are probably looking at 40-50 USD postage to to get one over by USPS airmail.