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Best shoot taken with manual focus lenses
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not an obtuse question at all Michael - not many people use these for regular photography

SW stands for the maker ( Skywatcher ) its an astro scope. ST is the model name, 120 is the size of the front elements ( 120mm ) 600 is the focal length





PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, okay, well, as an ex-active astronomer (not much to see around where I live now), I find myself asking more questions:

What is the optical construction? Doublet? Triplet? APO?

I checked out eBay and they have some Celestron Sky Watcher listings, but nothing as large as a 120mm. Is this an older Celestron?


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 4:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Factory collimated air spaced doublet with crayford 2" rack focuser.
Non APO sad to say. You can double the price at least for LD/ED glass,
so thats why mine was cheap. You can buy this model without too
much problem. I got mine in Germany. SW are mostly Europe, but you are more likely to find the sister of this ( Orion ) in the US

It has a CA problem because its non APO. Not in every shot,
but those with high contrast. But i can deal with most of the
CA in Adobe CS4


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 5:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, yes. Orion I've heard of. Used to be on their mailing list. Dunno about now, but back then they made about a bazillion different refractor models. Think I'll go check out their website.

I've always thought it was a great idea to use telescopes as long lenses. I had a Celestron 4" (102mm) APO years ago that I used to use for double duty, and it was great, but wherever it went, pretty much so did its equatorial mount as well. The ED/APO scopes cost a fraction of what their lens counterparts go for, so there's that value to be had.

So did you just buy an OTA or the mount too? Orion has the 120 ST for $550 with mount and tripod. $320 for just the OTA. It doesn't have those cool looking aluminum knobs on the focuser, though -- just plastic.

$320 for a 600mm f/5 strikes me as a cracking good deal. Add another $35 for a set of rings, and then machine a plate to bolt them to so it can be tripod mounted and, bang, you've got a great land scope. Of course, like with a mirror you only have the one f-stop, but hey . . . can't have everything.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah they do make a gazillion models, and it seems you found the equivalant. Not exactly identical, but almost. The price seems right..i paid GBP £240 for mine and like you say, if you can live with its idiosyncracies, there's not much to touch it for the price. Even the weight is an advantage @ 8.5Lbs. I dont know of a DSLR of 600mm FL and wide aperture that weighs so little.

I bought just the OTA, but that came with the barrel rings and red dot finder. I sold the finder for about £20.

The mount bar underneath that attaches to the barrel rings ( the dovetail bar ) i had to buy seperatley for about £12/13 - no need to machine anything up. The bar has mount holes for tripod QR plates.


Last edited by Fretless Pete on Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:17 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good to know. I saw a listing for dovetail bars, but I didn't know what they were. I'm pretty sure, however, that the Orion does not come with the rings. And it could be that more recent models have lost the cool aluminum knobs because I did see that more expensive refractor models still had them. Sad Moves to keep the cost down, it looks like, what with the worthlessness of the USD and all.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes cost cutting seems to be everywhere right now. You wouldnt want to be in Greece right now though Shocked

Orion are not the only US scope seller though, so if you are really interested in getting the reach for little coin, maybe research further. Astro photography is not my bag at all, and IMO, the only other use a scope has is for birds, so its the only reason i bought one


PostPosted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50


PostPosted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

metallaro1980, such a beauty! Where is it ?


PostPosted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fretless Pete wrote:
I'll kick this thread alive again... Shocked

SW 120 600mm f5 for all photos. Manual focus on all and fixed aperture of f5. All shot 2011















i love the last two shots! nice composition and great pp!


PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Attila wrote:
metallaro1980, such a beauty! Where is it ?

Near Malga Ra' Stua (Cortina D'Ampezzo)


PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got a good one of this bird at the park. It's cropped as the creature would not let me get close as I wanted. Nikon D300, 75-150 Series E




PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bill, that's a great shot!


PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to make it clear, this is not my image but a quoted image and link from a new member

Here`s one of my favourites. Shot with Helios 44-2 and Macro extension. Camera Lumix G1.



Flickr Link[/b]


Last edited by mo on Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:47 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote





PostPosted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:29 pm    Post subject: Mil mi 24 Reply with quote

This one is taken with sigma APO 400mm f5.6.



PostPosted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arkku wrote:
My personal favourite changes all the time, but right now I think it's this (despite some technical flaws):



Taken with the CZJ MC Sonnar 135mm f/3.5.


I assume that the mamba was behind glass? Very well done.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

woodrim wrote:
Maybe this...

http://www.pbase.com/mdlempert/image/122335799.jpg

Mmmhhh Razz
No EXIF-data inside, but there is only one commercial lense on earth that can do that.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glow wrote:
woodrim wrote:
Maybe this...

http://www.pbase.com/mdlempert/image/122335799.jpg

Mmmhhh Razz
No EXIF-data inside, but there is only one commercial lense on earth that can do that.


Thanks for noticing. This was taken with a Vivitar 200/3 Series 1 and the effect is a modest amount of home made HDR using Photoshop.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like this

my wife)

Carl Zeiss Sonar 135 3,5


PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taken at the last weekend. Rikoh Rikenon 55 1.4 (m42)



PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 9:52 am    Post subject: share my art photos Reply with quote

Share my art photos









by [URL=" Vincent[/URL] on Flickr


PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:02 am    Post subject: Re: share my art photos Reply with quote

kuentkas wrote:
Share my art photos









by [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/80295078@N03/"]hohn Vincent[/URL] on Flickr


Welcome to the forum Kuentkas.
You can't post photos on your first post: anti-spam measure. From now on you should be ok.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote





EP-3 (Digital Converter ON) + Tamron SP 90/2.5


PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only had the lens a few days, but here's my best so far. Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm F3.5 on NEX-5N with EVF. Wide open at 1/320s at the British Grand Prix.