Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope by Celestron
|
List Price: Our Price: $1,199.00 You Save: $862.59 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $1,079.10 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope
Digital camera Review: Excellent Telescope at a Great Price
Summary: 5 Stars
In brief I was thoroughly satisfied with the quality of the telescope. I havent yet used it much, but in about 2 weeks or so that I have owned the telescope, I have used it each night irrespective of the seeing conditions.
I will divide the entire review into two parts, likes and dislike/want.
Things that I dislike or would want.
Power consumption is really high... I learnt that the very first night. I had to terminate my viewing session in about two hours. I was using brand new Duracell AA battries with a lot of moving. I would have really like if Celestron was a little more direct about the fact that power comsumption is really high, but then again I could have missed it! I would really recommend buying the power tank.
Levelling the telescope is really important and Celestron has even provided with a bubble level. I would have really liked if the bubble was built into the mount.
Things that I like...
In one word... everything else. The optics are really good and I get clear crisp images. The GoTo system, called SkyAlign here, is easy enough to use. I had a little trouble getting it up and running but found a good thread on Cloudynights by MarvinTheMartian and followed everything there to get a really good alignment.
First light Report:
Saw Jupiter with the four moons and it was spectacular. I could even see the clouds of Jupiter. Moon is probably the best target to view, however dont make the mistake I made, see moon on a full moon night without any filter! Its just too bright!
I see from suburban areas, and have a lot of light pollution. Even with all that I was able to see some of the deep sky objects. I have seen M31 and am hoping for some more time and some clear skies to continue viewing.
Portability: Though people may say this is portable, I would not necessarily agree with them. Its not as portable as I would call portable. If you are like me, carrying it around like me, I would recommend buying a carrying case at least for the OTA.
Final Verdict: If money is not the concern, go ahead and buy this telescope. I really loved everything about this telescope and the dislikes are trivial (and hence the 5 star rating). Big aperture will keep me occupied for quiet some time before I move to my next, a 14"!
Digital camera Review: Excellent, except...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a professional degree in astronomy before turning to medicine. I also have over 40 years of observing experience. This is a wonderful off-the-shelf telescope for the amateur observer who is mainly interested in visual observing. Optical and mechanical quality and image stability are excellent. I use a digital camera with it for planetary and lunar work, but I don't do deep-sky photography. This type of alt-azimuth drive/mount is not really designed for serious deep-sky photography, but it is terrific for visual observing. My only complaint is that it does not have an onboard memory clock, so the time, date, and location must be re-entered with each use. That is a crazy software design. The other complaint is that the unit I have does not know about the change in daylight savings time dates that was made last year. It is a small hassle, but a hassle nonetheless.Digital camera Review: Fantastic Go-To Telescope
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently upgraded to the Celestron Nexstar 8 SE. I had the Nexstar 4 GT before it. I have to say that the Nexstar line has come a long way in 4 years. The hand controller now has a larger database of objects that the scope will go to, and more alignment methods have been added. With SkyAlign, you can have the scope aligned in no time. I also like the fact that the hand controller and motor controllers are firmware upgradable now. This scope's go-to capabilities are fantastic. Once I used SkyAlign to set it up, I was finding nebulas and galaxies that I had never seen before. 8 "AA" batteries do not last long in this scope, so if you plan to use it for hours at a time, I would suggest that you purchase the AC Adapter, Car Adapter, or Power Tank to go with it. Anyway, the Nexstar 8 SE is a super scope. I love it!Digital camera Review: GREAT scope for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
In short, for the money, this scope is great. You can spend twice the money for the capability this scope offers. This scope is easy to setup (probably 20 min. from pulling it out of the box). The built in alignment program is not perfect, but you can tweak it easily and be viewing in no time. I have not tried using the scope on batteries, just the AC adapter, based on other reviews. The built in computer data base is extensive and can give you hours of enjoyment. The "TOUR" button will keep you busy! I have looked at Mars and Saturn. You can see the polar cap on Mars (barely) and I have seen at least three of Saturn's moons. Views of the moon are spectacular. Viewing deep space objects are not quite as captivating due to my slightly light-polluted sky.
The packaging the scope comes in is excellent! It is nested to allow maximum protection. I have had to e-mail Celestron once for help (AC power supply was loose). They quickly responded, and their fix worked. I highly recommend the AC adapter, anti-vibration pads, and the 1.25" "ZOOM" eyepiece as "needed" accessories. ENJOY and clear skies.
Digital camera Review: Good SCT/GoTo for the Price
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a casual backyard observer in an area of heavy light pollution (close in suburb) and I looked at a number of smaller and more primitive Go-To scopes before buying the 8SE. I also have a C-5, but found it is just not up to letting me find fainter objects in our dark gray sky. The manual contains many suggestions for improving Go-To accuracy and I am still working through them. But with the mount level, the location set to a city 10 miles away and the time set to with in a minute, the Sky align method works very well with a 25mm eyepiece. Even one star and two star alignments are close. Precision Go-To works very well. If your observing takes you back and forth across a wide area of sky, you can improve Go-To by replacing one of the alignment stars with whatever star or planet you are viewing now. Having a level scope is critical. The bubble level was lost in the unpacking so I use a 2' level or a line level and rotate the scope more than 180 degrees to check level in all directions.
Once an object is centered, tracking is excellent. Saturn stayed in view with a 10mm eyepiece for about 50 minutes with no adjustments; at that point I changed to a different target.
Optically the 8SE is very good. It easily splits some of the closer double stars. Collimation while not perfect is very good; so good that I continue to postpone adjusting it. At the 8SE's price point there are compromises; there is play in the drive and the tripod could be just a bit better. The focus mechanism is jumpy. The red dot finder is a pain to use with higher targets. I will replace it with a right angle finder or a laser finder.
Imperfect as the Go-To system is in some ways, it does not require a complex setup, and most important, allows me to quickly find objects eluded me using guess and point with my C-5.
I use an AC adapter with a 5.5mm x 2.1 plug rather than batteries. If the power connection is loose, gently spread the center pin in the power jack on the mount. Also check to ensure that you are using a x 2.1mm plug rather than the more common x 2.2mm.