Surprise performer - Konus Digimax-90 Telescope 1770

Bought this Konus Digimax 90mm second hand and didn't pay much for it. New retail is a bit steep in my mind for this, but an excellent value used.

My other telescope, for reference, is an 8 inch reflector Orion SkyView Pro.

Very pleased with the terrestrial and the planetary viewing of the Digimax. Came with no name (Konus) 17mm and 10mm EPs. The 10mm is a bit unclear for my viewing taste, but the 17mm is one of the clearest in my EP collection, comparing well in clarity to my Orion 25mm Sirius plossl. Better clarity than my Orion 20mm Expanse and 6mm Expanse and 4mm University. I used the 17mm with an Orion Shorty Barlow and the image was still clearer than with my 10mm, 6mm, and 4mm EPs alone.

I have the 20mm and 15mm Orbinar (Seben) Plossls, and they are both less clear and fuzzy so will likely use them mostly for terrestrial viewing. The 10mm Orion Sirius beats the 10mm generic (Konus) provided with my Digimax in image clarity as well.

There is no fine adjust control on this scope for positioning, so tapping with my hand is the best method for "fine adjustments" and then waiting for the scope to top shaking. The Skyview has fine control knobs for subtle position adjustment which is very useful. Jupiter was surprisingly close in image quality on the Digimax to my SkyView, but the Skyview is easier to locate and track with than this Konus, particularly at higher magnifications. Clarity is better on the 8 inch as would be expected at the higher mags.

Red dot spotting on the finder is very functional. I'm enjoying the very easy portability of this scope, compared to the heavy equatorial mount Skyview with its counterweights. Overall the Skyview is an outstanding performer, and this Digimax does very well in comparison where high light gathering is not essential, as in the brighter planets. I've not used the Go To other than an indoor test, so can not comment in detail but it seems to operate well.

Overall a nice little 3 inch spotting scope that I bought for excellent optics compared to most zoom spotting scopes, but is also fun and easy to use for planetary astronomical viewing.

Overall a 4 of 5 score in the 3 inch (90mm) range of scopes in my opinion. Note: My Skyview gets a 4.8 of 5 in the 8 inch category.
Pros: Ease of Use, Portability, Image Clarity, Planetary Viewing
Cons: Fine Adjustment

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.