Opinion on Celestron C5 (1 Viewer)

[Granpoli]

Hello,
I am looking for a telescope to observe distant birds in wetlands, lagoons... distant birds.... but that can also be used for astronomical observation, the Moon, some luminous planet and little else, but that can achieve good magnification...
I have seen that the Celestron C5 exists...
Has anyone used it for both types of observations?
Thank you

 

[Binastro]

I have used the C5 years ago for mainly astro use.

But they vary in quality, although they may now be generally good.

I have used the f/6 and f/10 versions, maybe now they are only f/10.

They are I think SCT telescopes with a thin front corrector. If this breaks, it is probably cheaper to get a new tube and optics.

I have also used a C8, which wasn't very good, but again they may be generally good nowadays. It was very temperature sensitive. On only one night of perfect Seeing was it excellent.

In addition, I have a Skywatcher 5inch or 127mm Maksutov, which isn't very good either.
Others have good Skywatcher 127s.

Yet, I have a Skywatcher 90mm Maksutov that is excellent.

So yes, a Celestron C5 may be good for both astro and terrestrial use, but you have to try it out yourself to make sure you get a good one.

A good C5 without any erector and used for inverted astro use should take at least 200x if it is good optically on a night of good Seeing and not very varying temperature.
It should be left outside for maybe 15 or 20 minutes to stabilise.

They do have large secondaries, so are not as good as a fine 5 inch refractor or mirror scope with 25% or smaller secondary.

The Maksutovs are about f/13 going up to f/16 with erectors etc.
They are also optimised for infinity rather than close up.

I also have 6 inch Maksutovs.

In short mirror scopes vary and need to be tested.

They are not ideal for low magnifications.

Regards,
B.

 

[Ruff-Leg]

Hello,
I am looking for a telescope to observe distant birds in wetlands, lagoons... distant birds.... but that can also be used for astronomical observation, the Moon, some luminous planet and little else, but that can achieve good magnification...
I have seen that the Celestron C5 exists...
Has anyone used it for both types of observations?
Thank you

Have you seen this?

Celestron C5 XLT Review

www.scopeviews.co.uk

 

[Binastro]

Thank you Ruff-leg.

That is a good and fair review.

Incidentally, I easily split both components of epsilan Lyrae, around 2.4 arcseconds with a Vivitar 600mm f/8 solid Cat lens at 180x and less well with an Optomax 500mm f/8 mirror lens at 150x.

My friend uses 185x with a Skywatcher 102mm Maksutov Cassegrain on planets and also a Celestron 90mm f/10? refractor but on heavier mounts than the supplied one.
His drawings/paintings of Mars are beautiful using these.

I used 95x terrestrially and astro with my custom 6 inch f/10 Maksutov with oversize primary and up to 200x with the 6 inch f/15 Maksutov.

The 90mm Skywatcher is very good at 135x with a bright sun behind me looking at crows 120 metres away. The detail in the crow's eye is amazing.

The Mirador 70mm Maksutov is excellent with its 30x to 120x zoom, but probably not available.

My 120mm refractors are better than the mirror scopes.

It may be that a good Skywatcher 127mm Maksutov Cassegrain is a bit better than the Celestron C5.
But actually testing is important.

I consider 114x to be a low maximum magnification, but probably quite adequate for both terrestrial and astro, except on planets, where 150x should be quite a good available power.

Regards,
B.