This class of telephoto would give you >4 stops more light and (arguably) better resolution than the Redcat51 with its ~100mm aperture.īut you also don't mention what mount you're using. There's no doubt the Redcat51 (250mm/F4.9) would yield fantastic images, even with your full-frame Nikons (most refractors perform best with APSC cameras, FF image circles are hard).īut, given your heavy investment in premium Nikon FF cameras and lenses, I'd recommend seriously considering a premium quality new or used 300mm/F2.8 prime lens, which would complement your 70-200/F2.8 and 500mm/F4. The RedCat would suit my style of astrophotography more than any other, but I'd like to know if it is worth buying over a similar focal length standard camera lens? For a while I have been using standard camera telephoto lenses due to being without a scope for a while. I've been after a short focal length refractor for wide field deep space imaging and I have been looking at so many scopes. Eventually if you added the teleconverter you would have the best of everything. So from my perspective, while I think the Redcat would give you great results, I think you could get basically as good results optically with easier tracking requirements using the lens. If you add a 1.4x teleconverter to the 180mm, you are at 252mm (identical focal length) and still faster by ~1.5x too. The lens of course is additionally useful for terrestrial photography and has autofocus. The 180mm is available refurbished for about the same money as the telescope it seems: That is not a small delta, and depending on how well your mount tracks, that could be the difference between a good final image and one with trailed stars. On the other hand the lens is ~3x faster optically, meaning you will get the same signal with the lens and a 1 minute subframe as you would get taking 3 minutes on the Redcat. I would guess that the Redcat is likely maybe a little bit better in the corners for star aberrations (coma, etc.) than the camera lens, as the telescope is optimized for infinity focus, and has a simpler lens design than the camera lens. Some good stuff there.Ĭonversely, if you then type in "Nikon 180mm" you will get some very nice images shot using that lens on Nikon DSLRs too. If you are not familiar with Astrobin, you can head over there ( ) and type "Redcat Nikon" in the search window, and bring up a number of images captured using that scope on a Nikon DSLR. They seemingly fill a niche for a small refractor with decent performance. I have heard and seen some good things from the Redcat scopes. So firstly, I am a Canon shooter, so my advice on Nikon is based on reading and one Nikon friend who owns the 180mm prime I refer to below:
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