I'm looking into buying a telescope in the next few months, and I am torn between a few different ones. I have looked up a lot of reviews on each, and still can't make up my mind.

1st scope:


Celestron Omni XLT 150 Refractor Telescope with CG-4 German Equatorial Mount, 750mm (29.53") Focal Length

roughly 900$ out of the gate. The most expensive that I am looking at, but the smallest apature. Basically its the best refractor I have seen for under a thousand bucks. Aside from being more than the other two dobsonians I am considering, I also haven't seen any pictures taken through the scope. I know if going by apature and focal length alone, this is a loser. Also I have to worry (somewhat) about chromatic abberation. The biggest thing going for it is portability and columnation (sp?) isnt as likely to be needed.



Second- Orion 27194 XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope and Beginner Barlow Kit

currentlly 419$ with free shipping. All around it seems to be a great scope (a different package deal with the same scope has over a thousand reviews with near 5 stars average). This would give me a few hundred extra bucks left over compared to the other two scopes to get a few better eye peices , and would be able to order the scope itself sooner. much larger apature than the celestron refractor, with a longer focal length (1,200mm) allowing higher maxium magnification. I have seen the difference in photos between this and the ten inch, and for deep space objects, the ten inch is much better.


third - Orion XT10 Classic Dobsonian Telescope & Beginner Barlow Kit
Currentlly $660 with free shipping, two reviews on that particular bundle (one 5 star , one 1 star due to damaged product during shipping) on amazon. From other reviews it is overall better than the 8". Much larger apature allows ~ 35-40% more light in so you can see DSO's much better. I am wanting to purchase a few 2" wide fov eye peices , and froim my understanding the more light gathered would REALLY make a difference between the 10" and the 8" in this aspect.It would be heavier, harder to move, and need to be columinated more frequently, but idk :/ On http://www.telescope.com/Orion-XT10-Classic-Dobsonian-Telescope-amp-Beginner-Barlow-Kit/p/27162.uts it has 82 reviews. 75 5 star, and 7 four star reviews. 240$ more, but I wouldnt have to wonder about how much more i could see with this vs the 8 inch.


Does anyone here have any experience with any of these scopes, or scopes of similar size? I would also really like to have a clear view of the planets, but with varying camera quality I honestly dont know what to expect going by pictures. I currentlly have a 60mm x60 spotting scope i bought from walmart for $60. I can BARELY see the gap between saturn and its rings on a very clear night, so any of these would be a huge improvement (for example the 8" would give me up to 300x useful magnification with a theoretical max of 406x , and the light gathered would be over ten times the light gathered by my current scope).


TL/dr I keep arguing with myself and need advice from others who might have experience.

This post was edited by skyeye on Jun 4 2016 06:45pm

Don't know much about telescopes but I know a guy who said you should start out with a traditional optical telescope versus a digital one, there might be a clear difference.

None of the ones listed are digital. I believe he is referring to the mechanized scopes, where you enter the code for the object you want to see, and a set of electric motors move the scope directly to the target. That being said, none of the ones I am looking at have that function. I appreciate the input though.

oh, you so you can digital set it to tell you what you want to see....

Assumed you meant having digital magnification (such as on some micro scopes, and cameras) that appeared on a screen. This assumption was based on your friend stating "optical vs digital" where as an optical one would be like a standard refractor or reflector style where you actually look through a lens.

What do you want to see in outer space?

I've had a Orion Skyquest XT6 Dobsonian since October 2014. I have a thread of my collection of pictures on jsp.
http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=71536263&f=27&o=0

However, some of the images of my planets are stacked using Registax 6 in order to get the best results. Astrophotography and what you see are two different things.
On good nights, with the correct equipment you can see amazing things. It's all about location too, if you are in a darker zone, the better.

To be perfectly honest, the XT8 and XT10 are good scopes, if you are an amateur in the field I would recommend just going with the XT8, remember... if you end up really enjoying it, it won't be your last scope.
BUT, if you are willing to drop the extra cash, get the XT10. But like you said, you could use that money to get better eyepieces for your XT8.

I plan on buying a new scope in the future, when I have enough money.

Here's just a few planets I took with my XT6 scope and a NexImage 5 camera.
Black and white Saturn


Jupiter


This post was edited by Bassist on Jun 8 2016 01:11pm