Is this scope good for astrophotography?

[visual latch]

So I want to get in astrophotography and I have small budget.
So is this scope good for astrophotography? My plan is to buy this
scope with eq3-2 pro and after some time upgrade it to william optics
zenithstar 61

[summer obsidian]

I know some people use this for astrophotography. The only thing that put me off was the focuser (or lack of)
To focus, you unthread the dew shield. Although the markings would help, it could be quite fiddley.

Have you thought about the EVOGUIDE 50ED or EVOSTAR 72ED?

[visual latch]

nope

[obsidian tangle]

Evoguide50ed is fine for now, 72ed is no longer good I'm afraid, they just switched glass... I'd look into the zenithstar variant of your above scope instead, as that's far better for imaging. Other options would be apertura fpl53 glass refractors (60 or 70mm aperture)

[summer obsidian]

Damn when did they switch glass on the 72ed? I was thinking of getting one

[obsidian tangle]

Very recently, they're now using the same glass as on the evolux afaik

[summer obsidian]

Dammit...

[visual latch]

okay, thank you so much for helping me

[summer obsidian]

Hey Alex, Could I ask where you got the information from regarding the 72ED glass change? I just spoke to First Light Optics here in the UK and they said that they have heard about this. I would have thought one of the largest astronomy retailers in the country would have known something like this.

[obsidian tangle]

So after doing a bit more digging, it seems that the glass change is actually on 80ed, not 72ed, as 80ed is the one advertised with fpl53, and most of the "rumors" is cause a bunch of shops removed that line from the specs of the scope (FLO and other big players still have it though, so maybe they still have stock or something, or this is just a mistake?). I assumed that they would change the entire lineup but apparently that's not the case. 72ed still has the never disclosed glass type (archive.org shows it never was shown), and people speculate it being fpl51 or similar (abbe index of 81 vs 95 with fpl53, and you want that as close to 100 as you can). So I'll apologize for spreading misinformation and the confusion here. But given this info, I'd still try to get a different 70mm scope cause you can get fpl53 (or fcd100 which is very close) for a similar price point as the 72ed

[summer obsidian]

Thanks Alex. Yeah it good to know anyway! I'm limited to about £400 for a new scope and I need to factor in a flattener. I know the 72ED can work with the generic StellaMira Flattener for £79.00 which sits quite nice within my budget.

So at the moment I aim torn between the Evostar 72ED, StellaMira 66mm ED or Evolux 62ED (Then again the F ratio puts me off).

Back to the drawing board I think!

[obsidian tangle]

Ok the evolux is not as good as the 72 Ed by far 😅 search astrobin for images with it and see how much CA it has

According to the eu spokesperson, the evolux lineup was designed only as visual. According to everything they have done for it, they want it to be AP, but damn you'll need a lot of fixing of it's fringing to fix it up

https://www.astrobin.com/full/z2pmrb/0/

It seems to be holding fine in NB images, but that can be said about most scopes

[summer obsidian]

Oh my god that is horrible..

Ok that is ruled out for sure!

[obsidian tangle]

Yeah most images I see online through it are either heavy star reduction, or very good minus violet filters

Some people claim that SW put a different glass in the evolux80, but I'm not willing enough to try it with my wallet 😅

[summer obsidian]

Skywatchers website: " Designed for the discerning astrophotographer looking for a lightweight scope that still packs a punch." That is naughty. Especially if someone is out there looking for a small budget scope who does not know as much as you!

I have just seen Dylans video on the Evolux 82ED. It has CA....

Damn I really need to think about this lol. I have the 50ED currently and I am quite impressed with the optics considering I spent £190 for it.

@visual latch Apologies for hijacking your post here. I hope you are also finding the information useful haha!

[obsidian tangle]

Well that little scope is mighty AF! I actually have one myself and only reason I got a redcat is cause I needed something even sharper and also able to have autofocus and other qualities of life for AP

I'd really look into the used market if you have a tight budget, as you can sometimes snag really good scopes for the price! Also I don't think you'll get much of a difference between 66 and 70 mm of aperture, but the stellamyra scope will be slightly faster than the evostar 72ed, so I'd probably lean there (plus it actually has disclosed fpl51 glass)

[summer obsidian]

Yeah I must say I am quite impressed with it. The ability to autofocus is one of my reasons to upgrade for sure.
I think I may be jumping the gun and leaping into a new scope too early.
I should actually think about my mount and camera upgrade first!
I appreciate expertise on the scopes!