• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

celestron ultima??? (1 Viewer)

smurf.for.mark

Well-known member
hi does anyone own or could comment on the value/quality of the celestron ultima 80 and 100mm spotter, im mainly interested in the non ED version due to short funds and also more keen to buy the larger 100mm version to be able to use as a grab and go astronomy tool as well as a birding scope so could do with the extra appiture. the 80mm won best in group in an astronomy mag last month, but all the other contenders were also budget scopes

thanks in advance mark
 
Hi Mark, I know of one reveiw of a Celestron Ultima 100ED that they found the first sample bad, second sample bad and he returned it to Celestron for repair, they sent another one and it was the worst of the bunch. This review is dated 3-2005 and they might of fixed this problem. The site I saw this on was Astromart and you have to be a member to see reviews. Oh sorry I just logged off Astromart and you don't have to be a member to see reviews.

http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=232

Regards,Steve
 
celestrons poor QC raises its ugly head again! ok thanks... i had the same trouble with celestron skymaster 15x70 bins but at £80 id concider them cheap and nasty...£450 however for a spotter and they'd pull their finger out wouldnt you think?
i think my best option is second hand and a slightly higher budget.

thanks mark
 
Hi Mark, Sorry for the bad news with the Celestron. I think second hand is a very good way to go, esp. trying out the scope before buying.Good Luck.:)
Mark I almost forgot about the Celestron 80ED spotter, it is a not WP astro scope Celestron brands as a spotter, at least in the States they do. I have one and they are excellent only somewhat heavy. I use a mirror diagonal in mine and am used to reverse image. Comes with a erect image diagonal. No CA or very little, I have seen none in mine up to 100X.
http://www.adorama.com/CN80ED.html
Regards,Steve
 
Mark,

Better late commenting than never. I have not owned either the 80 or 100 mm Ultima but I did own the 65 for about 6 months. In my opinion it is vastly underrated. Optical quality was very good in the low to mid magnification range. At the higher powers it suffered from noticeable CA in just about any condition. Build quality seemed very good and I was overall quite pleased with its performance.

I ended up selling it this past week to Kevin Purcell (binocular forum). I am sure he will post some comments on it shortly.
 
thanks guys, just not too clued up on spotters at the moment. spent a lot of time researching my binocular purchase, which was hard work! and having to go through it all again with spotting scopes is weighing a little heavy on me, just know i want one....not sure what my budget will be yet... zero at the moment Lol
 
Hi Mark,
While I am a rank amateur with regards to daylight digiscoping, I have a fair amount of experience with AstroPhotography, and have used my Celestron 80ED with great results. The various Synta made clones have a dedicated following in the astronomy field, as high performance per dollar scopes.

A benefit of the C80ED over the Ultima (at least it used to be) is that the EP's are removeable, allowing for prime focus imaging if you desired. The Ultimas could only image afocally (Through the EP). The downside is that it is fairly large and heavy, as far as spotting scopes go. (Though the C80ED is the smallest of the Synta clones)

The focuser on the Celestron 80ED is the standard Synta single speed Rack and Pinion, which is servicable, but not outstanding. Regreasing with good grease helps a ton. I have upgraded mine to a very nice dual speed Crayford focuser.

I personally much prefer an Apochromatic scope for imaging purposes. There are many discussions as to whether or not "ED" glass confers "Apo" status to a scope, but to my eyes, if not, it is pretty darn close. I can see no CA when viewing, and barely a hint of it with long exposure imaging.

I plan to get a better terrestrial camera in the near future, and take some shots of birds (I am just getting back into birding after 20 years or so), but here are a couple of astro images I took through my 80ED (reduced in size and quality).

Sooo..while I can't comment directly regarding the Ultima, I believe that decent images can be had with the Celestron 80ED. I believe that there are a few other posts here with 80ED images as well.

Regards,

Gary
 

Attachments

  • cycnuswallsmall.jpg
    cycnuswallsmall.jpg
    291.7 KB · Views: 525
  • ngc7293_ha_syn-g_oiii_f.jpg
    ngc7293_ha_syn-g_oiii_f.jpg
    237.2 KB · Views: 633
Last edited:
so kevin how did you find the ultima 65?

Good grief, I"ve been named. ;)

Like Mark I've spent so much time on getting decent bins that I put the spotter on the back burner.

I have a "Celestron C50". OK, it's the cheaper and discounted Barska 20-40x50 version with a different lower mag eyepiece on a small SLK tripod. It's light (perhaps it's best point as I stick it in a backpack - the main reason for getting it that with the low CA from the catadioptic optics). And it does "bring the bird closer" but it's not great. The provided zoom EP is not the best especially for setting the correct eye placement and ER with the rubber eyecup. I still want to try the "C50" with a fixed astro eyepeice (25mm to 30mm) though that does make the scope not waterproof (I think - a bit of an issue in PNW) but I suspect the view will be rather better with a wider AFOV fixed EP with set ER.

With the small SLK tripod pointing an angled scope is more of an issue than I though it would be.

I've not used the Ultima 65 a lot yet but I concur with FrankD in that it has a decent view especially at low magnification (at least it's better than the C50 ;) ). FrankD's description is on the money. I'm happy for the amount of money I paid for it. A decent starter scope.

It's stuck on the top of a rather cheap but quite stable Chinese tripod. Even though it's angled the better tripod helps the pointing though a better tripod would help a lot. But it's clear to me now that buying the scope is only half the problem: figuring out decent tripods and decent heads is another issue and rather critical to the usability of the scope.

My problem right now is I haven't looked at a lot of scopes so I'm comparison base is rather limited. So take my comments with a pinch of salt.

I suspect I'll be lurking and posting in this subforum more in the next few weeks.
 
Last edited:
hi kevin thanks for the reply but i think i've found a good one to get me started. its a meopta hermes 1 70mm with fixed power 25xW and 40x eps in very good condition complete with stay on cover. i got it cheap i think at £45 UK pounds. i dont have any thing to compare it to except my bins but it seems to be sharp with good contrast. i think it will tide me over while i save for a better one.

regards mark
 
Hi everyone,
I just want to know does my eyepiece in celestron ultima 80mm 45 deg scope can be used with standard telescope with eyepiece holder size of 1.25inch.

I am planing to purchase nexstar 8SE and I want to use this zoomable eyepiece of celestron ultima 80 in nexstar 8Se.
Thanks in advance
 
Hi everyone,
I just want to know does my eyepiece in celestron ultima 80mm 45 deg scope can be used with standard telescope with eyepiece holder size of 1.25inch.

I am planing to purchase nexstar 8SE and I want to use this zoomable eyepiece of celestron ultima 80 in nexstar 8Se.
If someone has already tired or knows correctly plz suggest. I dont want to spend too much in accessories while purchasing expensive telescope like nexstar 8SE.

Thanks in advance
 
I believe the Ultima can take the baader zoom ep as it has the right thread. The celestron trail seeker and acuter grandvista can both take 1.25” ep which can improve over the stock zoom. I am tamped to upgrade to an 80mm low end scope (that I can fit the baader zoom into) to go bigger and lighter than the William optics 66mm I currently lug about. Experiences and suggestions welcome.

PEterw
 
I believe the Ultima can take the baader zoom ep as it has the right thread. The celestron trail seeker and acuter grandvista can both take 1.25” ep which can improve over the stock zoom. I am tamped to upgrade to an 80mm low end scope (that I can fit the baader zoom into) to go bigger and lighter than the William optics 66mm I currently lug about. Experiences and suggestions welcome.

PEterw
Hi Peter. I had a Zeiss Victory Diascope TFL (the older silver model) on which I used a Baader Hyperion Mk. II. It was my second favourite scope, after my current Meopta. I only used it for daytime viewing. It was slightly less bright and not as crystal-clear as the Meopta, but you'd only notice this in a side-by-side shoot-out. One of the bigger English optics stores currently have two (secondhand) Victories for sale, I think it's Infocus Optics.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top