Aegea
Well-known member
My new scope, that is, a used Orion 80ED. Fortunately I was off work today when it came so I have been able to play with it a little. So far, I'm impressed - both with the size (this thing is a beast compared to my Nikon 300 f/4!) but also with the optical quality.
Luckily I had an extension tube that fit, so I slapped that and a T-mount on it, and took some test shots. Then I reshot with the Nikon and a 2x teleconverter using the same exposure, etc., just to get a rough comparison. I took the best of three in each case, but I found the Orion easier to handle and I think I may have missed focus on the Nikon (which just shows the Orion is easier to focus, I suppose). The IQ of the Orion completely blows the Nikon + TC combination away. It is amazingly better. Here are two 100% crops of the target (a $1 bill) from near the center of the field, with the Orion first.
I'm also attaching a shot of the beast on my tripod. I am going to need a better tripod ...
Luckily I had an extension tube that fit, so I slapped that and a T-mount on it, and took some test shots. Then I reshot with the Nikon and a 2x teleconverter using the same exposure, etc., just to get a rough comparison. I took the best of three in each case, but I found the Orion easier to handle and I think I may have missed focus on the Nikon (which just shows the Orion is easier to focus, I suppose). The IQ of the Orion completely blows the Nikon + TC combination away. It is amazingly better. Here are two 100% crops of the target (a $1 bill) from near the center of the field, with the Orion first.
I'm also attaching a shot of the beast on my tripod. I am going to need a better tripod ...
BTW I have the bigger brother to this one the 100ED and love it.
