(Very) Brief review of Carrefour Refractor

[kayheem]

Hi,

I had an opportunity to very briefly look thru the small refractor at Carrefour.

It was mounted on a yoke alt-az mount. I did not really notice the aperture, but it appeared to be a 60mm scope with a FL of 700mm. Construction was largely plastic and did not get a chance to notice the coatings (if any) on the objective.

It was displayed with a 0.96" Huygens 20mm eyepiece, giving it a 35X magnification.

Aiming it was a chore and the scope moved whenever the nuts were tightened. I aimed at some fluorescent lights about 15-20m and managed to get it to focus. As I racked the focuser knob back and forth, the image shifted by about 1/4 of the FOV. I could not tell if it came from the focuser or the poor mounting.

Even at 35X, there was obvious purple fringing at the border of the light and shadowed areas. I felt that the contrast was rather poor and the image started to go bad at about the outer 1/3 of the FOV (by diameter).

The legs of the tripod was adjustable and was more than adequate to support the scope, except that the yoke mount itself was a bit lacking.

That's all I have for now. If I have the chance to go back there alone without my family, I will try to come back with more details.

Conclusion so far: Cheap it may be, but a Synta 50mm finderscope will beat it in terms of the optical quality.

Kay Heem

[Airconvent]

Hi,

I had an opportunity to very briefly look thru the small refractor at Carrefour.

It was mounted on a yoke alt-az mount. I did not really notice the aperture, but it appeared to be a 60mm scope with a FL of 700mm. Construction was largely plastic and did not get a chance to notice the coatings (if any) on the objective.

It was displayed with a 0.96" Huygens 20mm eyepiece, giving it a 35X magnification.

Aiming it was a chore and the scope moved whenever the nuts were tightened. I aimed at some fluorescent lights about 15-20m and managed to get it to focus. As I racked the focuser knob back and forth, the image shifted by about 1/4 of the FOV. I could not tell if it came from the focuser or the poor mounting.

Even at 35X, there was obvious purple fringing at the border of the light and shadowed areas. I felt that the contrast was rather poor and the image started to go bad at about the outer 1/3 of the FOV (by diameter).

The legs of the tripod was adjustable and was more than adequate to support the scope, except that the yoke mount itself was a bit lacking.

That's all I have for now. If I have the chance to go back there alone without my family, I will try to come back with more details.

Conclusion so far: Cheap it may be, but a Synta 50mm finderscope will beat it in terms of the optical quality.

Kay Heem

hi kay heem, when I read your thread title, I laughed and thought you bought it! akamak! its only $49.90 lah....can't even buy one leg of my Manfrotto mount! maybe its aimed that the bathroom peepers market where high mag optical quality not as critical???
but based on your review, I better tell my colleague not to get it...he was thinking of getting it since its only $49.90. I don't want it to end up in his car as an anti-burglar or anti-dog device.

rich