Choosing a little 'un.

[cugsy]

I'm making some changes to the obsy and the LX and in the forlorn hope that if it ever stops raining (on the bit of Norfolk Chris doesn't live in..)  I'm thinking of mounting a small scope on top of the 10" sct. I have a few older lenses that I can play with but quite fancy the look of the 66mm and 70mm ed's on't web. I don't suppose for a minute that any of them are good enough not to need a field flattener - mo' money! But it would be nice to do some widefield with a nice scope rather than my collection of 30+ year old lenses.
 The WO 66 is no more and the others all seem about the same price - £300 or so. Any preferences folks? It will be mated up with the 350D for starters but hopefully another OSC might pop up in time for chrimbo. Or Ramadan...Divali ....etc John

[Roger B]

With A DLSR John a flattener will be needed,  How ever the TS65Q has a built in flattener & they say optimised for all size chips.

Roger

[cugsy]

That TS is a bit more than I have Rog. I was looking for a used zs66 or similar and get a FF for it. Got to keep the boss happy etc..

[continuum]

ZS 66's are like hens teeth now. I've looking for one for ages and the only one I've seen recently was a Petzval which I believe were far from good.
Good hunting!
Ron

[dciobota]

 Hey, I have one of those!  The ZS66SD, which I highly recommend.  But I think the gso version are pretty much the same scope, with less bling maybe but just as capable optically and mechanically.  Got mine a looong time ago, and it will probably be the last scope I will ever get rid of.

 Anyways.  Yes, you will definitely need a flattener.  I don't remember trying the mpcc on it, but I don't see why that wouldn't work if it worked on the M90 (about the same f ratio if I remember).  Also, one thing to note is the focuser thread is an sct thread, so like a 2" visual back will work (it's what I use) and all other sct accessories including an sct sized flattener or reducer (like the antares 0.6.3 one).  One other thing, a strong reducer  will push focus inward very close to the limit.  I still have an AP 0.67 reducer, and I had to get a very short 2" to T adapter to make it work... I'm still testing that combo btw, as I plan to switch from using my 70-200 lens to the 66 reduced to about f4 (I hope).  I'm just worried sick that leaving the lens outside for extended lengths of time might mean mildew and fungus down the road.

 Btw, yes, the petzval version is not nearly as good, even though it's supposed to be optically corrected.  I think there was an article somewhere where they explain how to mod the petzval scope to improve the optics.

 Here's a CN review of the scope (AT66 ED, same as mine essentially), and it's pretty much bang on with my experience.  Also note the old WO 0.8x reducer works pretty well with the scope.

Hope this helps.

[dciobota]

 Say, was looking around and the 66's are really hard to find!  Even the AT ones look backordered, which probably means discontinued.  But found this one:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p2983_Skywatcher-Equinox-66---66-400mm-APO---1-25----2--SC-Anschluss.html

 A bit pricey, but it has the same specs as mine I think.  Also, they have a flattener they recommend for it, which should work with any of the 66 mm clones I think.

[cugsy]

I had a look at that one Dan. Theres a starwave 70ed (whether its actually ed or not i cant confirm). Its the lightest one I can get away with too that counts. We all know what the balance situation is like on Meade forks. They all hover about the 2.5kg mark which seems fairly heavy.

[cugsy]

Or this one ....http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p1840_TS-Travelscope-66---66-400mm-ED-APO-farbrein-auch-als-APO-Tele-Objektiv.html

[cugsy]

the list goes on..http://www.altairastro.com/product.php?productid=16686&cat=270&page=1

[astropilch]

There was a starwave 70ed on buysell last week mate.....250 notes if memory serves....

Alan