I purchased after returning a Celestron c65 mini. It did not perform well at all! The Ultima 80 is considerably clearer and much easier to focus. Its main drawback, its overall length, is also one of its strengths. When using it without a tripod or any support it is easy to hold, off hand, and view without it's image shaking. It has a detachable eye piece that has its own hard shell protective case and with it removed it shortens the overall length by 5" or so. The 80 mm opening really improves light transmission over the smaller scopes. Light transmission and clarity only degrade at the 60x power. It has good eye relief especially at the lower power setting. Very good optics for the money. 2 thumbs up.