Saxon versus orion 80-ED - Page 2

asimov (John) · #21 09-10-2005, 06:33 PM

Thanks for that Gary. I had no doubt about the 80s widefield DSO abilities photographically speaking, there's enough proof of that on this site alone. Nice pics BTW. It's all very interesting. I'm not in 2 minds at all about getting one......I'm in 3 minds!

rumples riot · #22 09-10-2005, 06:35 PM

Asimov, I have the Orion Ed. Great little scope and well collimated, I also got mine from Bintel.

Image quality is superb, and I was surprised at the size of nebula and clusters. However I have tried using it on the planets and its image scale is way too small for my purposes. Detail that is present in the 10" is not anywhere visible in the Orion. The small focal length is the source of this. So I would say that getting it for that purpose is best left alone.

As for build quality, I can only assume that Bintel would not stock them if they were inferior, I don't know however what their contractual relations are with other companies.

Anyway I like my little scope and it is bolted onto the 10"

gbeal · #23 09-10-2005, 06:51 PM

I'm with Paul, but reckon that the less than spectacular planetary/lunar/doubles views simply stems from the aperture, rather than the focal length.
My ED80 has a focal length of 840mm, and the MN66 was only 900mm. With doubles I have yet to get all six Trapezium stars, and the really tight ones are just that little bit more difficult. Bigger scopes perform better, but at a cost.
An 80mm will keep you very very happy for a while though, and it is normally only when you have a bigger scope next to the smaller one (or access to a bigger scope) that the 80mm gets left behind.
However if, because of it's size/portability, it gets used more often then this qualifies as "The best scope is the one you use the most often". We really are spoilt for choice.

asimov (John) · #24 09-10-2005, 07:08 PM

Certainly makes sense to me Gary re: bigger aperture = bigger planetary image scale. The plus would be the lack of CA if I were to compare it to views in my 6" achro. The only scope I could image it being close to as an example of what I would see image scale wise is my 60mm refractor I guess.

Anyhow, gives me something to think about! Thanks guys.