What do you think of the Meade Series 5000 80MM Apo scope?

[Nigel_Choy]

Have anyone have a first hand experience with this scope? Is it any good for astrophotography? Would like to know.

Thanks

[orly_andico]

IMHO any 80mm class ED scope will be good for astrophotography.. but make sure to get the flattener. Whether its a doublet or a triplet, you still need that flattener.

here's a blog post i made about why you need the flattener
http://orlygoingthirty.blogspot.com/201 ... er-ii.html

if the scope is long (e.g. f/9 refractor) you may get away without a flattener, although I haven't tried it.

if you're using a Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT), even though these scopes are long (f/10) they have a lot of field curvature.. so you still need a flattener.

This is why the AT65EDQ is such a nice scope. It's a four-element ED so no need for a flattener..

That said there's a new flattener on the block which is damn cheap.. the Sky-Watcher one
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddet ... _flattener

not sure where to buy it though, seems only sold in the UK. It is good (better than the William-Optics flattener/reducer) but it is only a flattener, it doesn't reduce.

If I were you, go buy a scope and flattener from William-Optics in Taiwan. Their scopes are better than the Meades and Celestrons (in my experience) plus they are nearby, shipping isn't too expensive. They have an online shop as well.

[weixing]

Hi,

That said there's a new flattener on the block which is damn cheap.. the Sky-Watcher one
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddet ... _flattener

not sure where to buy it though, seems only sold in the UK. It is good (better than the William-Optics flattener/reducer) but it is only a flattener, it doesn't reduce.

Sky-Wtacher also had flattener/reducer (http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swti ... class2=512). You can get them through local Sky-Watcher dealer, McGill (http://www.mcgill.com.sg).

Have a nice day.