11 replies to this topic

[asaint]

Solarscope SF70

[Ralph Marantino]

Super excellent review thanks a bunch.

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[michaeloconnell]

Good article Jeff. Thanks for writing it.

[Jim Rosenstock]

Great article, WONDERFUL sketches.

I like your wife's advice "to get something that 'you know will meet your expectations. I don't want to listen to you complaining if it doesn't.'" I thought I was taking her advice when I got my DS SM40, instead of an "entry level" PST...but perhaps I should have reached a little farther....(in any case, I have a 60DS Lunt on order; I guess I'll figure out soon enough if THAT's a big enough quantum jump for me....)

Thanks for a great review.

Sunny skies,

Jim

[Solar B]

Great review of the best HA filter currently available...
until they release the 100mm Brian

[colinsk]

Thank you Jeff, very well written and informative.

[Jeff Young]

Thanks, everyone! (I'm travelling right now but I'll check back in Monday.)

And if anyone wants to send me the 100, I'll be happy to do a compare. I give no guarantees on which one I'll send back, though....

Cheers,
-- Jeff.

[naglertized]

Great review! Your sketches are almost like B&W photos.

How does the Pronto perform optically?

[Special Ed]

Jeff,

A fine article--thorough, fun to read, and informative. Nice illustrations, too.

[kfred]

Excellent review!

Fred

[Jeff Young]

Clinton --

I was surprised at how much I liked the Pronto. The mechanical construction is better in the flesh than it looks in pictures.

That being said, I did no more than 15 minutes of observing in full-spectrum light (to work out what spacers I'd need with various Barlow/OCS/bino-viewer combinations). During that time I certainly noticed that the image was considerably better off-axis than my Nikon 18x70s, but then you'd expect that. I was also left with a slight impression that the contrast was less than I'm used to in the Tak FC-100, but I didn't do a side-by-side so it remains just a weak impression.

With the Solarscope filter, the performance is excellent. But, I'm only using a single wavelength, and I'm viewing mostly on-axis (the lowest power I use shows a field less than 3/4 of a degree, which for a 70mm f/6.8 is not very far off-axis). So while I'm quite happy with it, I'd be somewhat uneasy about extrapolating into more general viewing conditions -- simply because I have very little data there.

Cheers,
-- Jeff.

[naglertized]

Thanks Jeff. May you have many fine days under the sun.