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Celestron Regal M2 ED Series - 2013 (1 Viewer)

Jonathan Avery

Active member
I know that these are new for 2013 and have only just been released in the US (meant to be coming to the UK May/June I believe), but has anyone had a look at them or had a chance to try them out? On the couple of US websites I looked at they had prices which were either the same or not significantly more than the prices for the Regal F ED series which is surprising as they are meant to upgrade the Regal F's.
 
I know that these are new for 2013 and have only just been released in the US (meant to be coming to the UK May/June I believe), but has anyone had a look at them or had a chance to try them out? On the couple of US websites I looked at they had prices which were either the same or not significantly more than the prices for the Regal F ED series which is surprising as they are meant to upgrade the Regal F's.

Ah, they switched from aluminum to magnesium and lopped off a whole pound! Nice. Looks like upgraded coatings, maybe, but otherwise same optics. It's still a BIG scope, but at least it's lighter now.

Mark
 
Haven't seen one yet but I did put a request in with one of the popular retailers to get one for review purposes.
 
I haven't heard back from that retailer at this point. I may then contact Celestron directly. No idea what kind of reception I will get. I am just Jo-schmo in the optics world.
 
It was there for a while,but seems to be gone...The specifications of the new model were there, with the new color scheme and body material....way lighter!..but not showing anymore,,...Maybe the upgrade project was aborted?...

Hawke Optics ,that was selling the same scopes with their brand name ,model Endurance ED ,has now dropped the Regal design ,and changed the Endurance ED series to a totally different model ...I thought It was interesting that Celestron was upgrading the Regal and at the same time Hawke was changing to another model..
Perhaps We see Celestron adopting the new body design as well in the near future
 
Does the link take You to the Celestron Regal FL 2?..It used to open the page showing the new model, with pictures of the new color design and the new specifications page..Now, for me,the link opens a celestron web site with no info on the new model......
 
It was there for a while,but seems to be gone...The specifications of the new model were there, with the new color scheme and body material....way lighter!..but not showing anymore,,...Maybe the upgrade project was aborted?...

Hawke Optics ,that was selling the same scopes with their brand name ,model Endurance ED ,has now dropped the Regal design ,and changed the Endurance ED series to a totally different model ...I thought It was interesting that Celestron was upgrading the Regal and at the same time Hawke was changing to another model..
Perhaps We see Celestron adopting the new body design as well in the near future

Looking forward to reading Frank's review when he manages to get his hands on the new scope but in the meantime interesting that the blurb for the new model does not mention fluorite which was a definite feature of the Regal F. Also interested in the correlation of the Regal F with Hawke Endurance scope. The Regal F has had consistently glowing reviews but I have not seen a similar response to Hawke scopes. Are they the same model under different badges or are there other differences?
 
I assumed they were the same considering all of the specs and the housing. I think if you look hard enough you will definitely see some similarities between a variety of optics sold here in the US under one company name and in Europe under another.

They are all coming from the same place but one could assume that the individual companies get to customize the product a bit before they are labeled.

I don't have a distinct memory of a specific review/post that raved about the Hawke Endurance but I do have a general memory of them being recommended favorably on occassion here in the forums.

As for the Fluorite concern....technically the original Celestron Regal F-ED didn't use Fluorite in the objective design either. If you go back to my original review thread for the 65 and 80 mm models Henry Link suggested I shoot a green laser through the objective end of the scope to determine whether or not a "Fluorite" element was utilized. I did and based on the results there wasn't any "Fluorite" in the design. There could, however, be "Fluoride" ions interspersed in at least one lens element of the objective design (similar to what the Zeiss FL binoculars utilize).

We discussed this issue in depth on that thread as well. From what I remember the consensus was that many times marketing folks get the the two words mixed up since they both address the same optical concern. Maybe after all the of the comments here and elsewhere in the optics community Celestron chose to omit that particular descriptive term from describing the new version of the Regal.

Don't get me wrong. I am sure they utilize some type of ED glass in the objective and that it is probably just as effective as the original. They have addressed two of the three key issues that I can remember about the original Regal when they introduced the upgraded model....the weight and the focusing tension/speed. The only other issue that I think anyone could really complain about with them is the cutoff caused by the prism when lower magnification/wide field eyepieces were utilized.
 
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Jonathan,

Glad I could help.

To answer your question, no, I haven't. I will try again shortly...now that the time for the arrive is right around the corner.
 
Mark,

Thank you...on both counts. I can't believe it has been 8 years since I found this wonderful forum.

..and I sent a message to EO to see if they will let me have a Celestron M2 ED 65 for review.
 
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