5" Refractor Shootout 

The svbony isn’t bad at all, for the price that’s pretty good performance

Chromatic aberrations shouldn’t be a problem at all with the Svbony ED triplet since nobody would use no way near that extrem level of saturation.

As always excellent and informed, well spoken, and explains astronomy in a way that is easy to understand without being a professional astrophotographer, thank you!

As always, great review Nico! Thank you!

Really enjoyed the video, love how you took this opportunity to help with some of the astro myth busting (or validation!) wrt apo and mono.

Good review Nico, however, I do wish you were able to include the Askar 120 apo also

6:00 Yes that's what it's for:) I'm using an HEQ5 Mount and all my dovetails are scratched pretty bad and have dents from the screws except for my Explore Scientific scope. Great Vid as always

i love your content. it got me in to astrophotography

Excellent comparison. A comparison on the planets and the Moon would also be very interesting.

Excellent test!

So the ES AR127 was used at F6.5 , the Svbony 122mm at F5.6 and the Skywatcher Esprit 120mm at F7 ? Doesn’t the F-ratio play an important role in the intensity of the chromatic aberrations? Wasn’t the Svbony disadvantaged because of the lower F5.6 ratio and the Skywatcher Esprit advantaged because of the higher F7 ratio?

A very nice comparison Nico, thanks! When I was shopping around, I found the Orion EON 130ED APO (fk61 glass) to be the best value trade-off in this class. In the last 3 years I've really enjoyed using this fantastic visual and AP scope. Performance and build quality were far better than I expected, and you do get the full 5" (plus a bit), so I think Orion deserve a shout. That ES is amazing though in mono. It really makes you think! The reduced contrast is of course due to the spreading of that out of focus light (being just a doublet) rather than anything to do with coatings. You can't get that data back, but the cosmetics can be managed in processing.

Absolute love that your sponsor is a physical media that requires undivided visual concentration. The irony is strong; a formerly visual only hobby that is now focused on digital capture, manipulation, and processing of photons, using electrons that can't be used after being disconnected from an electrical grid. Galileo and Gutenberg applaud the irony. PS... I still own and read F Scott Fitzgerald and leCarre while my own rig is churning away capturing photons in the night. I think I might buy this book just because of the effrontery of sponsoring this video.

Most interesting was the narrow band filter result with the inexpensive scope. Useful for people on a tighter budget to know you can still get great results.

It'd be interesting to see how well the achromat could hold up with RGB mono imaging. The broader bandpass of RGB filters would make the difference in focal planes for the shortest and longest wavelengths of each filter on the achromat stand out more, but how much. The difference in wavelengths between the long end and short end of each color filter is a lot less than you got shooting with the color camera, just how acceptable it is has me wondering. Anyway, thanks for another excellent review video, Nico.

Hi Nico. I actually own a SV550 122 and I have ~20hrs of data with it and my results are just like yours. It indeed has a bit of color fringing but the correction is good enough to justify its price. Thanks for the review

Thank you. I was always saying that the Svbony 122 triplet is "a poor man's Esprit 120". And this test proves the theory that when shooting with narrow band filters and a monochrome sensor, an ED doublet is 'good enough' (and you can spend your savings on the optical tube on NB filters and mono sensor)

Pity you couldn't get your hands on an Askar 120 for the review

No one can trust the marketing departments of these or others in this world! But results & value is the most important part I feel! Nico the reason to to not markup the Vixen dovetail rail, but like you said makes it harder to fit on some mounts with that as the locking screws are somewhat pointed and mark the side up.

I see the lens cap with calibration hole I made for this scope is still with it. :)

Interesting results. With the vignetting, the skywatcher has the advantage because it's shooting at it's full focal length . With the reduder it would be very similar i guess. I would like to see the difference between a fpl-53/Lanthanum doublet compared to the triplets?

The book is great! as is your video!

Really enjoyed this video as I have all your comparison videos, answered some discussion questions we have had in the astronomy club I belong to, (Middle Georgia Astronomical Society).

Hermosos teléscopios amigo nico muy buenos para la astrofotografia saludos desde Honduras

Another great video, Nico. Thank you. Are you going to the Cherry Springs Star Party in June?

Can’t wait for that PS518 review/first look 😉

very well put together comparison, thank you. also i’ve got a question for you, i’ll be shooting the eclipse and i also have the sigma 40mm f/1.4 that i’ll be using to try to get the comet in the same frame just like you! im wondering how you’ll be framing it, will you try to get venus in the very corner and jupiter in the other, with the comet and sun in between? or will you forego venus and get the sun, comet, jupiter, and the pleiades in the frame? im not sure which i’ll go for, im curious what your plan is

The Svbony clearly was disadvantaged being used with reducer at F5.6 and the Esprit at F7. Why didn't you use both at F7 since the Svbony is an F7 refractor just like the Esprit ?

Great video, great subject. Does the Sky Watcher have slightly pinched optics? Seen best on pixel peeping hyper saturation.

I built my own 5 inch refractor, it's pretty much the first one since it's a doublet but mine cost less than half as much to make, oddly enough it also seems to be on par in terms of color image quality.

If the focuser rotator has right hand screws, you were tightening the "captains wheel". That's a common oversight when you are opposite the rear of the threads.😊 I'm cramming for the eclipse and its my first eclipse here in Texas. What would be your most useful advice for getting the best pictures of it. My equipment, and it's all probably inadequate for the most part. Canon 800 D, HDX 110 mount with Televue Paracorr type 2 coma corrector on Orion 10" Newtonian. I have taken some beautiful deep sky pictures with this setup, in some Bortle 1 and 2 skys. Also I have a William Optics Zenithstar 61mm, with the flat 61 flattener from W.O. Recently acquired QHY 183M with the QHY CFW3 seven position filter wheel. The new camera is for the Orion 10" astrograph. Used astronomy tools CCD suitability calculator to match up the combo. The Paracorr worked like a dream with the 800 D on the 10" Newt, but I'm having trouble finding the connections for the filter wheel to coma corrector for the QHY. I'm thinking my best bet will be the 800 D with the William Optics Zenithstar which is 360 mm focal length. I'm aware it is not the optimally matched pixel scale. I do have the proper T adapter for that. I have been simulating my various combos on Stellarium but none are totally optimal for the eclipse. I also have Neximage five camera and GPCAM 0130M original version for my guide scope. I do not have a photographic Barlow for any of these setups, although I'm aware that's not a problem with the 1000 mm Newtonian astrograph at f/3.9. The Newtonian will give me a good closeup but will probably cut off a lot of corona. The William Optics is a better magnification but slightly under sampled with the APS C sensor in the 800 D. I will be using Thousand Oaks white light solar filters. I know this must seem ridiculous but, any thoughts? Post script; I have SET'n'C on my laptop per your eclipse video 5. Today is the first day I've seen sunshine in two weeks so ill probably go practice in the field next to my apartment. All I need to do now is figure out daytime polar alignment, lug this beast setup out and give it a try.🤪 Is that all?😂 57 year old, lugging an HDX 110 mount around Texas, with a bad back.😬 Thanks for the fantastic, (NO NONSENSE) content. You are one of the few without that. Sincerely, Carl.

Awesome review as usual! Will it be possible if you could review different entry level sensors in astro cameras like the IMX 533, IMX 585 etc. I was looking at the new ZWO ASI 585 MC Pro and was wonding how that will stack up to the established 533 MC Pro.

Brilliant work! I have the SVBony 550 122, and always wanted to see how it would stackup (pardon the pun) with the SW. Considering the price, I think it holds up very well.

Could that side plate on the ES scope allow it to be mounted on a Losmandy D-style saddle? Actually, it looks like it would still be too small. Maybe just to allow for variations in Vixen saddles that may not clamp down enough. Just guessing now. LOL.

Great video and it makes me happy with what I can accomplish with my AR127. If you would do a deep dive into the Ar127 I would love you forever! No such video exist.

Hi Nico, nice video and talk as always, i like your videos. Well, what i can say, i started with achromatic scope [ST80] and was using a DSLR lens also with it until i managed to buy better quality scopes but not expensive ones, first with 90mm triplet that has FPL-55 which is very similar close to FPL-53, i bought it twice so i have two, then by last year i added 106mm triplet that has FCD-100, i want you to test those optics if you can with same or similar aperture, so one with FPL-53 and one with FPL-55 and one with FCD-100 to see which one is really a better optic after all, i even bought two ED doublets [60mm f/6] with one stated to have FPL-53 while the other just unknown ED which i believe could be also FPL-53 or FCD-100 but they didn't mentioned, i didn't test them but i swear that they both are the same in everything regardless of different brands, the design are just typical, so i also wanted to see how the ED doublet can compare to achromatic and triplet here, and if it is possible can you do like a final result where you combine a data from achromatic with NB and triplet with RGB to see if it works good enough, or for example Ha from achromatic and OIII from triplet and see. Thank you very much for all your efforts and videos Nico, i always like to follow your videos.

Well, I do find it interesting that the ES 127 achro did so well with narrow band filters. Is there an aftermarket field flatterner that can be used on that scope? I have to assume the edges haven't changed any. So, ES makes two other 127 scopes, the $2,800 FCD100 triplet and the $2,000 127 Essential. I would love to see comparisons with those to the Skywater 120. Also, at a couple of hundred dollars higher than the SkyWatcher, at $3,500 is the ZWO 130 quad. I wonder how that compares to the SkyWatcher for 10mm more of aperture and $200 in price and that fourth element.

the SV Reducer is only specified for the DSLR format. Up to there the stars are perfect for me right down to the corners. That should be taken into account. The reduction factor also plays a role...you can see this especially with the Askars.  Feedback

I've been doing visual for a few years, I have a skywatcher eq 5, thinking about trying some photography. Any advice on a good scope to start with?

How does the 127 mm Explore Scientific achromat compare to the 122 mm Svbony specifically for seeing galaxies (not astrophotography) at 80-120x magnification ? Is there any difference ? Do the galaxies look less sharp, with less contrast and more washed-out ? Thank you!

I wonder how well the achro would do in rgb, no lum imaging.

with digital cameras its no longer about needing light buckets, thats why refractors are getting so popular with deep sky stuff, so aperture should be considered more about resolution than light gathering...as long as optics quality is good enough you are close to diffraction limited

Star bloat will be still very evident on an achromat scope even with narrowband. Not the Ha but OIII. The stars can be reduced in post processing but trying to match -size the stars to the Ha or the SII filter can be a struggle. and you won't be able to use rgb stars, because even more CA. Ask me how I know. 😊

I'm actually impressed with how good the chepo Svbony field flattener performed with a full frame sensor. I would say most of SV122 users will not use a full frame. Most likely IMX571 IMX294 or IMX533 I would say. I've tried both IMX294 and IMX585 so the field will always be flat and illuminated anyway.

Hi, is it possible to compare Sky-Watcher Esprit 100mm ED Triplet with Askar 107PHQ 107mm f/7 Quadruplet. Both have similar prices but one of them is triplet the other is quadrupled. Which one is better to buy for astrophoto?

There are two opinions I trust before buying any new equipment. Nebula Photos and Astrobackyard . If y'all approve it, I buy it 😃

No comparison should be called complete without also including the Askar 120APO. :-)

I wonder how close the three scopes would be after running their data through BlurXTerminator? Can BXT remove the difference between between the Svbony and Skywatcher? ;)

I have a question: What is the best camera you recommend for astrphotography, and my budget is 300$

Would you use any of them on the AM5?

Hi Nico, I assume that if you compared DUAL NARROW BAND filters like the Optolong L-Extreme, you would expect to end up with fringing on the Explore Scientific, right? Pardon me if that question was already asked and answered. PAUL (jpastroguy)

so a 6in shootout is next?

I was just looking for a 5" refractor review. Not sure why considering I have 2 of them. Probably just justifying my previous purchases...

I know you are focused on photography but do you ever do visual astronomy comparisons? The reason I ask = I want to get a 4.5 to 5inch Apo for dual use at a dark sky site -> I’m 70:30 visual. The Televue 127mm scope is my current proposed scope. I think it will cover both bases well. Obviously, the three scopes you’ve just looked at are much cheaper though.

For me, it looks like the Explore Scientific narrowband images shows the tightest stars in the upper part of the image. But the lower half of the narrowband image shows tighter stars in the SkyWatcher. I don't know if this is due to seeing variations or some minor collimation issue. Also the nebula contrast (tadpoles) seems better in the SkyWatcher. Overall, this comparison seems like an argument for the Explore Scientific if you're doing mostly narrowband and want to save some bucks.

Loads review "Oh man the SVBony fans are gonna be so mad!" Reads comments, "Yup there they all are, spectacularly missing the point!" Great video as ever Nico

Not a fair comparison since you used the Svbony with reducer at just F5.6 (instead of it's native F7) and the Skywatcher Esprit at F7.

Wait, if doing RGB with the achromat, wouldn’t you be focusing for blue when shooting blue? Wouldn’t that eliminate or at least minimize the halo? Achromats aren’t incapable of focusing blue, they just can’t do it at the same time as the other colors.

why would the halo still be there if shooting separate wideband colour filters? is it not a focus difference and if you refocused between colour filters the chromatic aberration would be strongly reduced?

What's your opinion of SVBONY?

Sadly no Takahashi TSA 120 :(

I cant find a budget equatorial for my 350 lb telescope. Suggestions ?

28:55 well if it doesnt focus that light to the same spot then change focus when you do the shots for that color. At this point there is literally no point in spending twice as much on a scope , you might as well use the money for electronic filter wheel and focusing.

Except for the faster F stops, I don't see the advantage of refractors over reflectors.

Alyn Wallace is no more sir 😔😔😔😔😔

Five inch refractor? Sounds heavy.

Where are you going since everywhere is going to be cloudy?

At the beginning you said that visual observers use reflectors (mainly newtonians), because they are cheaper than refractors of that size. Reflectors also don't have any chromatic aberration, basically only coma. Why then should you spend thousands on refractors with high quality glass if for the eq-6 class mount that you used in this video (like the ZWO AM-5 and SW EQ6-R) you can easily put an 8" f/4 newtonian. You'd have a waayyy faster scope than literally any refractor, except for an extremely expensive takahashi (I checked). I really want to understand why you should use a refractor? I think collimation isn't the issue.

Skywatcher seems to have an amount of greenish CA tint. I dont think its that easy to say which one is better. More green is just as bad. It would be nice to compare with a newtonian of similar focal length and get a color benchmark.

I understand why they just want to sell small refractors, they are easy to ship and easy to sell... I believe they would have more success by selling reflectors and teaching optics, most of the fun comes from figuring out stuff yourself. These channel is mostly about shooting with 3" refractors for a few minutes and then spending hours in front of a computer.

early!