First Scope advice needed - Celestron Ultima 80, Acuter or other (1 Viewer)

Hi, I have been trying to do a little research on a first 'scope. At risk of clogging the thread feed here I thought I'd try one more post, just in case.
I'll be using these on holidays in Turkey and Canary Islands next year.

Also, does anyone have experience with either of these:
Celestron Ultima 80
Acuter Pro-Series ST20-60x80

These are the two I have my eye on but would be willing to consider others up to £300- I looking to get a decent portable tripod as well.

Thank you for any advice!

PS. I hope that this time next year I'll be able to upgrade a few notches- so currently don't mind accessorising up beyond the Acuter/Celestron specs - with the idea of using those accessories on my improved scope next year! (Hopefully)

First consideration: distance.
That drives power, aperture, and tripod stability.
Bear in mind weight and bulk go up quickly.

ED-glass 50mm scopes are very popular here.
Lower powers (due to brightness), super-sharp images, very small.
Very expensive though. IT seems most scopes are less than your limit
or suddenly a lot more.

I'd be happy with the Celestron Ultima 80. I've looked through one.
It's not the ultimate, but the light comes in handy and the contrast is good.
The atmosphere humbles them all often over ~200yds.
It's a bit large for travel...

I have noticed higher power (40x and up) brings up major tripod issues.
Scope plus tripod become tough for travel.
So....maybe something small, extra-sharp, moderate power, easy to get a tripod for,
but not priced in the stratosphere.


This looks super for a small ED scope:
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Lege...3205&sr=8-2&keywords=bushnell+spotting++10x50
If you don't want to pony up for an Opticron MM3...

The little 50mm Ed scopes don't need a lot in terms of tripod.
I've seen a 50$ video pod do very well. The scopes have very little
angular momentum so they don't vibrate on the mount like longer ones.

Thanks for the advice! I have opted for an especially cheap Ultima, hoping to climb the ladder somewhat over the next year, possibly going for an MM3 if things go well!

I'll stick some reviews on the site, thanks agains

OPTIC_NUT said:

First consideration: distance.
That drives power, aperture, and tripod stability.
Bear in mind weight and bulk go up quickly.

ED-glass 50mm scopes are very popular here.
Lower powers (due to brightness), super-sharp images, very small.
Very expensive though. IT seems most scopes are less than your limit
or suddenly a lot more.

I'd be happy with the Celestron Ultima 80. I've looked through one.
It's not the ultimate, but the light comes in handy and the contrast is good.
The atmosphere humbles them all often over ~200yds.
It's a bit large for travel...

I have noticed higher power (40x and up) brings up major tripod issues.
Scope plus tripod become tough for travel.
So....maybe something small, extra-sharp, moderate power, easy to get a tripod for,
but not priced in the stratosphere.


This looks super for a small ED scope:
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Lege...3205&sr=8-2&keywords=bushnell+spotting++10x50
If you don't want to pony up for an Opticron MM3...

The little 50mm Ed scopes don't need a lot in terms of tripod.
I've seen a 50$ video pod do very well. The scopes have very little
angular momentum so they don't vibrate on the mount like longer ones.

Click to expand...

Or this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Barska-12-36-x-50mm-WP-Naturescape-ED-Straight-Spotting-Scope/30224659

rmel66.

might have to head up to bootle to find the walmart store......

have a look around here - someone is selling a kowa 821 with 32 wide - 300pounds - surely a good buy and better value than a 'cheapy' scope...

woodhornbirder said:

might have to head up to bootle to find the walmart store......

Click to expand...

Switching the brand and model
and invoking the cultural stigma of WalMart?
This is is a good example of the famous "Straw Dog" fallacy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Not that I'm a maniacal fan of the model in question,
but I don't feel that disingenuous sniping is helpful at all.
You might want to research the culture of the OP to find
the local equivalent of WalMart.

I think it's safe to assume that neither of you ever touched the
Celestron Ultima 80. Not without hand-sanitizer, perhaps. ;-)
(Sorry, my own, albeit more justified exagerration).


Here is a blurb that includes actual testing and photos:
http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-522...414258237&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+ultima+80

Since the fringing is well-controlled until 40-60x, and since
one needs a very decent investment in tripod over 30x
(is that in the OP's budget?), It doesn't seem unreasonable
to start with.

Mind you, the Kowa would be quite awesome, but once you
tossed in shipping, handling, the Manfrotto fluid head tripod
or whatever, does the depth of the expense become visible.
No doubt 1000 pounds would produce even better
results. It helps to have a coherent discussion of the alternatives, though.
A pretty good 50mm was mentioned as well. Dropping that
was also part of the straw-dogging.

Your quite right i shouldnt disparage bootle like that !

DOnt think its quite that mediocre......despite its reputation.

Perhaps its a match made in heaven?

I did own a Celestron Ultima 80 for about 2 yrs. It was good value for the money but had its limitations. Theres threads on here about upgrading the ep on one.

feel free to get back on your sanctimonious soap box though....

btw you missed the pun....."You might want to research the culture of the OP to find
the local equivalent of WalMart.".....that IS the joke, there is NO equivalent of walmart in the UK. (Maybe aldi/lidl are trying to bridge that auspicious gap )

OK...sorry.
You don't think it's a toy, but does have limitations.
That's about what I said.
I wasn't heaping the critique on you,
I was complaining about the Walmart reference, and to be honest, I didn't understand
what 'bootle' meant so it just seemed like you were piling on.
A trouble with idioms, perhaps.

The reference to a little Barska at Walmart was a straw-dog, though.
That's too obvious to ignore.
A critical thinking course hasn't made me any more sanquine in this day and age.
There's so much smearing that works its way into otherwise ernest discussion.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein