37 replies to this topic

[Naraya]

Hey guys, i'm looking for a very versatile refractor and I want your opinions on the Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED.

 

i'm quite enticed that i could use it for WIDE-field views (even wider than the St-80!), astrophotography, guiding, and even just day-to-day photography.

 

But i'm still kinda worried about the astrophotography part since it's gonna be 50% its use. I plan to use an H-alpha filter with it but i'm not sure if using a 50mm refractor is a very good idea (star bloating, laughable amount of light gathering, etc). 

 

I think it has a lot going for it but let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

(note: although my st-80 is (good enough) for observing, it has insane amounts of coma that really limits what i can do with it.

(spent a lot of time fixing it, nothing really works).

So the evoguide will "replace" it in a way.

[Tapio]

I don't remember seeing AP images taken with Evoguide.
Have played with the idea too.
But it needs a field flattener too, although it has better color correction than st80.
And it needs better mount attachment than guide mount.

[Naraya]

I don't remember seeing AP images taken with Evoguide.
Have played with the idea too.
But it needs a field flattener too, although it has better color correction than st80.
And it needs better mount attachment than guide mount.

I'm quite fine with field curvature (can easily crop it out too). I also have a neighbour who could help drill a mounting hole for the star adventurer so i don't see any issues.

 

Were there any problems you learnt when playing with the AP option?

[Tapio]

Sorry if you misunderstood me.
I have just played with idea of purchasing Evoguide for AP.
But maybe if I buy it will be this:
https://www.teleskop...--RED-Line.html
or this :
https://www.teleskop...ture-F-4-5.html

[skyward_eyes]

Starizona has made a dedicated field flattener for the Evoguide 50ED just for this reason. It flattened the field across an APS-C sized sensor.

https://starizona.co...r-evoguide-50ed

[Auburn80]

Caution. They clearly state one cannot use a diagonal. Appears to be fine with straight thru, guiding and AP.

[gbgrimm]

 

I am just tossing this out there as I found it hard to get any confirmed input on using the SW Evoguide 50mm with a DSLR for astrophotography. I just got the EVO 50, and was able to attach my Canon 3ti, mount the whole thing on my Star Adventurer. I was easily able to achieve focus after removing the extension sleeve. I took 50, 30sec unguided, non polar aligned subs of M42. As expected I got coma outside the 15mm circle but it was easily cropped away and still left me a reasonably wide angle image. I am waiting for the new Starizona Field Flattner that will give a full 27mm image and reach focus with a DSLR.

Edited by gbgrimm, 22 January 2020 - 08:09 PM.

[happy-kat]

The back focus distance of the ED50 and that starizona FF is too short for a mirrored DSLR (mirrorless is lots shorter for Canon), are they working on a new version that will allow mirrored DSLR?

Edited by happy-kat, 05 February 2020 - 11:45 AM.

[gbgrimm]

According to Starizona .... Yes a new FF is on the way that will allow a mirrored DSLR and the new FF to reach focus and support 27mm w/o all that coma .... I am on the waiting list. In the meantime I have not, due to just the month of clouds in Florida, tried the ED50 with my ZWO 120MC-S on the Moon for example. I even might give M42 a shot but the ZWO 120MC-S is not made for that.

I see a lot of images with ZWO or QHY cooled cameras and the ED50.   I will update post when I get the new Starizona FF. 

[Hesiod]

The Evoguider is something like a 50/250 so, for the purpose of astrophotography, I would rather look to standard camera lenses (ideally a prime around 180-200mm, as fast as possible): these are usually faster, have larger and overall better corrected fields and are easier to couple with the camera (of course ).

 

It may be show a lot of coma as well (partly it may be caused by the eyepiece), but the deal breaker for me is the really low amount of backfocus, which will make observing through it a rather nasty experience.

To observe at low power I do not see the point of going from the ST80 to this 50mm: if want bigger fields, rather go for a pair of binos (take note that I have a 55/300, and have used it a lot also for visual, but mostly because I like this kind of challenge, not to see "better" than in my 10cm achro...)

[xopxe]

Hello there! 

 

Untill now I have been doing just visual observing with my 150mm f5 newtonian, mostly from my city flat balcony. I have a motorized non-goto mount which tracks reasonably well. I do star-hopping through a 25mm eyepiece (about 2º FOV) using Uranometria, becuase and I find it more interesting and entertaining. The thing is I really want to see a bit more of the DSOs. So I became quite thrilled when I found out about EAA...

 

I have no expericence with imaging. I have been considering using a guidescope with a camera on my telescope as a starting point. You know, star-hop like always and then taking a couple of tens of short sub-exposures just to see a bit more detail (honestly, apart form the brightest DSOs, I usually dont see much from my light-polluted area). This way I can start to learn the software and maybe upgrade later. BTW I have seen some EAA images done with a 50mm guidescope here and I was quite impressed!

 

I was thinking about the Evoguide 50ED + ZWO ASI 224 colour camera. Thish should give me about 1º x 0,9º FOV so when I have centered the desired area in my eyepiece, the object should fall more or less in the camera field. Running some simulations on Stellarium with this FOV, I can even starhop on my computer screen alone. How well dou you think this setup will perform? I guess since its an APO refractor, it should be better than the usual guidescopes and there should be little CA. Will I be able to achieve focus? Will I need some other accessories? Also, the SharpCap software can be used for polar alignment and a 1º-2,5º FOV is recommended for having enough stars, soo it seems that I can use it for this purpose as well, right? 

 

Thanks, I will really appreciate any advice! Take care!

Edited by xopxe, 26 April 2020 - 06:03 AM.

[gbgrimm]

With the CV19 shutdown I am still waiting for the new EVO 50ED FF to be released by Starizona. In the meantime I have taken my EVO 50ED refractor with my ZWO ASI120MC-S out on many occasions as a guidescope. Flawless, My guide stars are pinpoints. 

 

Finally, about three weeks ago I mounted my EVO50 on my SW StarAdventurer and coupled the ZWO ASI 120MC-S to it. Then using Sharpcap I was able to, for the first time with any of my scopes, get the ENTIRE full moon onto the chip. It would have made a great EAA view. I dropped about 1000 frames and stacked it with Autostakkert3. See attached. I have not tried any other solar system objects yet nor have I used a barlow in the process. I expect when I try for Jupiter with my 120MC-S I will want to use a 2x barlow ... but will I reach focus? 

 

However the ZWO ASI 120MC-S is not a DSO camera. I tried several times for M42 but it was not successful for me. Possibly the completely manual Star Adventurer mount was adding to the complexity of centering etc ....

 

The 224 has a brief mention on the ZWO homepage saying it can be used for DSO but it is so similar to my camera I wouldn't buy a 224 for it and expect DSO's. Other, more expensive models,cooled and such, are most likely a better choice. I still think a FF (field flattner) will be needed for DSO imaging of any quality. I could find only a few  DSO images with a 224 as the imaging camera and an EVO 50 on Astrobin. 

 

I hope that the Starizona FF appears soon. I think then my DSLR will see more action with the EVO50 on my Star Adventurer mount. No guiding. I have several other scopes that I use for DSO imaging but just wanted a little quick setup for like 1-2min unguided shots.

 

Stay safe

 

 

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[cuivenion]

 

With the CV19 shutdown I am still waiting for the new EVO 50ED FF to be released by Starizona. In the meantime I have taken my EVO 50ED refractor with my ZWO ASI120MC-S out on many occasions as a guidescope. Flawless, My guide stars are pinpoints. 

 

Finally, about three weeks ago I mounted my EVO50 on my SW StarAdventurer and coupled the ZWO ASI 120MC-S to it. Then using Sharpcap I was able to, for the first time with any of my scopes, get the ENTIRE full moon onto the chip. It would have made a great EAA view. I dropped about 1000 frames and stacked it with Autostakkert3. See attached. I have not tried any other solar system objects yet nor have I used a barlow in the process. I expect when I try for Jupiter with my 120MC-S I will want to use a 2x barlow ... but will I reach focus? 

 

However the ZWO ASI 120MC-S is not a DSO camera. I tried several times for M42 but it was not successful for me. Possibly the completely manual Star Adventurer mount was adding to the complexity of centering etc ....

 

The 224 has a brief mention on the ZWO homepage saying it can be used for DSO but it is so similar to my camera I wouldn't buy a 224 for it and expect DSO's. Other, more expensive models,cooled and such, are most likely a better choice. I still think a FF (field flattner) will be needed for DSO imaging of any quality. I could find only a few  DSO images with a 224 as the imaging camera and an EVO 50 on Astrobin. 

 

I hope that the Starizona FF appears soon. I think then my DSLR will see more action with the EVO50 on my Star Adventurer mount. No guiding. I have several other scopes that I use for DSO imaging but just wanted a little quick setup for like 1-2min unguided shots.

 

Stay safe

 

Hi, I was wondering if you had heard anything from Starizona about the DSLR coma corrector? With things as they are regarding covid-19 I assume it may be hold for now but I was hoping it was still in the pipeline.

[gbgrimm]

Yes, it is still in the pipeline. I have been in contact with them. I check their website daily. They are more than approachable so you can email them directly.  

[cuivenion]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I did try sending them an email a few months back, but it could have been possible they were closed at the time or they didn't receive it for some reason. I'll keep an eye on the website.

 

An affordable set of tube rings for the Evoguide would be good as well for imaging use.

[chuckscap]

I placed an order for one but it's on back order, thought I might as well get myself in the queue.   I can see using the Evo 50 ED for widefield imaging piggybacked on my C14.

[By-tor]

Since purchasing my ZWO ASI533 MC camera a couple of large DSO's are to big to image with my 420mm scope and I have been thinking about this as a piggy back to image them with.  A better mount would probably be a good idea for that scope and this site makes and sells them.

 

http://www.astrokrak...50ed-a185445792

[gbgrimm]

 

Last night I was able to finally get some DSO work done with the EVO50 and my Canon3ti DSLR.

Between the EVO50 and the DSLR sits a Field Flattener. It is not the Skywatcher version.  Please contact Starizona for details and suitability for your backfocus requirements of your image train. Needless to say the images are the full APS-C size and look flat to me. I didn't get a lot of data, 14min for M31 and only 9min on M42. Stacked by DSS and Startools did a modest wipe and I manually did the stretch. Now that I can see my new FOV and what a f4.9 scope can grab quickly I plan to do more widefield.

 

 

[happy-kat]

Great to see that there could be a field flattener choice for the evoguide and one with APS DSLR potential. Couldn't see an announcement yet on their site.

[gbgrimm]

I am still trying to get my EVO50 into a reliable imaging setup for wide angle stuff. Last night I was trying to get M42 and IC434(Horsehead) in the same frame with my DSLR APS-C Canon 3ti but missed and instead of getting Alnitak, I got Alnilam the middle belt star instead. Just missed it . Need to get lower. 

 

So anyway it's another wide angle shot (7x120sec) stacked and NOT cropped. I am using the Starizona Field Flattener that is still in the Covid 19 production trap. But it appears that the one I did manage to get, after waiting for a good while, is going to work just fine with a DSLR. I do not have a cooled camera so the DSLR is my only option. I don't see any coma but you can judge for yourself.

Contact Starizona for the details that make this new one different than the one from SkyWatcher. 

Get on the list. 

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[Cbaxter]

Hello,

I am very curious specifically what field flattener you are using with your DSLR. On the Starizona site I see the EvoFF field flattener for the EvoGuide 50ed but it only has a backfocus of 17.5mm and is not sufficient for DSLR typical ~55mm backfocus. Are you using a not yet released product from Starizona? If it is an existing product could you please provide a link?

The flat field in your images looks pretty good to me, on an APS-C sensor. I have a 61EDPHII on the way but I really would like two wide field mini astrophotography rigs that I can use for short trips, imaging two separate wide field targets at the same time. One with MILC and other with DSLR. Considering I already have the 50ed I am all for giving it a go with a field flattener and a modified D5300.

Regards and clear skies.

Contact Starizona for the details that make this new one different than the one from SkyWatcher.
Get on the list.

[gbgrimm]

I was, late in 2019  trying to order the Starizona EVOFF but when I mentioned DSLR they told me they had a new one coming out in early 2020 that had enough backfocus for a DSLR. Got on the list in  11/19. At that time SkyWatcher  did not have a FF and now that they do it cannot work with a DSLR.

 

Needless to say the final production product is not here yet. But by luck I was able to purchase a early sample in June 2020. DSO's are just now appearing in my Florida skies so have been able to use it.

So Starizona has the tech and can do it. Covid just hammers schedules. As I earlier mentioned get on the list. I could not post earlier than this month that one exists as I could never get a test done to be sure it works.

 

Clear skies,

George

[Bowlerhat]

Needless to say the final production product is not here yet. But by luck I was able to purchase a early sample in June 2020. 

Did they give any further estimation on the final production?

[gbgrimm]

No. But since I have one then I have not been asking. I have been sitting on this one I do have for 5 months, waiting for better weather. So it's in the wind now, and my best advice is contact them and get on the list.  Here is my rig but for now I have this mounted on my SW AZ-EQ5 GT.

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Edited by gbgrimm, 24 November 2020 - 07:37 PM.

[happy-kat]

With getting import tax, delivery and charges being quite high I will likely need to wait until there is a stockist of the revised design here over the pond, so not really in a position to actually 'get on the list' beyond the email I had already sent.