SV503 80ED F7 Telescope Refractor - SV193 0.8x Field Flattener & Focal Reducer for Astronomical Vision and Photography

I upgraded to the 80mm from the SV48P 90mm, and what a difference! I have nothing negative to say about the SV503. It's great with my OSC - I use the 705 camera and I will pop my DSLR onto it soon as well. The build quality is great, the optical quality is incredible, and it's an absolute joy to use. I shoot PN, so unfortunately this doesn't get as much time on the mount as I would like, but when it does, it's such a joy. I had a hard time deciding between this and the 102mm - price became my decider, but in retrospect I should have taken the 102mm. I use an 8" for PN, but I wonder if the 102mm would have been just as good while getting other deep sky as well. So now I sit with two imaging scopes and one mount. Still, I'm happy with the 80mm and the 8" doubles as a nice planetary photography lens. This scope has become one of my "will never part with" telescopes... I guess unless I sell it to fund a 102mm.

I recently upgraded my entire astrophotography setup. I went big on the mount and decided to go for a mid-range option on the scope. I am incredibly happy with this scope. It's very easy to use and the optics are incredible. The attached shots of the moon were from my first night out with this scope. Shots of stars show great performance all the way to the edge. I've recently seen a few videos on YouTube with reviewers comparing this scope to ones costing 2-3x and there is barely any difference in the final images (usually limited to minor imperfections around the edge). I also have a higher-end triplet, and I confirm these findings. Unfortunately, it's been cloudy almost every weekend since I got this, but I look forward to testing more with DSOs. This is a shockingly good value. Pull the trigger! You won't be disappointed.