[Leica] telescopes??

[msmall at infionline.net (Marc James Small)]

At 09:46 PM 9/11/05 -0400, Eric Korenman wrote:
>A colleague of mine knows that I am camera/optics nut.
>His particular passion is telescopes.  He is looking to buy his dream
>telescope.
>Any LUGgers who are also into telescopes out there?
>Any forums I can direct him to?


As others have noted, selecting a telescope is a matter of setting
parameters and finding a telescope which most closely matches these.  Here
are some of the factors:

Size is important but more important for deep-sky observing than for
planetary work where atmospheric quality has a significant impact.

Quality is vital.  A large telescope with poorly made optics will not
produce images half as satisfactory as a smaller telescope with really good
optics.

Weight is important.  I'm lazy, and would never use a 10" telescope.  But,
then, I primarily do binocular and planetary work, so some binoculrs and
small telescopes suit my needs quite well.

Meade versus Celestron is not really a general issue as both make really
solid gear.  With specific examples, it might be an issue, however -- for
instance, in general terms, the Celestron C-90 is a more satisfactory
telescope than the old Meade 90mm (the only commercial telescope using a
Burcholder design, incidentally).  Conversely, the Meade 1037/2040
telescopes generally were preferable to the C-5.  Celestron got into the
Schmidt-Cassegrain game quite early, forty years back, and held the field
for the first fifteen years.  When Meade came along, their marketing ran
rings around that of Celestron.  This has caused a lot of resentment among
older amatuers and has pushed Celestron close to finanacial collapse.  But,
in general, both companies make good telescopes 

I live in an inner-city neighborhood with rather distant street lights, so
I can handle most of my observing needs from my front yard.  To that end,
my regular users are a Swift 831 76mm long-focus refractor and a 1962
Questar 3.5 Quartz Standard.  I do use quality eyepieces (Brandon, Zeiss,
and a set of the new TMB monocentrics.)  If I lived in the coutnry, I'd
probably set up an observatory and put in a 4" or larger TMB refractor and
get a custom-built 16" Newtonian or Cassegrain.  But, living where I do, my
gear is finie.  I also have a Leica APO-Televid spotting scope which I take
out when I am camping as it works well as a birding scope and for good
dark-sky observations of nebulae and clusters and the like.

But, again, setting the parameters is vital.  And, of course, bear in mind
that old, old adage that "the thrill of a low price is soon replaced by
chagrin at the poor quality of the item purchased".  Buy the
highest-quality gear you can afford.

Marc

msmall@aya.yale.edu 
Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!

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