21 replies to this topic

[fishin79]

Ok, first post (I believe)...
I am very curious about the new Orion 110ED but I have not seen a lot of reviews or anyone with experience with it. I am looking for a wide-view scope because I already have a 10in relector and 5in F/9 refractor. I am looking for something that will be good for visual and for my rudimentary photography. I was going to get an orion 80ED but noticed the 110ED with almost the same focal length and a much larger aperture. My obvious concern is image quality with this fast of a doublet refractor. Does anyone either have experience with this scope or a good feel for how the image quality would be? Before spending $1300 dollars, I would like to be pretty confident that the image quality will be much better than my Meade AR-5 which has a lot of chromatic aberration even at f/9.3. I appreciate any help I can get.

James

[Kon Dealer]

I have a Kson1026ED (f/6). Very sharp optics, a bit of CA on the brightest- what do you expect for a fast doublet?
But very, very satisfied- my most used 'scope.

[SteveG]

I had a WO 110, f6. I believe the optics on this Orion scope are the same. I can't speak to your imaging questions as I used mine for visual only.

The scope has very good optics that will slaughter a 5" achro, which I also had. There will be a tiny bit of CA on brighter objects, including Jupiter. Mine gave an incredible view of mars at about 225x. One thing I don't like about short focal length scopes is the field curvature. This is very pronounced when using low-power, wide field eyepieces. I loved the build quality of my WO scope so much I ended up selling it to buy its big brother, the 120 ed. At f7.5 the field curvature is hardly noticed at all.

[ensign]

I, too, had the WO Megrez 110. For a 4" refractor it was a very fine scope. As some have noted, there was a tiny bit of CA but since I used the scope for visual, this was a non-issue for me.

It will fit your stated purpose of wide-field viewing very well. I used a UWAN 28 EP with my scope and views of the summer Milky Way were terrific - especially M24.

I have recently returned to the refractor fold with a 120 f7.5 apo. Looking forward to the observing this season (as soon as the weather improves).

[panhard]

James: Welcome to our forums I hope you will enjoy your time spent here.

[radman8]

Hi, James. I purchased an Orion EON 110. I've only had an opportunity to take it out a few times but I have been impressed with the image quality and build quality in general. I did have an issue with the collimation screws around the lens assembly being too tight. This produced some pinching artifact. It's being taken care of as we speak.

I was really surprised to see how little CA there is. I had a hard time picking any up on the several photos I've taken with it using Orion's field flattener and a D7000 in my optical train.

Overall, I'm really happy with it. Here are some photos with the pinch artifact unfortunately. Hope that helps! ;-)

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[radman8]

Here's another test shot of M42 in my red zone backyard with a integration time of 7.5m. I used a LP filter. Minimal processing in Photoshop after DSS stacking.

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[radman8]

One more of M81 and 82

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[Vondragonnoggin]

I'm considering this scope for a next purchase. Something about the size, weight, look of the EON 110ED and just the right focal ratio. Still not 100% on it! but definitely leaning towards it for still having grab n go portability, plus enough aperture to keep me satisfied. I can put it on my photo tripod for a quick setup.

[beanerds]

I think 'Slaughter' is not the word I would use to describe what my good observing buddies WO 110mm f6 does to my Istar 127mm f8 Achromat ? .
These 2 scopes get set up side by side regualary and the views are more alike than different with the 127mm Istar going much deeper on a good night from our dark sky site .

No Slaughter is definatly the wrong word in our case .

My mate is very impressed with my $630 achro compared with his beautiful 110mm f6 APO at $2000 odd here in OZ .

Here is an untouched moon shot taken with my Sony DSLR attached to the end on my Istar at 1000mm .
Brian.

I had a WO 110, f6. I believe the optics on this Orion scope are the same. I can't speak to your imaging questions as I used mine for visual only.

The scope has very good optics that will slaughter a 5" achro, which I also had. There will be a tiny bit of CA on brighter objects, including Jupiter. Mine gave an incredible view of mars at about 225x. One thing I don't like about short focal length scopes is the field curvature. This is very pronounced when using low-power, wide field eyepieces. I loved the build quality of my WO scope so much I ended up selling it to buy its big brother, the 120 ed. At f7.5 the field curvature is hardly noticed at all.

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[fishin79]

Radman, thanks for the response. I was hoping to find someone who has actually purchased this scope. That is unfortunate about the pinched optics. I have seen several threads lately with that same artifact from several different manufactures. Is Orion fixing it for you or are you having to pay for it?

[fishin79]

Brian, that is certainly some food for thought. I will say that I have taken a shot very similar to Radman's M81/M82 with my AR-5 and it showed significantly more Chromatic Aberration even with a violet blocking filter. While your Istar might be nearly as good (or maybe better) than a ED doublet, my Meade would never be able to produce those kinds of images. In addition, at 127mm f/8, that scope is just too close to my 1200mm reflector. I am really looking for something that will give a wider field.

[SteveG]

The slaughter comment was comparing my AR-5 to the M110.
I'm guessing the Istar achros are much nicer with higher quality optics.

[radman8]

James, where I live in Canada, it would have cost more to ship the scope back for repairs than to have a local telescope expert here fix it for me. I'm paying C$75. I know it's not ideal but for me personally, I just want the scope back to do some more imaging.

It sounds like a pretty simple repair for anyone who's used to doing this sort of thing... which I'm not ;-)

If it helps, I'll post the repair details once I get the scope back.

[Jon Isaacs]

The slaughter comment was comparing my AR-5 to the M110.
I'm guessing the Istar achros are much nicer with higher quality optics.

Slaughter, Blows Away, what do they really mean? Does they mean that you split doubles that are half the separation, that you are seeing galaxies that are a full magnitude fainter? Last night, the skies were dark and clear, I was observing Leo-Virgo galaxies. My 12.5 inch Dob did "Blow Away/Slaughter" the 5 inch F/5 Newtonian I had along. As one might expect, I was seeing stuff in the larger scope that could not be seen in the smaller scope.

Comparing the 5 inch F/5 Newtonian to the TeleVue NP-101, the smaller scope is better but the views are more the same than they are different.. I call that "noticeably better."

Jon Isaacs

[beanerds]

Hi Fishing , I had a good North Group 127mm f7.5 (952mm) triplet at the same time I was building this scope up from scavenged parts and for the new Istar Doublet f8 (1000mm)lense I machined up a counter cell to fit an old Saxon ( Antares? ) 127mm f9.4 OTA I got minus its objective for a song . I cut 150 odd mm's off it .

After I finished the Istar/Saxon and got it all columinated I did lots of side by side testing between these 2 x 127mm scopes I sold the NG APO , it was a very good APO as well , but to my eyes the 2k NG was not worth keeping as the Istar lense was almost as good , both taking 300x plus with the NG staying CA free and the Istar showing some , but it does not bother me .

Istar objectives are very , very good for an achromat and I cant be happier with mine .

Here she is if you are interested.

Brian.

Brian, that is certainly some food for thought. I will say that I have taken a shot very similar to Radman's M81/M82 with my AR-5 and it showed significantly more Chromatic Aberration even with a violet blocking filter. While your Istar might be nearly as good (or maybe better) than a ED doublet, my Meade would never be able to produce those kinds of images. In addition, at 127mm f/8, that scope is just too close to my 1200mm reflector. I am really looking for something that will give a wider field.

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[SteveG]

Slaughter =

Lot's and lot's of purple vs almost undetectable purple.
You should look it up ;-)

[beanerds]

Say What dictionary is this in ? Seems the author of this has never looked thru a nice Istar 127mm f8 ACHRO , does my last photo not show enough ? here is one using my 2x TV Powermate and same Sony A200 DSLR at 2000mm , zero processing except sizeing for CN's , Horrendous CA aint it ?
Brian.

Slaughter =

Lot's and lot's of purple vs almost undetectable purple.
You should look it up ;-)

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[beanerds]

Just to be sure , here is another .
Taken on the same night as the native 1000mm shot I posted , but at 2000mm to not to long after.

But we are getting a bit off topic here and these 110mm WO's , Orion's and a few more made by Long Perng and others are awsome scopes no doubt , but a little more aperture for less money can go a long way .
My 5c worth .

Brian.

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[beanerds]

I know I cant help my self , but to all who are interested .
Here is Venus taken at 2000mm in my Istar 127mm f8 achromat taken on the 8th of October 2013 at our dark sky night in Darwin Australia about 8pm .

Again , zero work , just my TV 2x PM giving 2000mm and Sony A200 DSLR .
Sorry to hi-jak the thread but its good to show other possible scopes to people who are looking to buy a nice refractor .

Judge for your selves the horrendious CA in this shot , and as you may know ,,, Venus takes no prisoners when it comes to CA control ,, so here it is ,,, .

Brian.

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[SteveG]

Again, my comments were aimed at my old AR5. I'm sure the Istar is very nice, and note there are many happy customers.

[beanerds]

You hid behind that excellent AR5 ?
Brian.