Saxon 1206 120mm vs Skywatcher 120mm

[Davoxt (Dave)]

Hi
It has been close to 40yr since my last telescope, so I am differently a beginner and have no idea what I can by for around $1000 bucks.
I have been searching the net for a week also and found the Saxon 1206 and Skywatcher 120mm are well within my price range, the problem I have is I can’t tell them apart so is one better than the other and is there a better telescope for a grand that I can mount my Canon 40D SLR camera too.
Now we get to mounts/tripods as the last one and don’t laugh was made of wood which do you recommend easier to use the AZ3 vs EQ.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hi Dave and welcome to IIS

I assume from the nature of your query that your main interest is astrophotography. If that is the case, please be aware that $1000 is not going to get much. The main item of equipment for imaging is the mount, not the scope. On a good mount, fairly basic telescopes can produce acceptable images, on an inadequate mount, a $20000 scope will still not produce accaeptable images. The minimum for imaging usually the Skywatcher EQ6 Pro which is going to se you back abot $1500 to $2000.

If on the other hand you main interest is visual observing, the scopes you have pick will be OK but IMHO a better alternative is usually a dobsonian of 8 or 10 inches. They give more aperture per $, easy to setup, usually lighter than a 120mm refractor.

Remember there is no perfect scope, all involve some compromises.

Malcolm

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

hi Dave and welcome , the 2 scopes you are looking at are made in the same factory in China , " Synta " Optically the should be the same as they probably came off the same production line ,
and thats where the problem lies , Mass Production has very little QA ( quality assurance ) .
Sad but true ,Dave .
Both Sky Watcher and Saxon do there own QA on there scopes before sale to the public but , it's only the name and colour that differs , so both are very good for the price , I own both in the 150mm size and are very happy with both .
For lunar / planatery use a 120mm is awsome , and good on deep sky as well .
but as Malcolm said an 8 inch Dob will gather more light and show fainter objects its up to what you prefer,Mate.
On the sky watcher / saxon , for the money look at the acessories like eye pieces , finders , mounts etc . these all add up to a good usuable scope .
Hope this helps Dave . and above all mate enjoy.
Brian.
.

[dannat (Daniel)]

Don't let them convince you to get a Dobsonian, stick with the refractor, gives nice star images & is virtually free.

As Brian said both most liely are produced in the same factory, with just a diff badge.

As for mount, the az3 is much easier, just plonk it down & start observing. If you wanted eq prob better to get a goto one. I find hem frustrating for visual if manual, & you have o align them to the pole each time

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Dave , me again .
There is a 120mm f/8 OTA achro for $250 in the classifieds , and that leaves you $750 for a really good mount
Brian.

[alistairsam]

Hi

A refractor or reflector is I guess a personal preference, but wouldn't the 120mm F/8 be pretty large to handle? focal length is 960mm almost a metre. I've been tempted at getting this scope myself but i've seen one of these in the field and they aren't small.
I'd say stay with shorter Focal length scopes, easier to manage, wide field of view. invest in one or two decent eyepieces as well.

As for mounts, you mention you want to use a DSLR. what type of imaging are you targeting? your mount will depend on that as it will need to track reasonably well. you won't be able to do planetary with a dslr, but they do widefield and dso well.
As a basic mount, an EQ3pro goto with a 7kg capacity is 749.
a 100mm F5 or F6 SW refractor would go well with this and may stay close to your budget.
This should provide basic imaging capabilities although the load needs to be light as its not very rigid.

Else look at the goto mount bundles. there are a few dual mounts that work as alt/az as well as equatorial so you can do basic imaging and works as goto alt/az.
The ioptron goto bundles with the 80mm refractor or the mak-cat sound good especially the e-mount that can be used equatorially, but do read up on reviews before looking at them.

A lot depends on what you want, so it'd be good if you could detail what you like to view both visual and image.
you'd need a mount with tracking capability for any imaging, else a sturdy alt/az would do. As others have mentioned, a sturdy mount is pretty important.

Good luck

[Davoxt (Dave)]

Thank you all for your great advice, I have decided on a Saxon 1206AZ3 and a pair of Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binocular because of the price, on line review’s and like my current hobby “photography” I know it won’t be my last telescope I buy but hopefully it's a good start.


Cheers

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Cool Dave , I hope you enjoy using both .
Any chance of a photo or 2 when they arrive
Merry christmas mate ..
Brian.