I've just checked the price for the Celestron 114LCM on Amazon and they have several used copies of the Telescope available for just $197!! Which is frankly, insane value, for a goto Telescope! Link: amzn.to/3ytqnrU Which of the Telescopes would you be most likely to go for with a budget of $500? And do you think you could create a better telescope setup for less than $500? If so, leave a comment down below! 🤩✨ Clear skies 🌠
The Celestron 114LCM is a Brid jones design telescope. This means Focus issues and has a F ration of F8.8 I don’t recommend this telescope he is just good for visual observation. (Moon, Jupiter, Saturn other bright objects)
The mount on the Seestar alone is worth $500. I just tossed it into my carryon bag, along with an imaging Rig (2600MC Duo, Askar 180 etc), and everything fit under the airplane seat!
hey it's engagement bait, seems like the "meta" on youtube with all of us seagulls feeding in to it. I respect it when it comes from a quality channel though. he wins
thats incredible mate i love your content been watching for years i recently bought my first telescope a celestron astromaster 130eq and i hope i can explore the cosmos and grow my passion, nice video, Clear skies........
The Celestron 114LCM is a Brid jones design telescope. This means Focus issues and has a F ration of F8.8 I don’t recommend this telescope he is just good for visual observation. (Moon, Jupiter, Saturn other bright objects)
As someone last into astronomy in the 1970s, I'd love to see a video about what scopes are best for astronomy rather than astrophotography. And out of interest, does anyone do anything with their scope except take pictures these days?
Yes, but obviously if you’re looking online you’ll see pictures, people can’t exactly ship their telescopes to you to look through. Dobsonian are best for visual.
Ok, a little misunderstanding here! I already have a 10" Dob, a 5" Mak and an ST80, I'm not looking to buy another (Well, maybe some bins). My point was that these days all the gear seems to be based around photography and not astronomy. Two entirely different hobbies. All the RU-vid videos are about getting that better photo. I would have hoped after all this time, some new innovations might have appeared for the visual gang, no matter how small it is these days.
@@TechStuff-eu1ts oh ok. In terms of innovation, there has been plenty since the 70’s, and while I’m not expert on the science of telescope building Id assume they’re improving all the time. Mostly mechanical- focusers are getting smoother, mounts are more accurate, etc. In terms of optics, there is less to improve on. There is only a certain level of quality that a piece of glass or a mirror can give you, which is why nowadays the mainstream is photography, as intricate camera sensors and post processing allow for a deeper level of detail/ colour. I mean, in the however many hundreds of years since Galileo used the first telescope, up to before the age of computers, scopes improved marginally each year, getting slowly better, but not by a huge amount. Galileo could make out Jupiter with its four largest moons even with that crappy scope. Then, since cameras became small enough to mount onto telescopes, the quality of views we have been able to achieve have increased more in those few decades than in the few centuries before hand. It’s only natural that the progression of astronomy relies on photography, otherwise we and scientists alike would be sat in the dark looking at a fuzzy grey blob for the 100th time, instead of studying galaxies billions of light years away in exquisite detail.
@@TechStuff-eu1ts Well there are decades of resources for visual astronomy. It's only been possible for less than a couple decades for backyard astronomers to take amazing photos. For visual, what more do you need than a goto mount? Or even better, just a mount, telescope and a star map.
A much better GoTo for under $500 is the Sky-Watcher Virtuoso 150p. It is a tabletop, so you will need something to stand it on. But for the money, you get a 6in parabolic mirror (better than the 114LCM) with tracking. The downside is the focuser, but there are some cheap remedies for this.
Just ordered the 114P for my disabled father! We can put it on top of a circular table outside so a wheelchair can get around it all angles no problem. So excited to see what we can get from it
I also bought a telescope in mid-teens. Actually, it was a Celestron 8" Smidt Casegranian if that is the correct spelling. I also lived up at 10,000 ft in the Colorado Rockies. But I never did any astrophotography. I owned my telescope for 17 years then sold it when I moved halfway around the world. That smart telescope is crazy. I don't suppose that company sells upgrades for larger telescopes to do even better photography. Oh later I did have the chance to work at a real observatory for a few years but the biggest telescope was only a 0.9-meter primary mirror. By the way, I love your channel.
I have a Dwarf 2 smart telescope and it's amazing what such a small, inexpensive device can do. Dwarflab just announced the successor Dwarf 3 and I can't wait to get it in my hands!
I have mixed feelings about the Seestar. At 70 years old with poor health, it looks tempting. On the one hand, when showing friends and family a Seestar created photo you can't say honestly "I took that photo". That little black box did all of the work. When I go through the process with my refractor and DSLR...locating, focusing, tracking, and figuring out exposure settings...I can say "I took that photo". I'm a newbie to astrophotography and feel I'm at a crossroad. Should I invest more into a traditional setup, or go for the smart telescop.
As someone whose recently into astrophotography and jumped into it with the seestar, I find it such an amazing gadget for both new and experienced people. I do understand that mindset that "it took the photo, not me"; but it also couldnt take that photo without you setting it up, telling it what to slew to, still framing the shot the way you want it to, actually telling it to focus (fiddling with the focus), and then finally tell it to do the exposing. So its still very much a very much similar process to your standard refractor and DSLR/astrocam, its just making it a bit easier as its all in one package thats super easy and portable. And setup is super quick if you see you have a nice cloudless evening/night, 5-10mins later all set and ready to go. All in all, I would highly recommend it for at least having it as 'another tool in your toolbelt' type thing.
I see you testing really powerful telescopes friend. Can you once rent a powerful one and show people Apollos landing sites? I believe things you tested before can zoom footprints on Moon.
And I was already looking for a new telescope to begin my own adventure, good guidance and handfull of tips! can't wait for 1000,- USD video to see whats possible. Any recommendations to check with buying used telescopes in regards to quality?
I noticed you didn't mention that focusing a DSLR isn't possible with most dob scopes, which I think is an important consideration in the AP age of telescoping. While an 8" dob is absolutely the right choice for visual only, it's not ideal if you want to transition into imaging. Obviously there are ways around the focus issue (smaller planetary cams / chopping down the tube), but this isn't mentioned enough in these videos IMO.
duuuude what if you do an exposure photo of a star system with a planet(like proxima centauri) for like 4 years, the system will look like it has a ring but since it overlays all the time will you be able to map out the surface of the exo-planet?
Quick question what app do you use in this video im looking to get into beginner astro photography and that app looks really handy to align the telescope btw im looking into getting the omegon 150/750 eq3 if im correct any opinions on that would like the feedback thx tho like your videos really interesting what hides from us in the sky
