William Optics RedCat 51 (Unboxing) 

Purchased a NightCat 51 due to this video...and at first, I thought it was a bit overdramatic...but I was wrong. It's just the opposite...this is a dramatic piece of equipment, and the video is perhaps even UNDERdramatic. NightCat/RedCat/SpaceCat is one HELL of a piece of equipment. William Optics has forever gained a place in my heart for solid craftsmanship. Thanks for the solid video.

I kickstarted this thing. I was about to buy a 61z but this one is a better match for me. the fact that does not need a flattener is also a plus. UPDATE: the campaign was funded successfully on Feb 25, waiting on an update on shipping.

Almost 50k subscribers, congratulations in advance!

Nice to know you are coming to my country Costa Rica. We have great weather now and very good for Astronomy, specially in the north part in Guanacaste province. I will be on Palo Verde National Park from March 8-10th with my Explore Scientific 102 ED Triplet APO if you want to stop by. Have a great trip and vacations.

When he said expensive I was expecting something over $1,000. This lens is super affordable!

William optics sure knows how to make good-looking telescopes.

Sahweeeeeeeeet William Optics is making a micro four thirds mount for it too! 250mm would be perfect for a number of things... This will look rather sweet on the Star Guider Pro with William Optics' mount for such...

Hey Trevor, great unboxing video! This looks to be an interesting little scope indeed, astrophotographers will appreciate this scope. Looking forward to your full review.

Congrats on the Anniversary, thanks for sharing your videos with us.

Why not use a canon 200mm f4 or f2.8 len?

Aw man, I already have a Canon 200 f/2.8 L and an AT60ED, but now I want this scope. Gotta resist for my wallet's sake... Nice unboxing video Trevor.

Awesome scope Trevor! Can't wait to see how it performs! Keep up the good work!

Hi Trevor, what I like from you is the good & bad features and in this video you were more of a salesman mode, not what we want, in the past and maybe after you used the item you were more like a real user point of view! For the $600 I would say for astrophotographers you can get a DSLR lens like a 200mm f4 for less and maybe Auto Focus but can't add a astro filter unless you use a clip in and that would be the way I will go. I own a brand new not used WO Z61 and the 10:1 micro focuser that I got does not work and WO has no parts so not a WO FAN anymore! Astronomy is such a very small business that a once great company would still have parts but sadly don't.

Whew! Tough crowd today.... Nice video, Trevor, you seem to be a nice guy, but the model with the nail polish is much nicer. You two enjoy your honeymoon and the warm sun. I'm jealous>>> Safe travels and clear skies! Mike

Lovely cute little scope, wish u a happy honey moon Trevor :)

Sorry to say but it looks like you're reading the whole thing from a little note tucked into the case... especially from 6:08 onward. Did William Optics write the script for you? I usually really enjoy your videos but this just seems staged and forced. We all understand you'd like to make money and there's nothing wrong with that... just don't sell your soul - your subscribers need to rely on YOUR opinion! Clear skies Trevor

Got my Redcat last month a long with the ZWO 183 mc pro cooled camera, ready for astro season to kick off again this month.

I watched this video on 1st day of premiere, its already 5 years woahhhh

Fantastic video as usual Trevor, what a gem this thing is, thank you!

OK seriously, seen a lot of people comparing this to tele primes from canon and nikon. First, those lens are just as or slightly more expensive than this. Then consider that this is a SCOPE not a lens. You're talking about a quadruplet apo with FPL-53. Come on guys. This is sharper, no false colour, no aberration and no coma. It has a built in mask, a slot for a filter and a field rotator. Comes with it's own dovetail for both EQ mounts and photo tripods. It will not suffer from focus creep with the built in tensioner and will have no vignette. Don't forget the overal build quality is FAR superior. For astro, this is better than any lens. Full stop end of story. For wildlife, it may be a bit tricky for photography in terms of focus but sitting in a hide with a gimbal tripod, patience and shooting at 4.9 (a bit of DOF) I would imagine with some practice it will be fine. For video this will be pretty great also. For visual this will be fantastic. Again this is a scope, that does better at being a lens than other scopes. For astro its decently fast and will produce fantastic wide field photos. For terrestrial this will be good at both visual and photography. Honestly I dont understand how people are comparing this to lenses. canon 200 mm 2.8 is cheaper, but much worse for astro. The longer focal length canon/nikon F4 lenses are more expensive and MUCH larger.

Hi.Because you said it delivers flat field images, etc.....so this means it doesn't need an extra flat field corrector?!

Im going to give this a look - may have to pick on up.

I could imagine using this in a future setup. Thanks for the unboxing!

As always, great unboxing Trevor. Thanks for that! Clear skies

Oh wow, I think this would be a perfect first step for me, interested to see what you produce with it!

Hi Trevor! Can the ZWO ASI1600MM PRO - Cooled (Mono) camera be used in this telescope? Thank you and success!

Greetings from Costa Rica!! I hope you will enjoy your trip down here. Thanks for another great video

I know it's used for astro or wild life photography... but, can the red cat be used for candid shots for wedding?

Thanks for the review :) There is a lot of buzz on the forums regarding this little scope/lens. I feel confident WO are onto a winner here, the design and specs look great, and they have a track record with the Petzval design. I don't know if you remember the WO 66 Petzval from years ago? It was sold along side the legendary WO66 SD.

Always liked looking at the night sky since im i was young..ive been looking ur videos for almost 2 years now a i think and im buying my first dslr soon wanting to do astrophotography after i learn how to correctly use the camera..probly do a couple of milkyway shot..Great review as always.

Zenithstar 61 or Redcat 51? And why please?

Nice unboxing Trevor :) Love the dual mount, great for photographers!

I really would love to put my hands in one of those. Good video, My first astrophotography shot was Saturn with my Canon PowerShot SX400-IS and a few weeks later the Great Orion Nebula (M42), not in a telescope quality but more by the difficulty and settings. I'm looking forward to some wildlife pictures now and this lens/scope looks honey for me.

Looking forward to see it in action! It is quite expensive, but comparing the price with large lenses, it's really not as bad as I was expecting. Especially considering it was designed for astrophotography. I suspect this will be the type of product where people will want to see it directly compared to a telephoto lens, otherwise they will not see the benefits of the scope.

I receive mine tomorrow.Can't wait! Whats with the dislikes?

Hi Trevor! I am considering to buy a REDCAT 51 and I found your review really helpful and you've convinced me this will be the right pick. However, I would like to ask you a few questions about cameras compatible with this telescope. I am using Canon 5D (DSLR) full frame and Canon R (MILC) full frame cameras and I'd like to know if either of them would work with this scope or do I have to buy a camera specifically made for astrophotography. Thank you very much for you answer and you time in advance. Have a nice day! :)

ive only found your channel within the past few days and im eager to get into this. gonna consider the 61 for a starter or maybe this,, but im going to practice with my 70 to 200mm tamron and on a vixen polarie and see what results i get,, keep up the good work !

Hi Trevor, hope you are keeping well... is the Redcat51 a good scope for beginners in Astrophotography❓ Thanks again for another fab presentation👍🏻

Wow, that looks awesome!

Great presentation -- I will check this out. Observation: I noticed that the audio was not great quality. Don't know if it was the set acoustics, the mic or both. Seemed to be more harsh than your previous norms. (may need to baffle the set in some sound absorbing material.) FYI from a frequent flyer. Or it could be my ears and/or MacBook. Again, great presentation. Look forward to images captured and post processed.

I may have missed it in your description because I'm mezmorised by the colour, but does it just screw in to a standard T ring adapter?

Is the redcat 51 lens less powerful than a Canon 600 mm lens. Can I use a Canon lens 600 mm instead of this redcat lens for Astrophotography.

Hi and thank you soo much for your great videos. Im just in the very start of my Astrophotography. Green as grass, but do enjoy daytime photography. Do you know if this telescope is possible to pair with a fujifilm X mount? Because if I need to purchase a new camera, I might as well invest in a dedicated astro camera (CCD). what would your recommendation be?

How does this compare to your Canon 300mm F4 for astrophotography ? Obviously is slightly shorter focal length & slightly smaller aperture but I appreciate there’s more to it than that. Thanks in advance

I have a crop sensor. Will it dramatically affect the results since I don't have a full frame?

Sorry for the question but would this be the same as my 200mm f2.8 or 300mm f2.8 photography lens? At 250mm I'm quite getting it.

I'm curious... is this the older model or the newer model. Thanks.

Love the videos and deffinetly will take this little scope into consideration. Also what was the base mount on the skyguider? That wasent the stock one and I'd like to find out and maybe get one for mine if I can get my hands on one. Have an amazing trip, clear skys

I have 200-500 mm f/5.6 Nikon - NIKKOR lens. And I've used it with my mount, nice wide field images. It is more expensive than this lens - but not by much (considering it has max FL of 500 mm). So, how does it compares? Less vignetting (this scope)? It seems that M51 has much longer focuser (travel). Back (focus) ring, when used in manual mode - on conventional zoom lens, is much shorter, and does not extend (it moves internally). My issue with 200-500 mm lens was - when extended to 500 mm, and in upright position (stars above) - the weight of the front lens group reduced the focal length. I had to use masking tape to keep it in place. I wonder if M51 has the same issue, seeing that focusing is helical and at front. Is there some locking feature - to lock the focus once achieved (and prevent the scope from retracting if its upright)?

$650 is much cheaper than I thought it would be! In my neck of the photographic world, thats just spending cash most of the time haha Very interesting video! Thanks for making it!

It seems most products on William optics web sight are out of stock. What a shame, hope they restock soon.

Not really sure how this bridges the gap between telescope and prime telephoto lens when its focal length is well within the range of widely-available telephoto lenses like 200 mm and 300 mm. It's more like a telescopic alternative to 200-300 mm telephoto lenses. If I stop down a 200/300 mm f/4 to f/5.6, am I really going to be much better off with the RedCat 51? And perhaps I've got a bias here, but 51 mm is a small aperture for telescopes. That's finderscope aperture. Binocular aperture. Department store Tasco telescope aperture. I love that you can put 2" star diagonals into this thing so you can insert eyepieces with almost as large a field stop lens as the telescope itself. Put in a 25 mm eyepiece and you've got half of a 10x50 binocular, though maybe with a wider field of view. Maybe they should have made this a 60 mm f/5.

I tried the 250mm setting on my Leica 90-280mm lens on a full frame Lumix S1H and the Orion Nebula is just too small at that focal length. So I am having trouble understanding what sort of pictures this RedCat is for.

Could you tell if a mirrorless camera can be be attached to this telescope?

Haha awesome to see, that Ohara glass was used in this lens. My brother is working for the German Ohara Group. Maybe i get a safing on this lens. 😂😂

Hey man... love the channel. Im trying to watch as many vudeos before i ask any questions. But i wanted to know what tye advantage of a lens like this would have versus a telephoto lens on my Fuji mirrorless??

What will be the benefits for having this instead of a telephoto lens like the Nikon 200-500mm?

Now i am trying to decide between the Red Cat 51 and the Z61 to go with my Canon 6d Mark 2 in combo with a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer tracking mount. Any suggestions would be appreciated since i am mostly new to astrophotography. Enjoy your honeymoon Trevor and i look forward to your next videos for this scope.

Cant wait to see some Astro images on this unit

This is a really nice small Cat scope! Excelent video!

Cant wait to see the result

As usual , a great review Trevor. How would this scope perform on a short crop sensor ? I’m using a Canon 80D and just purchased the SW Star Adventurer so I find this scope intriguing. Again , great review and thanks . Keep em coming !

That is an awesome looking little scope

Thank you for this really helpful video. I'm reaally interseted in this lens....Please could I ask? What adaper would I need to use this on a Sony Alpha FE body?

Lol if my wife saw me bringing a telescope on our honeymoon shed be upset I have a question. Is this a telescope or a telephoto lens? It seems to be a bit of both I already have a sigma 100-400 lens, would getting this be a waste for deep space?

Can I attach a Leica MP-240 digital camera (it is a 24 Megapixel full frame camera) to this RedCat 51?

Hi Trevor 👋 can u suggest some lens for someone can't afford redcad51? Does 75-300mm work?

Great video as always! Could you give me your opinion on a telescope that is good for visual astronomy and for astrophotography? I'm pretty new to astronomy and astrophotography, so it'd really help.😂

Does it come with a manual...didn't see one when unboxing?

Why would you choose this over the Meade 70mm Quadruplet APO you reviewed?

Out of the zenithstar 61 and the redcat 51, which would you choose?

I just got mine today

Can you get an attachment to view it as a normal telescope.

I don't understand how you are so sold about this lens but haven't used it?

Thanks for sharing. Great info. And congrats!

What do you find yourself using more the Redcat or the Zenithstar 61?

sky is mostly clear in Costa Rica these days ! good luck

How would you say this would compare to a "f5, 150mm reflector", in terms of deep sky imaging?

Im considering to buy wiliam optics redcat 51. I am going to use it for astrophotography but I also would like to see stars or planets with my eyes. Should I buy a eyepieces cat eye eyepieces as well??

f5 is normal for a deep sky imaging scope, but a tad slow for timelapse. Otherwise a very interesting lens

Would this work with a 2x teleconverter between the camera body and the telescope?

genius little thing, i am so buying it :D

Well you have pretty much sold me on this one. Can't wait to see the test results though. That will be the real seller! If you had to recommend a lens similar to this what would you compare it to?

whats the difference between the redct and a normal lens ?

Any idea how to connect 1.25" diagonal to the scope?

friend a query. How do you evaluate this product to observe deep space? Thank you!

Congrats Mr T . . . From Tampa Florida 😎👍

I have a Nikon D500, do i need a seperate adaptor to mount the lens?

Is there an adapter for Sony e mount camera to the red cat ????

Hi, is there a way to use the RedCat with a Fuji T10 Mirrorless camera?

WOW thats purdy... i love WO's stuff. sooooooo sweet.... ok off to see if they have a 80mm redcat

Which CMOS camera could be a good match for this? An ASI 183 or 294?

So you think more/larger models are planned?

Wondering if this could be converted to the most expensive finder scope out there? It's certainly small enough to mount atop a larger reflector or refractor.

Wait, why can't I just get a 250mm camera lens that is cheaper than this? Won't it take the same image?

Trevor, Love your videos! Thanks for all the great info. I am considering this as a guide scope for my 80mm refractor (480mm f/6) with the option of using it for wide field imaging while it’s already mounted on my main scope. Would this work as a guide scope in your opinion? (using Orion Starshoot Autoguider Pro camera) Could I put the guide camera on the 80mm refractor while using the WO51 for imaging? Many thanks, Mike

What is the advantage of this over say, a 70-200 f2.8 EF lens.

Will an asi224mc be good for this scope?

I have a 300mm f/4 lens, how does it translate into astrophotography use? Can I even use my normal lens for astro or do I need to buy an astro lens/telescope specifically for astrophotography?

Quick question and sorry in advance if I misunderstanding something, this is a genuine question: what is the interest of the RedCat 51 when you could have a prime or focus lens around 250mm with autofocus and up to f/2.8 for about the same price ? Not to mention that when you are using a DSLR lens, generally you can do a remote control focus... which is essential IMHO for any magnification > 20x (at least with my moderately old/fatigued eyes)