Bintel Imaging Newt vs Skywatcher BD Newt

[phobos (John)]

Hi all

Your thoughts would be appreciated on the following scopes:

1. Bintel branded 10" f4 imaging newt link here.

2. Skywatcher Black Diamond 254 x 1200P link here

Intended use is for both imaging and visual on an eq6.

My questions are:

Which is the better brand?
Is the Bintel imaging scope any good for visual?
Apart from the shorter focal length what are the main differences between an "imaging" newt and a std newt?
Is the Skywatcher scope any good for imaging?

cheers

John

[whzzz28 (Nathan)]

Originally Posted by phobos

Hi all

Your thoughts would be appreciated on the following scopes:

1. Bintel branded 10" f4 imaging newt link here.

2. Skywatcher Black Diamond 254 x 1200P link here

Intended use is for both imaging and visual on an eq6.

My questions are:

Which is the better brand?
Is the Bintel imaging scope any good for visual?
Apart from the shorter focal length what are the main differences between an "imaging" newt and a std newt?
Is the Skywatcher scope any good for imaging?

cheers

John

The bintel scope is an f4 where as the Skywatcher is an f5.
The bintel will be better than the f5 skywatcher for imaging - but only slightly.
I have heard that the Bintel f4 (or an f4 imaging newt) is rather difficult to collimate as well.

As far as i am aware, the Bintel is a rebranded GSO and Skywatcher a rebranded Synta. This may have changed as the Skywatcher looks oh-so similar to the GSO.
The skywatcher will be slightly heavier and longer (1000mm vs 1250mm), although from what i can see the weight will be negligible (both are stated as 15kg).

As far as brands go, well.. i don't have any personal opinions between the two as i have not tested both. I have a 10" Bintel Dob and it is great, but i only use it for visual viewing.

I know of a few who use the Skywatcher for imaging and churn out some great photo's, so i don't doubt that both scopes are great for imaging.

Differences between the two scopes that i could find:

• Bintel has a 3" focuser, skywatcher has a standard 2"
• Bintel has 1000mm focal length, skywatcher has 1200mm.
• Bintel is an f4, skywatcher is an f5
• Bintel uses BK-7 glass, Skywatcher uses Pyrex glass*.
• Cost

Truthfully, if i was in your position, i would go with whatever is cheapest unless any of the above is less appealing.


PS: Shouldn't be a problem, but make sure your mount can handle the scope. The EQ6 should be fine to handle either or, but also remember to add on camera, guide scope (if any) etc.



* http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=17102

[MattT]

10" Schmidt newt in the classifieds for $700 ...any good for you???

[alistairsam]

Hi John
I'd suggest the f4
It's shorter, has a 3 " inch focuser which is required to avoid vignetting, as they claim it's for ap, it could have a larger than standard secondary which is also required, it's faster than an f5, so your exposures are quicker, wider field, should have enough back focus for your ccd or dslr.
With the skywatcher, you'll have the check the size of the secy, whether a dslr or ccd will come into focus without moving the primary up, (if you move the primary, the secy will need to be larger), check if the 2" focuser will cause vignetting. It's also longer, although the eq6 should handle it, it'll be more affected by wind, and you have to consider the weight of a guide scope and guide camera unless you go for an oag which I'd recommend
Also, don't get the bintel coma correctors, get the baader mpcc, they work far better.
The 3" focuser does need some tweaking to make it stiff.
Yes, collimating an f4 is a bit more demanding but not much, the cats eye tools will get your collimation sorted as they're very precise.

There are trade offs with both, but I'd go with the f4 mainly because it looks like you can start imaging out of the box with a coma corrector and guides cope of course and it's lighter and faster, whereas the sw might need some adjustments. Better to ask them.
ap is pretty demanding and there are a few things you need to get right, so I'd suggest reading thru some of the beginner ap threads here to make sure you have al the other components sorted, understood

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi John , this is like the differance between 'Cheese ' and 'Mustard ' ..
Each to his or hers own. both are well respected imaging scopes and the differance between them is neglagable , and as has been sain ithe the value for money that counts, as its your money here . .
MattT opens another avenue here , ( good one Matt ) , Yes that schmitt newtonion is a great imaging scope for a excelent price , a little heavier than the 2 you are looking at but your mount will handle it well .
Hope this helps a little .
Brian.

[phobos (John)]

Thanks for info and advice guys.

cheers

John

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

To be really honest with you, I wouldn't even care about any of the "accessories" they spruke, My poor old SW Dob that has been converted basically only retains the SW Primary, White tube, front tube ring and the white OTA. everything else has been turned out and replaced. As for quality, they are both mass produced Asian scopes, as such they are pretty much the same bar the mirror substrate (pyrex is better than BK7 due to thermal expansion).

Im even thinking of replacing the mirror

Just for some information the F4 needs a larger secondary just by props. it would be interesting to do a ray trace on it to see if the difference in size is actually geared towards 25-30mm full illumination. My original secondary was 58mm which is geared for visual, it now has a 70mm.

The other thing that people have got wrong is the SW is not F5, its 4.7 although just a bit over half a F stop it won't make a huge amount of difference in light capture but you do have to take into consideration if you want large fields of view or smaller but more detailed fields of view eg... what do you want to take photos of!

If you want to see the FOV for a 10" mirror and KAF 8300 chipset have a look at my website. and unless you can find a F4 10" with the same kind of chip then they wont give you a representative indication on FOV

thats my thoughts

[phobos (John)]

Thanks Brendan. Have you had any problems with your mount as a result of carrying so much weight?

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

Not at all. Just like everything look after them and you will have no issues

Click Here, Here and Here for images taken within the last month or so