3" vs 4" vs 5" vs 6" vs 7" Refractor Telescope for Visual and Astrophotography. What's better???
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2021
- Considering a new refractor? Not sure what aperture to get? This video is your guide to choosing one that's the right size for both visual and astrophotography!
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This has to be one of my fave telescope videos. Good job Vlad. This one is worth same value as 1000 posts in cloudynights refractor forum.
Good to hear you think so! Just trying to share my first hand experience and not what I read on CN👍
I have many refractors, and they are a joy to use. The triplets are for imaging with OSC and Multi-band filters, and the APO doublets (ED doublets) I used for observations. Can't imagine how big a 7" is... I have a 4" ED doublet and a triplet. The 4" is the one I bring to star parties for observation
very cool.
Thats quite a selection. Thanks for the overview.
Glad you liked it👍
Thanks for the video mate...clear skies
Glad you liked it!👍
I recently looked through an Astro-Tech 102 ED doublet and was impressed by how sharp it was even at max magnification and it had next to zero blue fringe. At $549 I went and bought one. The guy who let me look through his had a hard time finding a bright enough star that wasn't a binary to get it to fringe, but he got it by using a 5mm Plossl at 142x on Rigel. He told me it doesn't fringe hardly at all with better eyepieces. Then he told me something I never knew. A #11 yellow green filter gets rid of the blue fringe even in achromats.
Well, I already have one for looking a Venus and Saturn as it helps make their clouds stand out. I'll give it a shot when my Astro-Tech gets here.
Tell him to point his scope to Vega or Serius. He will have more secondary color then he will know what to do with😅🤣🤣🤣🤣
But congrats on the scope, them 4" ED doublet are an amazing value and we are luck to have them!
@@AVTAstro My son bought me the Explore Scientific carbon fiber 102 triplet. So he misheard me when I said I wanted a 102 apo from Astronomics, I'm not complaining, it is light and no fringe at all.
Great video! Never seen such a big refractor!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it👍
Excellent video. Four-inch is my favorite aperture too. As a visual observer, I get a lot out of my 80mm refractors as well for backyard convenience and practicality.
Very cool!
What refractor do u have ?
Great review! I agree 100% on the 4inch refractor I've owned bigger but found I like the 4inch the best add a 2inch eyepiece can give very immersive views. I also agree on the 80mm great widefield views mine is F/4.3. I do have a 70mm but thats a solar scope.
Yes, the 4" is a special size. It's still small, but just shows so much👍
This is the 1st video that made sense to me lol.. I’m in the process of buying my 1st telescope and it is very very overwhelming for me😞😢… but now I know 4 in is a good start! I live in a city and anything too big will be a nuisance to lug around town lol. Thank you for your help.
Glad it was helpful! The nice thing about a 4" is that even years down the road if you are ready for a bigger scope the 4" you started with will compliment it very well!
Another thing to consider when selecting a scope is the size and weight of the mount and tripod. Going from 5" to 6" can result in needing a much larger and heavier mount/tripod.
Here's an example. I was deciding between a 5 and 6 inch scope. I wanted a Losmandy mount & tripod. For the 5" scope both Losmandy and the scope maker recommended the GM811G mount and light weight tripod. Total weight of both is about 36 lbs. But going to a 6" scope the recommended mount is the G11G and heavy duty tripod. The total weight is 68 lbs. That's a difference of 32 lbs. If you include the scope weight, the 6" total weight is 96 lbs, the 5" is 59 lbs. A difference of 37 lbs.
So 1" increase in aperture results in a weight increase of 37 lbs. Some thing to think about, as it affects the portability and ease of setup.
Yeah that mount can make a huge diffrance in setup time/weight. Good point👍
Even as a seasoned observer, I found this was a very helpful video. The largest refractor I had was a 130mm apo. That was very nice. I felt it was a scope that could stand on it's own, whereas I feel a 4 inch really needs a larger scope to compliment it. Currently 4 inches is my largest refractor and I do like it very much. Though I do like using a 3 inch for a wider field of view. I sometime think about getting a 5 inch again, but it's a tough call. Above 5 is just not going to happen for me. I wish I lived closer so I can look through that 7 inch!
Glad to hear nice feedback form someone that has been in the hobby for a long time! Thanks!
Great video Vlad. I recently purchased a NP127is which, at F/5.2, I hope is going to give me the wide views of a 4" with the planetary views of a 5". I found your experience that a 5" is going to show you as much planetary detail as possible 90 plus percent of the time (unless you live in an area with extraordinary seeing) very insightful.
Hey Jack, congrats on the NP127! Yes I think that's about as close as you can get to a perfect 1 scope setup in a refractor! I'm currently settled in on the FSQ-106 as a one refractor solution if the world comes to an end and I have to get rid of all my other refractors. lol
The 7 is absolutely massive :D
Looks even bugger in real life
Where does he get those wonderful toys? Vlad you made my day! I have only one scope, an Altair 70mm EDT-F. Your collection of scopes is amazing, and lovely home is the ultimate toy store for telescope afficianatos!
Thanks, this is from years of being the the hobby!
Now that is a sick collection right there on the floor @AVT-Astro
If I am torn between a 100mm apo and a 120mm apo, in terms brighter dso( galaxys, nebulae, globulars) how much more is the 120 gonna give, if for planets if a 100mm is giving 90% is plenty. Is the same case for dso? Or the margin is bigger
There will be a diffrsnce for DSO but not huge. I'd say that from a 4" you need to go up to a 6" for a significant DSO boost. In refractor land that's obviously large. That's why I always recoment a 2 scope setup. Something like a 4" APO and a 12" dob or c11.
Good comparison video, and it does give good perspectives on the physical size differences.
What would make this comparison even better, is to use each scope taking a shot of moon, a planet such as Jupiter using the same camera such as a DSLR, and showing the unprocessed images side by side, and that will give viewers a clear view of exactly what each can do, and for most people who are considering and evaluating different scopes, this type of comparing the end result is the most helpful and meaningful.
Hey Bill, I do do this with some of the other comparisons. In order for this to be meaningful you really need to do it on the same night at the same time as the seeing has a pronounced impact on how an image turns out. Setting up 7 scopes side-by-side is a bit out of my realm of ability mount wise. Lol.
Great Video Vlad!! I do love contrast of an Apo Chromatic refractor! especially on planets, moon, double stars and even some DSOs. Im saving up for a 4 inch apo!!
btw.15:07 that was hilarious😂, it Looks damm huge indeed. it Looks even bigger than an 8 inch Dob Lol!! A giant Cannon!
Very cool! Like I said in the video a 4" APO is what I would "settle" with if I had to only have one refractor. They are just the most universal scope out there!
Glad to read your approval of the 4” refractor, as just bought one, as per my comment above. Hope I’ve chosen well. Was keen to try something different.
Agreed, it’s a very interesting opportunity to see the comparisons, especially as you lean towards mostly visual. We’ve decided to buy a Vixen Ax103s to compliment our C8 edge HD, and we’ve got an AVX mount already, which seems fine, but wanted something different with an Alt/Az EQ option, maybe even try our hand at manual searching/scanning.
Was pleased to see skywatcher do an AZ/EQ 5 and 6 but seen some reviews on quality issues…….. so I guess I had two/three questions: 1) if in your vast experience of refractors, have you an opinion on the Vixen scopes, and 2) whether you or your viewers have any thoughts on AZ/EQ mounts? 3) are you planning any reviews on this type of mount?
Hi, I personally have never used a Vixen scope. From what I understand there use the same optics as Takahashi so should be excellent. Mounts wise I do have an ioptron Alt-AZ pro and find it excellent for a all scope. If there is interest I can do a review on it.
@@AVTAstro thanks for the response Vlad. I was unaware of the ioptron AZ/EQ product, so I’ll go look for it now. I’m based in the south of France (which may affect choice of products) and we have a strong local wind called the “Mistral”, which clears the pollution, dust and moisture out of the air and upper atmosphere for some incredibly clear nights, and not too much light pollution, but the flip side is that the scope needs to be stable in those conditions.
Personally I’d very much like to see an AZ/EQ mount review, not just on product quality, but also keen to know how to make best use of it…….but I’m sure yer a busy man and I wouldn’t want to hog your time on a mount review if your natural audience is more keen on the scopes.
I can guarantee you’ll have at least one eager viewer 😃👍, or two as my wife will no doubt be very interested too (the C8 is her scope).
I'm Antonio from Italy, fantastic collection of telescopes.
Thanks!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Vlad, can you do something similar for mounts. Loved this video
Glad you like it. Issue with doing a mount shootout is that i don't own this many different mounts. Lol. If there is a time that i have a good variety ill make a video about it👍
Any words on chromatic aberration for the visual observer? What do you think of the Bresser Messier achromats? Especially the 152L and 152S?
I covered the topic in this video: ruclips.net/video/bytBFM2dx2M/видео.html
Hi, I have a William optics 110. My focuser just packed it in. I'm toying with the idea of getting a feather touch for it. I found the craytford style focuses will not hold my 21mm ethos.do you think I would be happy with this focuser? or would that be a waste of money?
Feather touch are the best focusers. If you did a 3" version it will easily handle the 21mm Ethos.
Very valuable informations! Thanks a lot!!! I hab 4 inch and thinking if 5 inch is worth buying to have more from planets and deep sky. I saw some deep sky object by friend's 12 inch dobson and was wondering if it is possible to achieve similar experience with a refractor that still is quite a portable device. Because it is not easy to find peope with the desider equipment, the informations you provide are invaluable! I think I'd go with 127mm APO then instead of 12 inch dob that is barely portable.
Glad the video is helpful. Really depends on what your observing and the environment. From a light polluted sky the 12" dob will not show you too much more that a 5"apo. From a dark sky it will for sure do better on many DSO's.
A 5" APO is about equivalent to a 7" reflector on DSO just to give you another data point.
I would like if you can show a region of space and draw rectangles of what each of these telescopes will be able to view.
Search for astronomy tools on Google. You can do this very thing yourself for any astro gear!
Since 4 inch is such a workhorse... I think a comparison and review of 4 inches in different tiers would be well received. Like AT102ED, TAK102, SW102ED, TEC, etc.
Good, idea! I will try to make this happen.
I have a 10inch dob and am loooking at getting a more portable refractor telescope. Would you recommend a ST80, or is it worth going for a 4inch?
For wide field work the ST-80 is just fine!
I love the 7 inch refractor
Thanks👍
If you have the 6in version you could use a focal reducer to capture larger objects.?
Yes to a certain degree. .8 reduction is all that your likely to expect.
I have one of those 6" f8s Meade too. The OTA diameter is deceiving indeed.
Yup, I was honestly surprised at how similar it was in size to the 5" Tak when side-by-side.
Really good video 👍 I'm quite new to astronomy and have a 130p and have been lent a 200p dob, its too heavily for its owner 💪 and have actually been a bit disappointed with it my expectations where probably too high" its not really that much better than my 130mm wich is literally 1/2 the size yes there is a bit more detail and the stars r a bit brighter, it's just a lot closer than I thought it should be 🤷♂️ il still up grade my scope in a couple of years (got the bug 😂) but at the moment I'm finding my way around the sky 😀
Yeah the more scopes you use the more you learn to appreciate what any scope shows you. 👍
@@AVTAstro yer I guess that makes sense 👍 its all about the fine detail I guess and all I have is middle road eyepieces Barlow so on, so everything needs to be in balance with the scope ur using to get the best out of it getting better eyepieces is on the list of bits need a fue years to build it up 😂 👍
Yeah I', pretty deep in the hobby.... I probably don't even need to say that. hahaha. But in all seriousness I guess what I'm trying to say it that what any given scope will show you is more similar than different!
@@AVTAstro yer I'd say u have more than a toe in 🤣 wich is good for us new ones lots of information and advice 👍I'm going to get the baader zoom as my next eyepiece after ur review and a couple of other baader ones no point in having a great scope with cheap eyepiece 🤷♂️ probably get a low mm and maybe 2 higher ones and c how I get on from their, in a couple of years il get a bigger scope at the moment the 130 is fine for me, while I aquire bits 😬 I didn't want a goto as I wanted to learn my way round the sky and I like finding things very satisfying 😀 keep up the videos there very helpful 👍i also got the svbony 105 camera hopefully il get saturn/ Jupiter with it tonight 🤞and my astrophotography obsession has started 🤣
@@andrewpattie358 i heartily recommend a baader mkiv 8-24 planetarium… i got mine with the baader barlow 2.5… fantastic piece of kit, changes everything… miles better than little plossls or those eyepieces which come with scopes. bigger than you think too. enjoy
Thanks
No problem!
I had a 127mm 1200mm F9 refractor and sold it as it was just too long and the guy offered me almost twice what I paid for it. I didn't use it very much so selling seemed the thing to do. Mount wasn't up to it either, works great for my 6" Newtonian though.
Nothing wrong with sending a scope to the next user if its not getting used much. I would have a LOT of scopes if I did not do that. LOL
@@AVTAstro Indeed.😅
would love to hear your comments on reflectors for astrophotography
I'm honestly not the expert in that one, but I do have a decent amount of experience with reflectors and AP. I will put down as a video subject to-do. Thanks for the idea, I really appreciate it!
@@AVTAstro Thanks. I'm relatively new to this and currently have a redcat51 and an edgehd 8. I like both wide field and DSOs so I know I'll need different scopes for those. I'm currently looking at getting the Tak FSQ106 vs Stellarvue SVX130T.
With any telescope you get the largest aperture you can afford and physically use.
That is quite true for visual deep sky view. Not necessarily true for other uses.
its,my dream
Be careful what you dream of;)
Good video, but why do I get the vibe this is mostly a flex? lol! Great scopes!
Well take it as you will. If you find any less flex videos that have a 3-7" APO then that's awsome!🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have a TSA-120 and 10 Micron GM2000 HPS II I would sell all them scopes and buy a TEC 160fl F/7 maybe squeeze a 180fl don’t understand people who spend a lot on scope then little on mount
Cant disagree with a larger TEC. I was seriously considering a mint TEC 200FL a bit ago:)
@@AVTAstro You have about 25,000 worth of scopes there so you could get a 180fl but if I were you I would get a proper mount and the 160fl best time to sell now with prices insane don’t wait until recession starts
The problem is: size above 4“ is not transportable. Additionally you need a heavy mount for that type of telescope. For me, 4“ is ideal: perfect optics (Kasei Nerius 102SDP), excellent view-Performance with cheaper eyepieces due to f11. Lightweight and very useable on my GP.D2 Mount. And in dark skies you can see more than you can imagine!
What's transportable varies from person to person. But yes a 4" refractor is a scope size that will get a lot of use👍
Funny you say you need a Big mount for a Larg Refractor ota I have a 6" Refractor ota on my Meade Lx85 goto mount tripod it holds my scope just fine no problem s at all.
Full apologies, I can’t hear what you are saying because of Ecco…acoustics. Sorry.
Yes it has been brought up at least a dozen times. I bought a mic and audio is better now.
My God, are those all telescopes from movies on your channel all yours?
All i have to say is: "Hi, my name is Vlad and I have a problem"... Lol
Nice review. The sound quality is terrible. Put equipment links below!
Yes, i have invested in a mic since this video.
sounds like you are talking in a well
Yup, video was before I went pro and got and bought a mic. Lol
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👍🤣