Skywatcher 72ed Pro
The skywatcher Evostar 72ed Pro is a doublet refractor telescope with Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass element. It has a 420mm (F/5.8) focal length and an objective lens diameter of 72mm. The scope also comes with a dual-speed Crayford focuser 11:1 ratio out of the box. The scope itself comes with Metallic 99.5% high-transmission coatings (MHC) on all air to glass surfaces. Features
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The scope is light, compact and offers amazing views from a visual or astrophotography perspective. The View is wide and pinpoint stars can be achieved with minimal effort with or without a flattener. The scope is light enough that small mounts can cope with the scope and with a visual perspective, balance is easily achieved also.
For Astrophotography, this scope has a wide field of view for its size depending on the camera you use. the star colour is maintained and is considered a good scope for beginners in the world of AP.
For Astrophotography, this scope has a wide field of view for its size depending on the camera you use. the star colour is maintained and is considered a good scope for beginners in the world of AP.
Back focus
The scope, however, requires additional items for focus. It is recommended to use a field flattener with this scope, such as the OVL field flattener or Skywatcher’s flattener reducer. This will help the scope get the required backspacing between the camera sensor (For Astrophotography) and the focusing tube. The field flattener is not necessarily required but with AP there are some star trails on the edges and corners. If you don’t use the field flattener, then about 100-125mm backspacing is required to achieve focus with this scope. The reducer will give you slightly more field of view in AP, but it is only minor. The advantage of going with the SW flattener reducer is you can attach a rotator directly to the flattener and scope itself and you can still rotate the camera around with no issues. The downside (and a big one to be fair) is the cost of the flattener reducer compared to the OVL flattener. With visual astronomy, only the back focus is required. This can be achieved with an angled eyepiece. The rest of the back focus can be achieved with the focus wheel. |
As with any scope, the more equipment you use with the scope the balance changes, and generally this isn’t an issue. With the 72ED to an extent, it continues not to be an issue but after you put all the accessories on (filter drawer, flattener, filter, extension tubes and camera (especially cooled or DSLR) the weight balance dramatically shifts towards the rear end of the scope, to the point you can’t achieve balance with the factory brought rail.
When this happens, you will need to purchase a new longer rail so the balance can be achieved (and required or tracking) this is simple but will require you to either drill boreholes in the new rail to counter sink the current bolts or you will have to buy new ones. It’s recommended to buy more than you will need and be careful when threading it through as it does get tight, and you can damage the bolts and you’ll be unable to remove them. |
Overall
This is a very good scope. Designed for beginners and intermediates, it is cheap enough to attract people of all skill levels to use this scope as a primary wide field scope. It is well built and looks good, but it is not ready to go out of the box. People with more experience will know this, but newer people looking to get into this hobby will not realise this and just buy it thinking they are good to go, not realising how much more is needed to continue.
Overall, this is a highly recommended scope for the price point and a good starting point for AP which offers a wide field of view.
Recommended additions
This is a very good scope. Designed for beginners and intermediates, it is cheap enough to attract people of all skill levels to use this scope as a primary wide field scope. It is well built and looks good, but it is not ready to go out of the box. People with more experience will know this, but newer people looking to get into this hobby will not realise this and just buy it thinking they are good to go, not realising how much more is needed to continue.
Overall, this is a highly recommended scope for the price point and a good starting point for AP which offers a wide field of view.
Recommended additions
- OVL Field Flattener for AstroPhotography
- For visual an angled eyepiece extension such as the skywatcher 90degree diagonal 1.25”
- Eyepieces if you plan on visual
- For AP buy the medium length rail ready for balance issues + an additional 4(+) ¼ - 20 UNC bolts if you are not happy counter screwing the bolts
- ClickLock Clamp or similar (for me this is essential – I have had my camera drop out a couple of times as the thread bolts worked loose during the night)