Telescope Reviews: Celestron C5+ owners- your experiences

Well, I had both a C5 and a 127 MCT at one time, but sold the 127 MCT (I just liked the wider field of the C5) but then sold the C5 too.

But I came to regret it. As I mentioned earlier, I rarely used to use the C5, but after a bunch of big, heavy 4" APOs that took more mount and didn't provide as bright a view, I started missing the C5 so I bought another one and every time I think of selling it, I remind myself that there really isn't any competition in the small scope market that would give me the same bright views of the C5.

Even the sub-4" scopes to me are not easier to set up because below a certian size, the mount starts to be more effort than the scope, and that is the case with the C5 vs 80mm refractors.

And this has been my message for a decade now.. Where refractors really excel is their ability to do a wide field. At the center of the field, it is all to easy to get better performance simply by using a slighly larger reflector.

And back to the OPs question, I find that just about any target that will fit into the field of the C5 will be a bit brighter and more detailed than the 4" refractors I owned. Some of the 80mm refractors seemed to struggle even to show the four stars of the Trapezium with enough brilliance to make them special.

But for the C5, all of these targets are more satisfying if it fits into the field.

And the performance on planets and the moon is not so different as the "Big Central Obstruction is bad" crowd would have us to believe. Yes there is a penalty, but it is a subtle one. Overall, the differnce between planetary and lunar views in the C5 is not the same, but similar enough that I find it to be fine for quick looks. For the most serious planetary observing though, I would not use even the best 4" APO. I tried it and just could not see enough to make it worth my time and the same is true with the C5.

But if you want a quick look, or something you can take out birding or camping, the C5 is better on most things, and almost just as good on a few things.

And since I have been binoviewing the C5, it has made me want to use the scope again.

Night before last, I had the C5 out and with binos and a pair of 24mm Eyepieces, I was shocked at how superb the Orion Nebula appeared. It was reallyIt stunning. It was large and bright and showed a lot of structure and extension.

Making me look at the C5 in a whole new light. Far more fun to use with binos than with mono, and because it really is a scope that is optimized for 1.25" use, you don't feel like you are giving up any true field. If you were going to use them with a 24mm Panoptic or something anyway, then you are getting close to the same size field with the Binos as you would in mono.

And this lets me get a wider true field in the C5 than I can get in my 6" APO because with that scope, I need to use a glass path corrector which makes the focal lenght 1800mm. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I do love my C5 and perhaps now that I am binoviewing more, it will get used more.