Meade Series 5000 80mm APO - Flat field??

[rogerg (Roger)]

G'day all,

I've recently discovered this little APO. It seems like an affordable replacement and upgrade to my aging Megrez 80 (original SD version), in terms of:
- improved colour performance
- similar build
- same focal length

But... I cannot find anywhere examples of how this telescope performce with large chip cameras such as DSLR's, for flat field and colour correction.

Please, has anyone got any experience using this telescope with large chip cameras or better yet have any example images?? I feel like I've hunted the entire web!

On the face of it this telescope seems superior to the normal ED80's, but the killer might be how flat the field is and how images actually turn out from it.

I have seen examples using Meade DSI cameras on it, but they have quite a small chip.

Thanks!

Roger.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Bump.

Really hoping for some feedback on this telescope to help my decision on which 80mm to get.

Thanks,
Roger.

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by rogerg

Bump.

Really hoping for some feedback on this telescope to help my decision on which 80mm to get.

Thanks,
Roger.

I used to own this scope. It is great for astrophotography though it does need a field flattener. For visual, remember it is very fast; around F6 i remember so it needs a high power eyepiece to get any magnification. This is not ideal of course as it is only 80mm. At low visual powers it exhibits a fair bit of field curvature.

So for photography, pretty good and not as heavy as an ED80. For visual at low powers, maybe it was my eyes but I wouldn't bother. Certainly my TV85 does not behave like this.

If you search for some of my earlier posts in deep space imaging i posted a few examples taken with this setup using a DSLR. You need to find some examples just prior to my upgrade to an SBIG/TV85 combo as in the beginning I was just learning and of course at this stage the photos do not do justice to the scope.

Cheers
Paul

[MortonH]

I believe that the rotating focuser on the Meade doesn't work the same way as most scopes and might be rather irritating for imagers. Also, I've heard that there is some false colour, despite it being a triplet (a Sydney dealer told me this!)

I considered this scope about two years ago for visual use, but in the end I didn't think it was quite what I wanted. I went instead for the Megrez 90. Judging by the number of IIS members using the ED80 for imaging, I'm thinking that might be a better choice. You could probably get one second hand if you're lucky.

Morton

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Roger,

Here's a single JPG image from my 400D through the Meade Series 5000. I don't have a flatener.

I've re-sized for posting but no processing (ICNR but no flats).

Hope this helps,

Peter

[rogerg (Roger)]

Thankyou very much everyone for your replies. Really appreciated.

Originally Posted by Zuts

I used to own this scope. It is great for astrophotography though it does need a field flattener....

Did you happen to try it wih a flattener or know if there is one which suits it?

TV is out of my price range unfortunately, so I'm happy to compromise on quality as a result. I'm not interested in visual, and have the same situation with my Megrez now with respect to magnification etc. They are wide field scopes and should be used as such IMHO.

Originally Posted by MortonH

I believe that the rotating focuser on the Meade doesn't work the same way as most scopes and might be rather irritating for imagers.

Yes.. The most common complaint I hear is that the focusser doesn't rotate. This really doesn't bother me, the Meade works exactly how my Megrez works now. Apparently the Meade focuser can be replaced with other brands, but I wouldnt' bother.

Interesting that you bought a Megrez 90 intead... I've heard they're much worse! ... (sharpness, false colour, everything).. how have you found it?
EDIT: I mistook the Megrez 88 (has bad reviews) for Megrez 90 (yet to investigate this)

ED80's like the Orion are the obvious choice, but on the face of it this APO seems better, so hence researching all options. The APO is newer, so I wouldn't expect so many people to be using it.

Originally Posted by peter_4059

Here's a single JPG image from my 400D through the Meade Series 5000. I don't have a flatener....

Thankyou very much peter, just what I'm after. I've PM'd.

Roger.