Skywatcher Telescopes

Reviews

This was smaller than we thought but does work well if you don't need a larger mirror area.

Reviews

Great if your doing asset management and viewing link lights at the back of computers or trying to view a port numbers in tight places without moving users desks. Can also be used to check for bombs under toy cars. Cons: Doesn't hold the mirror well when its horizontal and fully extended.

This does what I want but the head is a bit loose. I'm not sure if it's the mirror or the user.

Reviews

I got this adapter to connect my new E-510 to my telescope using a T-mount tube. The telescope manufacturer offers the T-mount, and then you adapt your camera to it. I later learned that I could have just used my OM to E-volt adapter with my old OM to T-mount, but this way I can still keep my film camera set up for astrophotography separately. Because of the very fine threads on the T-mount, though, changing adapters is not as easy as it sounds. Lining up the threads is difficult unless you make the T-mount connection first, without the camera weight to fight against.

One of those unexpected standards that makes life easier; attach your camera to a telescope. It just works.

If you have a telescope and want to use it as an extreme telephoto lens a T-mount adapter is a must. Recently I acquired an e-510 and wanted to use it with my ancient Celestron 5, f/10 (Schmidt-Cassegrain design). This adapter works fine with my Celestron T-mount and the e-510 with "Live View" allows easy control of exposure, composition and focus (using camera live LCD image magnification). See half-moon photo taken with the above combination. Look forward to trying on wildlife. Camera and adapter were purchased from 47th Street Photo and service and speed of delivery was excellent.

This device is a metallic adaptor that fits OK to my Olympus E500. I had no problems using it with my old celestron 80mm WA and an Orion T adapter. It fits very well.

Reviews

After using this high quality diagonal, I realize the 1.25" star diagonal included with my Celestron C11 does not do the telescope's optics justice. I did not know this, and for some months after I bought my C11 SCT last year, I kept experimenting with different 1.25" eyepieces and filters, as I was unwilling to make the jump to a 2" diagonal and eyepieces. Unfortunately, I kept coming up dissapointed on images, not seeing the brightness and clarity that I expected from such an expensive (and highly rated) telescope. I purchased this 2" Diagonal mirror last weekend. Celestron includes a small locking aluminum case. This is a nice touch, and I feel it hints at the quality of the diagonal. At the least it is impressive for the new buyer, albeit maybe a little pretentious. I used this from my backyard for my first views. Even with the extreme light pollution from nearby Phoenix (you can't see all of the Big Dipper with the naked eye many nights -- it's that bad!) I was seeing objects that I had never see even in deep space dark sky viewing sites before. I was surprised when I unexpectedly resolved the double star in Polaris. I admit to mixed feelings about this, as I wondered how much more I had been missing with the stock 1.25" diagonal. Earlier attempts to see M31 from my backyard resulted in blurred and indistinct images, but with a F 6/6 focal reducer and this 2" diagonal it was bright and well defined. Speaking of the focal reducer: I was concerned after I bought this diagonal that I would be unable to use the reducer, but the reducer screwed on the optical back threads as usual, and the diagonal screwed onto the reducer easily. I did find that I almost reached the end of the C11's focus adjustment when I added a CCD camera onto this setup. However, I was still able to get a sharp focus with several turns left on the focusing knob. I used this combination with an Oxygen III filter and viewed M42. Again, previous attempts from my backyard resulted in a partial view of M42, with the outer edges fading rapidly. However, the addition of this 2" diagonal (and a 10mm televue eyepiece) resulted in a full eyepiece image of M42, with the entire nebula clearly and brightly obvious across the field of view. I did not expect this dramatic of an improvement in the views, and feel I got more than I expected from this modest addition. I considered a high end diagonal claiming 99% reflectivity instead of the 96% reflectivity of this diagonal. The more than doubled expense might be worth it, but I did not think so at the time I bought this diagonal. I didn't think I'd get this much more out of adding this diagonal, and I can't comment on what an additional 3% of reflectivity might add. I have not compared this to other 2" diagonals, but the incredible increase in quality compared to the stock 1.25" diagonal is so spectacular that I feel as if I have a new (and far superior) telescope. You can continue to use your old 1.25" eyepieces, as there is an adapter included. Now that I've seen the improvement in upgrading to a 2" diagonal, I'm planning on upgrading to 2" eyepieces as well. Anyone want to buy a few hundred bucks worth of 1.25" eyepieces? I highly recommend this diagonal. If you're using a 1.25 viewing system, consider upgrading to the 2" diagonal and eyepieces before adding more aperture with a larger telescope.