20 Best Telescopes For Photography (2022 Updated)

Just got this home tonight and unboxed/haven’t officially used it yet. Keep in mind, I own many telescopes and have enjoyed astronomy for many years. I wasn’t expecting much for the price, but here are my first impressions: This is a plastic telescope with “ok” optics, not something for any “serious” astronomy/observing, other than the moon or a fleeting glimpse of Saturn or possibly Mars.

It will give a good close-up view of the moon surface, but not at a high resolution. Mars will look like a small reddish circle (SMALL), and will be able to tell that Saturn has rings, but will not be much more than a yellowish circle that has a slight bulge around the middle (the rings).

It might be okay for terrestrial viewing (distant mountains/landscapes, etc. ), so don’t expect greatness. The construction is all plastic, with only a few metal parts. This makes the entire setup very lightweight and easy to carry, which is it’s strongest attribute.

Don’t tighten any of the screws/knobs more than just enough to keep things from falling off, otherwise you risk stripping the threads. The OTA tube itself is plastic with a decal covering that looks neat, but it’s still just plastic.

I keep mentioning plastic as that means the entire assembly could be damaged/broken if treated roughly, so just be nice to it and it should work well. The tripod leaves a lot to be desired. Yes it is lightweight, but is very susceptible to vibration from even just a slight puff of wind which will result in a “shaky” image.

The pan/tilt (Alt/Az) controls are identical to a cheap camera tripod (in fact, this can certainly be used for a small “point-n-shoot” type camera just fine) and do not lend themselves to easy tracking of objects (remember, the moon and earth are moving relative to each other and will not stay centered in the eyepiece for but a few moments – this requires a constant and gentle “tracking” of objects as they move across the sky).

Mine did not come with the Barlow lens, but I have other high quality eye pieces and filters that I can use (it takes standard 1. 25″ eyepieces). The included eyepieces (10mm and 20mm) are okay for this scope.

Better eyepieces are available but won’t be of big benefit on this scope. Honestly, this would not be my first choice in a beginner telescope, as for a little more money ($150 range) you can get a much bigger/better scope that would provide better planetary viewing.

This might be a nice thing to bring along on a family camping trip to keep the kids occupied, as it is a very lightweight and compact unit, but like I said above: don’t expect greatness. I purchased this for a specific purpose of sighting in my rifle instead of a much more costly spotting scope.

This actually provides much better magnification than an entry-level spotting scope sold at sporting goods retailers for a fraction of the cost, with a trade off that this scope isn’t as “field-durable” as the more costly options.

For my purposes, this is a fantastic choice. For astronomers, this is below average. You DO get the Starry Night software included, which is a nice software package for astronomy, although I still prefer Stellarium.

There is also a free ebook download with amazing images of the moon. The cell phone adapter isn’t anything special, although it will allow you to actually take some nice pics with your phone. The cell phone mount is not capable of supporting a DSLR (nor is the scope or tripod, for that matter), so this is not an ideal setup for astrophotography aside from taking a few memento types of pics to post on social media.

The backpack is padded with a few pockets and a divider that will hold everything, but won’t provide much in the way of protection from bumps/drops/etc. My review sounds very negative but I’m trying to be honest.

it’s an okay product, and it will work as intended. Just don’t set too high of expectations and if you are looking at starting out with astronomy, I feel there are better options. Celestron is a great company and they make quality products, so this would be a better choice than an equally priced knock-off brand, but again – make sure your expectations are realistic for a sub-$100 telescope.

First telescope I buy and it has performed as expected. From my city with usually foggy skies and much light pollution I’ve been able to see Moon craters, Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s rings. Easy to mount and use.

Also good for terrestrial observation. The only shortcoming I see is that the aim always moves down somewhat inmediately after locking the handle. Maybe the tripod isn’t rigid enough. But overall I’m happy with this purchase.

This is a good telescope! 1. OTA: The Optical Tube Assembly is relatively fast @ f/5. It is clear and bright. 2. Tripod: The tripod is somewhat wobbly, especially if you extend the center column. Use a good tripod.

I chose to use my Manfrotto tripod with a Manfrotto fluid head. Luckily the telescope has 1/4 X 20 mounting holes (common photo size), so mounting it on a good tripod will not be a problem. 3. Finderscope: The finderscope is okay, but it mounts with somewhat flexible plastic mount.

I chose to replace it with a Celestron Star Finder Finderscope, which is very easy to use and comes with a sturdy mount that fits nicely on the telescope. Happy stargazing!.

After properly collimation and upgrading the eyepieces, this telescope is a bargin. While no telescope will give you visual images like obtained by the Hubble space telescope, this one will keep you interested for years.

Even slightly light polluted sites will give you decent views of deep space objects. Good seeing conditions, averted vision, and dark adapted eyes will keep you wanting to spend more time outside under the stars.

The motorized computer controlled mount makes observing easy for the beginner to intermediate user. Do your homework and learn how to “Observe”. Mandatory eyepiece upgrades are necessary for best results.

Any brand better quality eyepieces in the range of $50 to $70 for each will make observing a lot more pleasing! And YES, spending the money on more expensive eyepieces will make ANY telescope better.

Explorer Scientific eyepieces can cost you “HALF” of what the telescope is for each eyepiece, but will provide much, much, much better images! Better quality eyepieces will last a lifetime when you decide to get better and bigger telescopes.

This is a scientific instrument, treat it as such and it will last for years!.

This is a great little starter scope for someone trying to get into the hobby and it is also an excellent grab and go for the more advanced observer. While it might seem a bit expensive on the starter side of things keep in mind it has excellent resale value so if you want/need to exit the hobby you risk very little.

I bought mine new from B&H for less than a used one was advertised for on CloudyNights. com I know this does not have the premium glass spec’s that other scopes advertise but as a visual scope there is no way my eyes can discern any difference between doublet and any others I have ever used with far superior glass spec’s – is there a difference photographically – yes – but VISUALLY there is no way you can tell the difference between this ED doublet and any other 70MM class ED doublet on the market even at 3X the cost.

Be careful as the talk about the short travel of the focuser is a real limitation for some eyepieces – there is only 1. 5 of travel on the focuser so some higher end optics are not going to come to focus without extension tubes, etc.

For the record my APM UFF’s, Televue Delites and Siebert Ultras all come into focus with both 2 and 1 1/4 diagonals – with and without my Siebert 1. 75X Barlow. Keep in mind nothing comes with this scope except a case and mounting rings – they supply a Vixen style dove tail but it is way to short – you will need to replace it.

Would I recommend or advise that you consider/buy it? – Absolutely – It you like refractors there is no better value for the dollars invested than this scope. This is 40 years of experience talking – if you are an experienced armature astronomer or just a beginner – I guarantee – you will never sell this cope – I love it – Best investment I have made in astronomy in 40 years.

Great scope with very minimal color distortion. You really have to look for it to see it, even on astro photos. Great scope for children’s events in that the eyepiece end up lower to the ground than a shorter scope.

Case is long, but still fits in my trunk. I shot a series of photos of M51 and the detail was outstanding; crystal clear and lots of small galaxies are clear and crisp. Solid construction. Prism and focuser are good quality.

Supplied eyepieces are OK, but I would replace them with higher quality ones. Having used it, would I buy it again? Absolutely.

The SkyQuest 8 arrived out of collimation, to the lower left of center and the primary mirror’s securing screws were completely loose. My deduction is that, it was to relieve primary mirror pressure, during shipping, so that, “the mirror doesn’t break.

” That or it was a bad build or poor quality control. The issue is that, no other DOBs have arrived like that. A few minutes remedied that, “bullseye. ” Also, the focuser didn’t feel as smooth, as others but it is straight.

I also had problems, with the Orion 8, which is the telescope’s fault, when using the two inch Orion Q70 26mm eyepiece. As an operator, I was unable to extend the focuser’s tube outwards enough and the focusing issue was compounded, by limited temperature acclimation times.

The longer two inch “adapter” and “increased acclimation time” solved that, for the two inch Q70 26mm. Understand that, the original two inch adapter, which is, the one that, the ‘scope came with, still doesn’t focus the Q70 eyepiece.

In that regard, the SqyQuest 8 was a let down. 11 miles is the terrestrial near object distance that, I used, for the SkyQuest 8-Q70 26mm to focus on. The instructions say, focus on 1/4 mile and extended objects.

blah, blah, blah, I know that but it will still resolve at lower distances, with the adapter. My advice for new buyers is, once the collimation and adapter issue is taken care of, equalize the temperature.

The ‘scope provides good viewings of deep sky objects. I would have given this purchase a 4, if it wasn’t for the issues that, I ran into. Overall, it is just average, no better or worse than others.

In my opinion, the SkyQuest 8 is not a beginner ‘scope because use requires astronomy knowledge. One can argue beginner to intermediate level, in that, the ‘scope lacks electronics but that’s, what GO-TOs are for.

For deep sky objects (DSOs), the SkyQuest 8 provides more light than a darker 10 or 12 inch cassegrain, maybe even a Meade 15. The SkyQuest 8 is okay, I have used better. – A in Astronomy.

I recently purchased the Stellina. I also have the Celestron Nexstar 8 SE, which I absolutely love however I have a very difficult time “like many others I’m sure” at understanding the whole processing and stacking with PC or Labtops part of astrophotography.

Lucky Stellina takes away that headache. I have a brain injury which make it very difficult to learn new things that I didn’t know prior to my accident. And trying to figure out astrophotography was especially hard being that I have such a passion for it.

With the Stellina any image I view it has all the info about it right there on the screen. So it’s less I need to try and remember. The only reason I give Stellina 3 out of 5 stars is because 1, with todays technology along with the price tag of this scope you would think you would be able to view planets as well as DSO’s.

And 2ndly, there should be a way to move the telescope manually. I don’t mean having to enter the coordinates, there should be something like arrow keys in the Stellina app that allow you to move the telescope in any direction.

Other that those two things that I feel could be very easily addressed I highly recommend this telescope to both the beginners and seasoned stargazer’s.

I own a variety of astronomical equipment, including several scopes, mounts (including equatorial) and both a dedicated digital astro camera (ATIK) and a modified Canon DSLR. With almost any combination of these items I can take superb astro photos.

The price? Time, and lots of it. Oh, and patience. My new Stellina consists of the combined scope and electronics in a briefcase size package and a small, portable tripod. Set up takes only a few minutes and another five or so for the unit to use your OIS/Android phone to orient itself, take a few photos of star fields for precision location, and focus.

The Stellina app will then give you a variety of objects/targets that are currently in the night sky for your location and cay and time. In the month or so that I’ve had the scope I have been delighted at its ease-of-use but more importantly, at the quality of the images.

No, the scope will not duplicate the photographic results of more sophisticated (and often more expensive) equipment, but I was — and you will be — impressed with what you do achieve. The JPEGs are processed by the unit’s computer using advanced stacking and processing software but you’re also given RAW files which you can process yourself with any number of currently available astronomical software.

While the scope is essentially on an altazimuth mount it contains a mechanical field rotator which keeps the scope accurately focused for extended periods of time. I recently took a 60-minute photo of the Horsehead Nebula which stayed in focus the entire time.

You could not do this with most altazimuth mounts offered by Celestron or Meade. Yes, the Stellina is expensive but in my mind worth every penny. In short, for ease, simplicity of use and great images, it can’t be beat.

And on a personal note, I can’t tell you how many of my neighbors have been dazzled with the beauties of the night sky taken from my driveway. Highly recommended.

I come from a background of “traditional” astrophotography. I’m older and no long wish to lug around a ton of stuff. This instrument does everything I need it to do. My main interest is DSOs (deep space objects) and this works wonders.

Cautionary note: It is not suitable for detailed planetary imaging. However, that is not my goal. B&H service was amazing and I received the instrument in appropriate time.

This is a great scope, especially for the price. I’m able to get some enjoyable views of the moon & planets. My only complaint is that the tripod could be better. This can always be replaced though. A great telescope, and family friendly.

This was a gift for a friend. According to another more experienced friend, this product is an excellent beginner product. The recipient is very satisfied!

Great starter telescope, easy setup. We love looking at the moon through it!

As with many people, I was looking for a new hobby with my free time due to COVID-19. This telescope is cost efficient, easy to set up, and easy to operate. The instructions are clear and the telescope is aesthetically pleasing.

I’ve now had plenty of nights relaxing outside watching the stars. The 10mm lens it came with is powerful enough to view Jupiter with enough clarity to see the color of its atmosphere. This telescope was beyond my expectations and I do not regret a penny spent.

You will love this if you’re looking to get into skywatching!.

I bought this telescope a month ago. It’s best for viewing the moon – and that’s about it. Basically paid nigh on £300(!!) for an accessory tray, night vision light and smart phone adaptor. Sky At Night magazine (who might know a little bit about astronomy) rated the Celestron 100AZ.

The optics got one of the lowest ratings – kind of fundamental really, wouldn’t you say? Be prepared to buy expensive eyepieces and getting on your knees and praying for near perfect conditions to see anything with this particular scope.

ask yourself, is it a gift for. someone who may change hobbies quickly (I. e. A child) then fine, go ahead. However, if you want to see planetary details, avoid. Some sites describe it as a beginner to intermediate telescope.

I’d say it is very much so. for a beginner telescope. For a little more. cash you can get a scope with ‘go to’ capabilities and more aperture!!.

I just received mine today and was very disappointed when I realized that there wasn’t any software and even if there was there is no way to use it. The scope doesn’t do anything fancy with smartphone or the stellarium software.

Using the 1st lens its like using a cheap pair of binoculars. Im sure the smaller lens will have better quality images once it gets darker, but I wouldn’t say I could see mountains on the moon thats for sure! Maybe with an extender or some other lens.

The worst part was the instructions. The assembly was crazy and the instructions were like a puzzle. A tiny puzzle. If I could go back in time and stop my self I would prob just keep my money.

First, the unit comes with a very poor instruction manual and all the online one is a copy of it. No info on operation of the scope various dials and azimuth markings on it. Secondly, it shows you can see some galaxies, but couldn’t see one.

Also could not see any planets except the moon. Finally, went to the NG site for chat and not response. Guess what is going back for refund after black friday.

For the price, it’s a great telescope for beginning astronomers like me. Priceless to show a very detailed monumentsac to my son, as well as Jupiter as a little ball. The only criticism I have it’s the instructions, which are so badly written in miniscule letters, to render them useless.

You’re much better off looking up a YouTube video to give you on putting it together. Also, make sure to order a 5X Barlow lens as well as a Moon filter as you wait for it to arrive. Those two additions will make the experience that much better, for not much more money.

I only just bought this scope at the weekend online and Wex delivered prompty in less than 48hrs which I was really impressed, so thank you Wex good job. Lovely scope, I could see that the optics in the eye piece were first class (as you would expect from Celestron) when doing some day light distant land object checks.

I found aligning to three bright objects initially quite difficult, but that was just because I hadn’t read the quick instructions properly. I needed to zero in the finder scope (red dot scope) when I got a bright object in the eye piece view of the main scope.

Once I’d done that getting the two other aligning bright objects was a lot easier. I was hooked after that and first night observed a lovely Jupiter and three moons were visible and some faint stripes on the surface.

Saturn was clear and nicely showing off her rings. Then I toured local M objects like Andromeda and M32 and saw some lovely double stars and clusters. Well worth the purchase, I would suggest getting a celestron PowerTank to power this if going to travel to dark sky locations.

A nights intensive usage, I could here the 8xAA’s start to dry out of juice. Also as I’m into astro-photography, I have today bought a T adapter and T ring for my Nikon DSLR to attach to the rear of the scope.

I would definitely recommend this scope for a beginner to intermediate. I would suggest for more advanced users to save money until they have enough for the 8″ version to be able to see all the distant objects in the database.

Excellent optics! A great sized grab and go scope! This will go where my larger scopes won’t or I won’t want to pack up 150 pounds of gear. So this will be a ‘frequent flyer. ‘ I’ve not done more with the mount yet other than power it up and get the feel for it in the house.

It is a very stable mount for its size. Initial images sans alignment just for a look through the optics showed zero image shift, both the moon and Jupiter displayed chromatic free images and Jupiter’s belts really popped.

I would expect, owning about five Celestron GoTo mounts of various sizes, that this will be as exceptional as they are!.

Only very recently been able to set up this scope due to Weather conditions but so far I am overall pleased with it. The Go-to mount works very well and is impressively accurate if set up correctly. The Tripod is very stable and secure.

Deep-sky objects are a little disappointing but to be fair I am still experimenting with various lenses so the jury is still out. Lunar observing is impressive with the bundled 25mm lens. I used a fairly low budget 2 x Barlow lens to view the Orion Nebula but having only really observed with 20 x 80 binoculars it is difficult to make a real comparison.

It would be interesting to re-visit this review in a few weeks when I have been able to really test it which to be fair, up to now I have not. Overall I am pleased but I do have the sneaking feeling I may upgrade at some stage in the future – with hindsight I wish I had purchased the 5″ version as the extra aperture would be hugely beneficial to what is essentially a very good chassis, mount and Tripod.

The Celestron Edge HD telescope is a great telescope. The tracking system is spot on and the star sense alignment works very well. My only issue is the app can be a little glitchy during wifi set up and I would’ve like to have more eye pieces and a camera adapter with the system.

I bought those separately and they work very well. I also got the Celestron eyepiece and filter package and they work well. I haven’t tried the filters on planets yet but am looking forward to it. I’ve noticed the barrow lens can make things a little blurry but I think it might have been weather artifacts.

One thing that is undeniable with the Edge HD are the optics. All and all, a great purchase.

A few years ago, I indulged my lifelong interest in the stars by getting my first telescope, a used SkyProdigy6 (SP6). After struggling with it for several years, last Christmas I moved up to the Evolution 8 HD (Evo), with the intent of using it at home, and the lighter SP6 for star parties.

However, once I started using the Evo, the SP6 has just sat at home gathering dust. Yes, I need to have my husband there to help me assemble it in the field, and even at a dark sky party, there are enough Wi-Fi signals bouncing around from other members and guests that I have opted to just use the HC (hand control), which is Celestrons customer support #1 suggestion where others may be using Wi-Fi telescope control, plus everyones phone in the area.

I feel that is something that Celestron needs to address. But the FOV, Wow! So crisp, so clear, and the HC is ten times easier for me to use than the one I have for the SP6 because the directions dont scroll in red across the screen.

Instead, it gives a two line description, and then moves on with the up or down button. It was a great move for me, I love my new telescope and recommend it.

Great anniversary gift for my wife. Beginner star gazer. Easy set up. The smart phone feature is awesome. A great value for the price. Used several times this past month since the purchase. Clear starry nights with low moon light gives maximum performance with this product.

Shipped quickly and arrived earlier than estimated. Packaged well and arrived undamaged. The quality is about where it should be for what it costs. I was hoping it would have better magnification but I have never used a telescope before, so that is my fault.

I would say this is definelty a beginners telescope. I do enjoy the cellphone accessory. You can use your phone to take pictures, videos and even zoom in a little further.

I would give 5 stars except for a few small details. The “Mars eye” (red dot) finder is virtually useless unless you wish to lay on the ground to try and calibrate your telescope. The Tripod requires you to sit on a very low object as how the telescope mounts is not adjustable.

And the directions for the plastic cell phone camera mount are totally incomprehensible. Aside from these issues the telescope itself is well made, and would be a good choice for teaching children beginning astronomy.

Although I suggest contacting the manufacturer and investing another $49. 95 for a solar filter. (Currently they do not make a lunar filter).

This telescope is definitely nice but definitely not IT! I will say as many have already stated it is good for beginners and easy to set up and use! YOU CANNOT USE IT WITHOUT THE TRIPOD! The tripod has to line up with the telescope which lines up with a metal piece I forgot what its called but this is the only way to line it up otherwise you won’t see anything.

This is basically a magnified set of binoculars. You can’t see much other then the darn moon. Stars are extremely distant and appear fiery while they gleam. There is some substance close to the eye piece location on this telescope on the inner silver metal piece I guess to help adjust it when you turn the knob on the side to focus in, it smells bad and is really sticky and oily so try not to touch it, it smells weird but didn’t inflame my skin.

My kids got a kick out of it but only because they got to see earthly subjects up close like birds, and people or an airplane. Keep in mind the higher the mm the further the distance you see but also the higher the price.

This was 80mm and the eye piece was 20mm with 4x magnifying zoom which would make it 80mm! Seriously the best shot we got was crates on the moon that’s it, and that is just with the 20mm eye piece alone! When I attached the 20mm to the 4xmagnifier I can’t see anything and I can’t figure out a way to adjust it with it attached so we only used the 20mm eyepiece (it also come with a lower mm eyepiece).

I definitely purchased this because of the price but oh man we want to see the planets and more! It helped to get my kids more interested in astronomy GREAT! Yet, again I will be looking for higher mm pieces first for this particular scope and if that doesn’t work or I can’t find one we will definitely have to dish out the $$$$ for a better one!.

Even though newer AVX mounts have a dual saddle plate the ADM Dual Saddle Plate is a great upgrade for the AVX mount. The original saddle plate on the AVX uses two bolts that press into the dovetail bar to secure the telescope.

The bolts leave ugly dimples on the dovetail. The ADM upgrade is a compression saddle plate that does not damage the dovetail bar and is much more secure. The orange aluminum knobs on the ADM are easier to grip and add to the aesthetics.

Bought this upgrade for the standard AVX saddle because I was having issues balancing my new Sharpstar 61EDPHII in DEC on the standard saddle. This saddle is so much better! I can now mount the scope in a forward enough position so the center of gravity of my setup is over the center of the axis.

It also feels more secure than the standard saddle, and it’s not leaving bite marks on my dovetails. This will work for all the scopes I mount on my AVX: the Sharpstar, my Coronado Solarmax, and my C11.

Why the AVX doesn’t come with a saddle like this to begin with is beyond me. Installation was a breeze, took just a couple minutes. The hardest part was getting the bolts loose to take off the original saddle.

I recently bought this to compliment the deluxe ADM knob kit for my AVX. It provides a solid mount for my 9. 25 SCT. There’s are great products and quality/craftsmanship is superior. With the clutch levers in the knob kit I was having an issue with the dec.

motor clutch contacting the dec. motor housing and releasing the clutch while slewing. With the addition of this ADM saddle the issue is no more as it allows me to tighten the clutch in a position that won’t cause contact.

Bravo ADM. Also, I lost one of the threaded stainless steel grommets used to tighten the clutch levers. A quick email to Highpoint and ADM and 48 hours later replacements arrived in the mail from ADM.

…. exceptional customer service!!! (from both HP & ADM) If you want to make your AVX look awesome then I highly recommend the replacement saddle (& knob kit).