Sky-Watcher 8" Quattro 200P Imaging Newtonian

Anyone who is shopping for this scope knows its origin and history. Now that SkyWatcher is making these in a fast imaging format, you have an absolutely phenomenal "does it all" package. I started my hobby with an 8" SCT. I was naive, and thought surely a newtonian with it's simplistic reflector design, and no corrector plate had to be inferior to the fancy looking Orange tube with the weird name. More glass means more better right ? MEH< WRONG !

I learned so much about telescopes and spent HOURS of my weekend, just spinning it around and looking at "stuff". Still today, this is my favorite scope. I don't need to tell you what a truly awe-inspiring experience it was the first time I looked through an 8" Newt at a campground in Arkansas in late 2000. One thing that struck me is how WIDE the field is compared to an F/10 SCT or a comparable Dobsonian. Here I am standing there with my 8" SCT, looking at 1/3 of a slice of a 50% illuminated moon, while my neighbor a few slips down, is taking a pictures with his DSLR, through the eyepiece, of a big bright hemisphere, right in the center of the frame.

Advantage 1 - Sweet spot for field of view goes to the Imaging Newt. Plus you have a 200mm bucket of resolving power at your disposal. This is a rare combo.
2- Your typical 3" - 4" Refractors will have a FOV of usually somewhere in the 450mm - 600mm range (very wide view)
3- A typical 8" SCT is on the order of 2000mm without a Flattener / Reducer (very VERY narrow view)
4- And these newtonians are going to be between 800mm - 1000mm depending on configuration. (wide enough for planets, not so deep as to cause issues with finding your targets.)

One thing I overlooked in my own search for a beginning platform was all of the detailed reviews talk about the impact field of view has on Photography. Well, I am here to tell you. It's a big PAIN to find targets in the eye piece of a very Long Focal Length scope. So don't let "imaging" Newt fool you. This joker is a fantastic visual only platform, if not a little over built for the job.

Analogy time:::: Imagine you're looking through a soda straw at a large round table covered in MnM's
They're all brown. Except for one Blue one. I hand you a soda straw, and while looking through the soda straw try to find, and then focus on the one blue one. now once you've done that seemingly impossible task. Follow it file the MnM's stay put, but I move you around. Now imagine you blinked for a second, or a mosquito flew in your ear, or sweat got in your eye. You lost it.... Now go do it all again. Seems like a real fun time right ? I bet you'd be itching to get out there 5 nights a week to deal with that, wouldn't you ?

Now, take that same scenario, I'm going to hand you an old paper towel tube. Much wider Field right ? Much easier to initially find that Blue MnM, certainly more margin of error to keep it in the eye piece.
For folks wanting to go from an SCT or a Dob and dabble in imaging, this is really important. But this is one of the (i think) unsung advantages of wide field scope. Especially for a novice. Finding and Keeping the object in your eye piece, when you're probably still getting the hang of polar alignment, etc. It makes these scopes Amazing for that. Regardless if the outcome is for photos or visual a wide FOV makes it so much more satisfying.

So, to close, This scope is great and now that they have shortened them to F4, and made them truly fast imaging devices, you get a bit WIDER field, and can now obtain focus with just about ANY camera attached to the eyepiece. I have taken pics, and what i think are bad one's and my kids put on their instagram. I have photos of the Moon my wife had made into calendar's at a large pharmacy store, and with just a few "Lucky" runs of subs in my dSLR. No fancy settings, or kit, Just a T-Adapter, and my old T3i camera. Just set it for continous and get a cheap remote shutter from your local electronics store. Lucky images come out great on the moon and wide field Milky Way on this guy because it's a FAST imaging scope. F4 ? Seriously ? 2 second exposures at ISO-800 of the Milky Way from my Bortle-5 back yard, are amazingly detailed and full of nebulosity. Imaging what you can do given enough time investment in tuning and tweaking ?

I've rambled on enough, but I had to come talk about my experience with Astronomics and with this Scope. With 203mm of Aperture and relatively short focal length for it's size, you get an amazing wide-field which is fantastic for introducing young folks or the young at heart who don't care to understand focal length and magnification. The OTA is not unwieldy or awkward because almost all of the weight is in the back with the mirror sell. So it's really easy for someone like a teenager or a small statured person to raise it up onto a dovetail.

I don't think I could more highly recommend a scope at this price with these features. It's simply a no-brainer. And for what it's worth, it looks DARN good too. It LOOKS the part. These photo's don't do it justice. (Posted on 9/8/2019)

This is your new best friend! Say hello to some amazing images with this one. (Posted on 11/17/2018)