Celestron C65 & Lomo Astele 60

rmel66 · Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 7

I note the recent addition of the Celestron mini-mak to the optics Planet lineup. How does this scope compare (ease of use, quality etc) to the lomo Astele 60. I intend to purchase one or the other and would appreciate any user or staff comparisons.

Robert.

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:59 pm Post subject:

Hello and thank you for your interest in www.OpticsPlanet.com

We are scheduled to get our first shipment of the Celestron C65 Mini Mak in a few days, so we do not have one on hand to compare with the LOMO 60 Zm at the moment. When the C65 arrives, we will give it a good look to see how it compares optically.

The low price of the C65 and the description, though, lead me to suspect that it may not have a removable eyepiece. If this is true you will be stuck with the factory zoom. This could be a problem if you wear glasses when you look through the eyepiece as most zooms have poor eye relief as you zoom up in magnification.

With the LOMO 60, http://www.opticsplanet.net/as60zmzoomsp.html you do have the option of a fixed power eyepiece version that will yield a very usable 47x and good eye relief if you wear glasses. Best of all, with either the zoom or fixed power version of the LOMO 60, you get the flexibility of interchangeable eyepieces.

Hope this helps. We’ll take a look through the C65 soon.
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Nelson Ing · Guest

any news on this?

Tashi · Guest

Is there any news yet?

You must have got some in by now...

BobY · Guest

I just got one of the Celestron C65's and I'm impressed given the price.

It's not the brightest, sharpest spotting scope I've seen and doesn't have a lot of contrast, but it's still a decent scope.

When you consider that for $64 (from Optics Planet, of course) you get a decent scope, a nice aluminum and plastic folding tripod (with fine adjustment controls that work pretty well given the overall light weight of the whole setup) and it all fits into the included two-compartment, padded carrying case with adjustable strap--it's hard to beat if you are looking for something like this. It also includes a lens-cleaning cloth and a snap-on lens cover.

I particularly like how easy it is to carry, set-up, take-down and store this scope. I know it will lead us to use it more often than a bigger, clumsier or more complicated telescope.

The focus and zoom controls work smoothly, although there is a little slop in the focus control. The 3X zoom eyepiece takes the telescope into the realm of celestial viewing, but it is a fixed eyepiece. There's no upgrading this telescope with higher quality optics, camera mounts, etc. It has a standard tripod mount if you want to use a taller tripod, but there is no tether for the lens cap, so don't lose it.

If you are a casual user, this is a great telescope, especially for beginners. If you expect to get more seriously into it, the Astele 60 could be a better choice given you have more flexibility in the optics as your interests progress. I haven't compared the two scopes directly, but the Astele 60 is supposed to have better image quality. It is, however, bigger, heavier, more expensive and most inexpensive tripods you might use with it won't have the fine adjustment controls and won't fit in the Astele's carrying case.

The Konus Konuspot Mak90 is the same telescope package in a different color for $5 less. They are both made in China (probably by the same company). For that $5, the overall packaging and finish work of the Celestron is a bit more refined than the Konus and you get a lifetime limited warranty. This could be important, particularly with low-end, Chinese-made products. At these prices products aren't made serviceable and "service" usually means replacment with a new or factory re-conditoned unit. Once out of warranty (one year for the Konus), it usually isn't cost-effective to get a unit repaired as it is more expense than the unit is worth.

If you prefer blue to black and/or don't care about more than a one year warranty, the Konus will be fine for you.

hank · Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 3

How's eye relief with glasses?

And, how does this compare to the smaller and waterproof Celestron 50mm spotting scope that costs $80-100?

BobY · Guest

Eye relief is only OK, but I do wear glasses and it is certainly usuable.

I can't do a direct comparison, however Celestron told me the 50mm zoom is a lot sharper but not as bright.

With the 50mm, field of view is less, magnification is less, the tripod doesn't have the slo-mo controls and it's more expensive. Although the C65 isn't technically "waterproof" it appears to be sealed to the point that rain won't hurt it--just don't submerge it Smile

Although Celestron makes no claims to it, Konus claims the Mak90 is "water-resistant" and it's the same scope.

It really depends on what you're looking for. I wouldn't really consider using the 50mm for celestial viewing, but it might be better for terrestrial than the C65...

BobY · Guest

I should clarify that because of the extreme difference in magnification, it's hard to do a very good comparison--the 50mm magnification maxes out almost where the C65 begins. If you don't want or need higher magnification, you will have a wider field of view with the 50mm at it's lower magnification settings.

Since we were primarily interested in looking at the moon and other celestial objects, the lower magnification wasn't of interest--I would just use some binoculars at that point.

hank · Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 3

That reasoning matches what I went through looking at the catalog; I went with the 65 for night sky use too.

BobY · Guest

A quick, real-world update:

Last night the sky was amazingly clear and bright and it was bitter cold (3 degrees F, -15 windchill).

It only took about a minute to set the C65 up for some great views of the moon (without a finder scope, it took a little effort to get the moon properly sighted, but not any worse than any other spotting scope at 30X).

It was very rewarding, with little frustration, and I can guarantee you with as cold as it was, we would never have done it if we had a bigger, more complicated telescope to set up.

I was surprised to see that there was no condensation on the lenses at all when we took the scope outside or brought it back in. It was even possible to use the scope handheld at 30X, but I don't recommend it if you've had too much coffee Smile

applebucket · Guest

hello- i'm wondering if the celestron c 65 would be a good beginners scope. I have read all the above messages but i'm just getting a little reassurance to go buy one in a day or two from now. From what i've read they can't be beat for their price. I can get one right now for about $55 which to me seems like a good price to go pick one up. It seems like it'd be a nice quick setup for night time viewing. If someone could give me some advice it would be appreciated. Very Happy

BobY · Guest

It depends on what you want it for. It's not a great terrestrial scope as you don't usually need the higher magnification for spotting and you can find sharper low-mag scopes out there.

We like it a lot for astronomy because of it's convenience--image quality is certainly good enough especially given the price. If you're going to be out in the middle of a field, the tabletop tripod isn't of much use, but we use ours on our deck with no problem.

For greater reassurance, buy it from someone with a good return policy (like Optics Planet Smile

), that way if it isn't what you expect, you can return it and try something else. You may find you prefer something with a finder scope or a full-size tripod.

At first I was a bit disappointed in the sharpness, but the C65 is such a pleasure to use compared to most telescopes I've come in contact with, that I'm very satisfied overall.

applebucket · Guest

Wow, alright thanks for the info/advice. It is definitely appreciated and has been taken into consideration. Laughing

Ah, what the heck maybe i'll dig into the pockets and pick one up later. Very Happy

lol...alright, thanks again. See you next message.LOL!

applebucket · Guest

Hey, i just picked up a Celestron C65 Mini Mak the other day and let me tell you i am highly impressed! I went to a local Celestron dealer and the owner wound up giving it to me for $55 plus tx as i had already sent him an email before i went and explained that i could get one on the internet for $65 w/ shipping included so he beat the price. Very Happy

The view of the moon was amazing! Even at 90x i could still get a nice crisp sharp view of some craters. Hands down this was definitely worth the money! I ditched the table top tripod that came with it and wound up getting a free Sunpak tripod that a good friend was willing to give up. Very Happy

Now i need to hit the piggy bank for the new Celestron 8i SE! LOL Very Happy