Skywatcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro unboxing and review Part 1

[@keithjack38]

Very informative, will check your other videos about the DSLR connection

[@galacticus9845]

Great as always. Clear and informative.

[@LiveSteamMad]

Excellent! Looking forwards to your video showing the FLO compression ring fitting on the focuser end!

[@TheAstronomer]

Lovely video. I have one if this, bought second hand. The main problem with it is short focal travel distance which makes difficult to many eyepices. We'll done with your unboxing! Liked and subscribed!

[@ajdaly5634]

Clear and straight to the point. Very helpful, Thank you.

[@Ken_James_SV]

Excellent review. Clear and to the point. Thank you.

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Thank you for your feedback. Really glad this review has helped.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Very clear review and helpful. Well done.

[@stardarkroomequipment9495]

Also I have the 120 Esprit Triplet and it was Patrick Moore and ME who did the skywatcher (OVL) Reviews, I arranged it with OVL

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Thanks for the comment, Jeremy. As you will be more than aware, then, the Esprit series are very different to this but yes, the Esprit is very good. I use the 100ED in the UK and really can't fault it within its price range. In fact, you would need to be extremely keen eyed to see any difference between images produced using that, or my Tak FSQ106 (accepting the slightly different FOV of course). Above noted, the Evostar 72ED I think, as a great value doublet with a Crayford focuser, is primarily aimed at the visual user, but is proving to be a not too shabby imaging companion too. However, it is not a match for a good quality triplet such as an Esprit, but then neither is the price.

[@Oxizee]

Why is only the 72ED no FPL53 glass, and all other in the sky-watcher apo series are? Does it matter visually? Or is it noticable in the photo's?

[@mustang5132]

I have been looking for a travel scope and was wondering if this would be worth it for my situation. I currently have a skywatcher 102 mak which was meant to be my travel scope but I’m not too happy with to be honest. I’ve just started some astrophotography with my canon 100-400mm as well. Considering I already have this lens, is it even worth it to get this scope? I see I can buy it new somewhere for 290 quid but all my other Astro gear for telescopes is also suited towards 1.25 inch meaning I would have to buy even more to make it worth it. Do you think it would still be worth it to buy or is my other equipment good enough in comparison?

[@stattonbroxham1588]

may contain clouds lol love the sticker

[@3807baldwin]

Hi can you repeat the name and specs of the eyepiece please ? Also what diagonal did you use . I have a regular diagonal 2” from Amazon that’s was 80 $ do you think that will work if I get the eyepiece 82* you have ?

[@Jakelol1980]

Would this be any good for someone that want to start doing visuals and longer down the road maybe start doing photography?

[@JorshBrushTV]

Great product, I will purchase this soon

[@ahmedrizwankhan]

For the price, this is a real winner for sure. As you know I've already got a 71mm variance so will be over looking this. Nonetheless, it should like you rightly mentioned make a great travel scope. Love the case.

[@simplifiedastro2092]

For sure. The whole thing blew me away with the quality compared to the price. It's a firm travel buddy for me now, can't rate it highly enough really. Even for people like you who use a triplet for imaging, this is a great addition to negate the need to strip your imaging rig to have something to take away for the weekend. Top rated mate.

[@ahmedrizwankhan]

Knowing you and how much you know about astro stuff in general I am totally sold by your judgement on this scope. I haven't really checked but is there a matching FF available for this scope or a standard FF will work?

[@simplifiedastro2092]

There isn't a matching one as such, as there are with the Esprit models, but I have added a link in the description above for the OVL one from First Light Optics which will work. This one will work with a focal ratio between f/5.5 and f/6.0. The Evostar 72ED is f/5.8 so it should be perfect. I have a Hotech one which is very similar, and will be carrying out some tests with that, so expect similar results.

[@ahmedrizwankhan]

Awesome stuff mate. This should help anyone's who will watch your amazing videos :)

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Thanks Ahmed, much appreciated.

[@astrononico]

Great review, thanks for that! I would consider myself being a skilled beginner and currently looking for the „next step“ in astrophotography, in particular getting a proper lens. I’m focused to wide-field and nebulae but with quite limited retro-lenses so far. I’m mainly suffering from bad CAs mostly... Doing research since quite a while I still can’t decide between manual, quality photo lens (eg the short Samyang 135mm f/2) or going directly to a short refractor like this. I work with a Sony a6000 and Skywatcher StarAdventurer Mount. This scope would be perfect in size and weight but, as far as I know, the EvoStar 72 ED would be close to the tracking limits of the StarAdventurer (because of its focal length of 420 mm). On the other hand its possible to do some 1axis guiding later too and more than 180 sec exposures I didn’t try yet anyway. Long story short... do you have any recommendations for an experienced beginner regarding this scope that may help me with a decision? Greetings from northern Germany, Nico

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Hi Nico. Thank you for your comment. I would say you need to consider exactly what you are likely to be imaging to assess the benefits of each of the Samyang lens and the 72ED to make a decision. Obviously at f/2 you are going to need shorter subs than you would at f/5.8, so less likely to need to consider guiding, but what you gain in focal ratio you lose in aperture. The OTA is very light, but I think with the Sony A6000 and SA you may struggle a bit with achieving balance with the stock vixen bar, and naturally you won't want to add too much additional weight. I don't think CA is going to be an issue with this. My initial tests show a really well corrected image right out to the edge of the FOV, and I expect this to be the same imaging (I have seen a couple of images done by others now which pretty much confirms this), I think it is a super little scope, and for wide field and nebulae this is going to be a great alternative to a standard lens. However, it isn't going to perform as well as a triplet, but then it doesn't cost as much as one either, so is a great intermediate choice.

[@astrononico]

Simplified Astro Thank a lot for the suggestion! To be able to image a M42, M45 or M31 frame filling is quite neat. I would not have that with a 135 mm photo lens and would need to crop a lot :-) However, the Star Adventurer can handle up to 5 kg but don’t likes too long things. So, I still did not decided but would consider this scope now seriously. Curious to see some images and your second video at some point ;-) Cheers, Nico

[@stardarkroomequipment9495]

Thanks, just bought The Widescreen centre

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Yes they are good guys. I used to love popping in to the shop when it was in London. Not been to their new place but good to deal with.

[@geitemans]

Great video, well spoken review and very clear! Thanks for posting. I'm looking into one of these as my main deep sky image scope to upgrade from my c6 newton. Would you recommend this? Or should I save up for a 80mm ED to get more light gathering capacity? This scope probably needs both a flattener & focal reducer for a DLSR? I will use a Canon 50D and a guidescope+cam.... Look forward to Part 2 that's for sure!!!

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Thank you very much Jonathan, that's really appreciated, and thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. I would say as a primary imaging scope, I would probably advise a reasonable triplet if it is a refractor you are specifically after. Perhaps something like an Esprit 80, or some of the William Optics or Altair units. This will almost certainly work well for imaging, but I suspect the results over a wide sensor such as the APS-C in your 50D would be better from a well corrected triplet. My thoughts are this working exceptionally well as a visual scope, but perhaps limited to slightly smaller sensors for imaging. I will try with my Canon DSLR, which also has a APS-C sensor, anyway and report my findings in video 2. I will also use it with my Atik 460 and SX mini filter wheel just so we have a full set of results to consider. Hope this helps, and I am looking to do the second video pretty soon, so if you can hang on you will at least have some data to consider. I actually have a sneaky feeling this is going to surprise me again and turn out to be a cracking DSO imaging scope also.

[@geitemans]

Thanks for the extensive reply :) Much appreciated. Summer is coming (and since I live in Denmark veeeeeery long days) so I have the time to think about it and save up for next season. I look forward to seeing part 2 of your video. Have fun and clear skies!

[@nettyvoyager6336]

good for a tracking camera or bird watching :)

[@stardarkroomequipment9495]

The only problem with the damn scope is that with a 2" 45 degree diagonal (erecting) you can not get focus as the diagonal can not move IN enough

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Yes this is an issue. On one of my other videos I mention this in the comments, but haven't tried it with an erecting prism, just a 2" diagonal. I have to use 2" for anything less than 1mm as I can remove the adaptor to provide more inward travel, but can use 1 1/4" above that. There are a couple of short diagonals available on the market which, for high magnification eyepieces, may be a better route to go if using this for visual.

[@madagoselis]

Great video! any chance you tried imaging with it yet?:)

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Thanks for the comment. Weather permitting I will try to get some LRGB images with it this weekend using my Atik 460EX. keep watching and I will update.

[@ivanmandaric7876]

Hello, sorry, can you watch through it without the camera and diagonal? thank you!

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Hi Ivan. No you would need the diagonal or some long extension tubes to use it without one.

[@AlexSanchez-ke5ve]

How are you going with this telescope? I decided to buy one and it is arriving next week. I still have to wait for a 2 " diagonal that I ordered too. Mi concern is that short lenght focuser, shouldn't I?

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Hi Alex. My apologies for the late response, it was a busy run up to the festive break, so things got behind. I really like this little 'scope and hope you are enjoying yours. You should be fine with the inward focus travel with the 2" diagonal down to about an 11mm eyepiece. After this you will probably run out of inward travel. With a 1 1/4" diagonal you would need an additional adaptor so would run out of inward travel much earlier. Enjoy your new purchase.

[@AlexSanchez-ke5ve]

@@simplifiedastro2092 I have not tested this at 100% but I could get focus with a 1.25inch zoom eyepiece on 15mm. I need to do more test to know where I Will starting to have focusing issues. Seems this scope is liked to many though the forums, I really liked size and portability, Im adding a RDF to complement it. Hope I don't have many issues regarding the focusing.

[@simplifiedastro2092]

@@AlexSanchez-ke5ve That's excellent news, Alex. I guess much depends on your diagonal and eyepieces, so if you have a combination that works, that's really great. In its price range I think this is an excellent performer, and the size and weight mean it is truly transportable to pretty well anywhere. Really pleased you are enjoying it.

[@AlexSanchez-ke5ve]

Hello! Have you tried with a 4mm? Im wondering if I would get focus with such eyepiece, I wanted buy this eyepiece. But if it wont work, better skip this purchasing. Regards and clear skies!

[@Stu_Whittaker_Photography]

great review

[@victimiZe-ug8eb]

How was your experience with firstlightoptics? I was looking for a good retailer that ships to Italy

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Personally I would recommend them without hesitation. I have found them to be very honest and open, knowledgeable and they have a very fair shipping policy.

[@alessandrocernuzzi]

Ho da poco ricevuto lo ioptron Skyguider pro, acquistato da Firstlight optics e spedito in Islanda. arrivato in un lampo e tutto in ordine :)

[@linou1968]

What can you observe with this baby?deep Sky ?

[@astrophotographer2899]

Do it need to collmation ?

[@simplifiedastro2092]

Hi. No, the less cell isn't really user collimatable and shouldn't realistically need it being a doublet.

[@stardarkroomequipment9495]

baader click lock ????

[@simplifiedastro2092]

The Baader Clicklock is very good, I use one on my SCT. However, the problem is the thread, which is not a standard M54, meaning the Clicklock will not screw in to the draw tube.

[@nettyvoyager6336]

standard ed glass they can tell you is solid diamond glass and charge you the RRP for diamonds lol its just standard glass my friend

[@astrophotonics9470]

Won't release the type glass used..which means its not FPL52 or 53 glass lol