Skywatcher Esprit 130mm or 150mm reviews

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Anybody have anything to say about these triplets? They have been on the market for some time now, yet I have not read too much about them. Am having a bit of a dream about a 150mm F7 at present and would like to hear some comments.
Or any on the Esprit series generally.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Cant vouch for them personally but there were apparently some shootout tests reviewed on the CN site that put them up very close or on par with some Tier 1 scopes.

[LewisM]

If you get a current production, they come up fantastically well against AP and Tak. I have been sorely tempted by the 100 or 130.

First generation Esprits NOT so hot though - lots of issues (spacers, rubber rings, focuser issues, lens cell issues, spacing issues etc etc). Skywatcher worked out the kinks well indeed. So, it is PARAMOUNT you get a current production (all first gen SHOULD have been recalled, so hopefully not an issue)

[casstony]

There's an esprit 120, not 130. If you wanted a 130 the current WO FLT132's are very good, both optics and focuser. TS also sells a similar scope (130 f/7 fpl53 triplet) which has been getting good reviews.

The current production esprits are optically very good and the package includes a flattener; the brake on the focuser needs to be partially applied in order to hold a decent load and you'll probably need to tighten the drawtube slides/pads a little.

The 150 esprit is very heavy.

[casstony]

Here's a page detailing the problems with the earlier cells: http://interferometrie.blogspot.com....l?view=sidebar

[Kunama]

I had a look at the 150 at Bintel a while back, looks very nicely made but a real bulky beast like the TOA150.....

Would love to look through one....

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

I saw two 150s in action at AstroFest and the data coming out of them was quite impressive. Usually, imaging will show up issues with colours, etc, the visually won't necessarily. They're not a small or light scope, but one of the chaps images with it riding on an AZ-EQ6 quite successfully.

I own a 100 and the sharpness of some of the images I've collected defies what I believed I would ever see with a 4"...

[glend (Glen)]

I have considered the Skywatcher Esprit 150, and also looked at it at Bintel, but given the weight, and the price, i decided to stick with my Skywatcher MN190 as i believe it has some big advantages.

[codemonkey (Lee)]

I've got the Esprit 120. Sadly, you still have the same quality control on their high end scopes, so I'd pick my retailer carefully as you may need to be sorting out some issues. My issues were:

* Missing flattener
* Focuser very poorly adjusted (common issue with these)
* Focuser locking mechanism fell off after a short period

Might be able to get the focuser working well, but I bought a Moonlite instead.

That's all the negatives, but there's one real positive: crazy sharp!

Besides all those negatives above, I'm very happy with my Esprit. Just setting expectations that it may not be perfect out of the box due to potential QC issues.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Thanks for all the comments. Have checked out CN links and the Esprit line seems to have sharp optics. For some reason I don't like the green hued coatings. My previous AP 130EDT was colourless from the objective end, like looking into a black hole. That I did like. But it was an early version and the focuser was poor from day 1, so its not only the China optics that have problems.
I am thinking next year of either a CFF 140 (I wish they made a 150) or the Esprit 150. As others have mentioned the thing id heavy so my EQ6 may not be sufficient, even though I am strictly visual.

[issdaol (Phil)]

There is a very nice used TOA150 in icetrades at the moment !! would be brilliant for visual :-)

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by The Mekon

As others have mentioned the thing id heavy so my EQ6 may not be sufficient, even though I am strictly visual.

An EQ6 is sufficient - you just need to get the balance right, but that's equally important with any scope of any size.

[Mosc_007 (Charles)]

I have mounted my Esprit 150 on my NEQ6 Pro and I am not happy with it. The slightest touch on the focuser shook the FOV noticably. Next time I will be using my Losmandy G11 and see if thats better. Even though the NEQ6 is rated for 15+Kg's it does seem like its on the limit.

As for the Image Quality. The Limiting factor was the seeing conditions. During the very brief stable conditions the view was amazing. This scope is so sharp. Would highly recommend it.