47 replies to this topic

[ISTAR Optical]

Sharpstar (& rebranders) sell a fast 140mm double ED triplet. The Istar seems similar...

Yes, and so it Takahashi TOA-130NFB. This is an idea that will be copied by others.

Ive heard from one or two other people about this company and I can assure you and others that iStar has absolutely no affiliation with Sharpstar.

 

To stay ahead of the curve we just finished a new revolutionary Super APO design that will outperform everything else on the market as of now. Im thinking about filing a patent on this idea, if possible. It would be worth it. 

Edited by ISTAR Optical, 12 January 2022 - 05:21 PM.

[ISTAR Optical]

Are  Istar's lens and OTA made by Istar?

I know the other APO similar to Istar Phantom  140.

These refractors seems twin...

Hello,

please see previous post by Psion. It explains quite nicely. 

[Taeyoung]

Hello,

please see previous post by Psion. It explains quite nicely. 

Has the Phantom's lens 3 ED elements? 

According to Psion's review, it seemed that Phantom 140APO have 1 FPL53 class + 2 other ED class lenses in the cell.

[Psion]

Yes Phantom is triplet (1+2 lenses) and in the review you can read "This offers an advantage in contrast, as it creates a minimum of reflections over the air-spaced triplet used in the Phantom, which has six optical surfaces."

[Ted White]

I can attest to the quality of iStar's optics.  I built a scope last year using this lens.

More detail can be found at seriousastronomy.com.

 

Cheers,

 

Ted White

[VincentJC]

Great to see a quality product not made in China. Hopefully it's a success. I have an ES FPL53 140MM f/6.5 Triplet on order. How does the ES compare with the Phantom? 

[Psion]

Unfortunately I don't know anyone who can compare these telescopes side by side, otherwise it's just conjecture.

Edited by Psion, 07 February 2022 - 02:29 AM.

[stephenws]

ISTAR,

 

Is the Phantom 140 part of your new "Super APO" design referenced above, or will there be another scope available soon?

Edited by stephenws, 11 February 2022 - 06:40 PM.

[Jeffmar]

I just ordered the 140. The web site said they had these scopes in stock. I have heard that before. I hope it’s true. I am really looking forward to getting this scope!

 

Those are some really nice images!!!!

[ISTAR Optical]

ISTAR,

 

Is the Phantom 140 part of your new "Super APO" design referenced above, or will there be another scope available soon?

Hello Stephen,

yes, all these new scopes produced since 2011 are part of the Super Apo design. We are not planning any other telescope line. 
actually, the latest design variation is superior to all of the previous models. We have achieved a stunning fully corrected F/6 system both in 204mm and 175mm aperture class. I don’t know of any competition offering such fast systems in this aperture range. 
 

[Haukka]

Hello Stephen,

yes, all these new scopes produced since 2011 are part of the Super Apo design. We are not planning any other telescope line. 
actually, the latest design variation is superior to all of the previous models. We have achieved a stunning fully corrected F/6 system both in 204mm and 175mm aperture class. I don’t know of any competition offering such fast systems in this aperture range. 
 

This looks promising for the 170mm lens.

[JS999R]

I was a little concerned about the halos in the images, the minor ones not so much, but the larger one associated with the bright star made me think of the Antlia filter line.  I suppose there are a number of filters that could be tested to mitigate halos, also processing of course to which I know nothing.  However, I have seen demonstrations of the effectiveness of an Antlia filter suppressing halos and the results were impressive.  Has anyone else considered this filter as a candidate for testing with the Istar 140?

[denis0007dl]

Excellent report!

 

What is fantastic there, besides excellent optics, is that telescope tubus can be shortened, and binoviewers users can reach focus without using need of using any GPC etc!

[Boris D.]

I just purchased an iStar Phantom FCL 140mm (5.51") f/6.5 refractor telescope this month, April 2022.  I'm so glad I did!

 

I am getting older, and I can no longer comfortably lift and mount a traditional f/12 refractor of this aperture.  The iStar Phantom 140mm telescope is shorter, lighter, and much easier to mount, and offers me even larger aperture than I had before (old telescope was a 127mm f/12).

 

The Phantom's super apochromatic corrected lens is a delight to view through.  I enjoy studying the moon.  On lunar images, the contrast and detail are astounding.  I tried several of my orthoscopic eyepieces, and saw no limit to details my eyes could discern.  So just for fun, I used a 2x Barlow and my shortest 4mm orthoscopic eyepiece (Magnification = 2* 910/4 = 455x).  The image was still clear to the finest details.  It seemed unbelievable.  Also one of the first things I noticed right from the beginning of viewing, was the colour purity of the image compared to my old telescope. It just was so refreshingly pure.  I can't describe it better with any other adjective.

 

The spring weather in southern Ontario has not been night sky friendly, and seeing conditions had lots of turbulence, 3-4 out of 10 is how I rated the atmosphere.  I managed to

take a quick image through this telescope with eyepiece projection to my cheap grainy webcam. It is a screen capture on a laptop limited to 1366x768 pixels, no filters, no processing, just a single frame shot.  You can see there are details in the shadow of the crater still wanting to be pulled out by a better image capture device.  When viewing directly with eyes, there seems to be no breakdown of the image no matter what eyepiece I used!

 

 

The build quality and finish of the telescope are first class.  The fact that it is shorter and lighter than traditional achromatic refractors, has a double mount that can be used as a carrying handle for us older astronomers, yet offers a super apochromatic corrected lens at a price that is lowest on the market for this aperture of telescope, makes it the best telescope value on the market as far as I'm concerned.

 

Boris D.

Toronto, Canada

[Jeffmar]

I have had my Phantom 140mm out a few times for some imaging since I got it. It seems to do a really good job. I am looking forward to using it a lot more after galaxy season. 

I did image M51 with it. I didn’t get good focus on it so I wasted a few hours of data, but it still looks pretty good if I don’t zoom in at all. 

 

 

 

 

 

The moon is the first image I tried with my Istar Phantom and I did get this one with decent focus.

Edited by Jeffmar, 16 April 2022 - 04:56 PM.

[nato]

   A very good review and comprehensive test , which I'm reading a bit late in the game. A bit pricy, but what can you expect from this class of scope. Nate Goodman  (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[Jeffmar]

4500 dollars is a lot of money but isn’t bad at all for such a large triplet. 

[Jeffmar]

I got out to a dark site last night and did some imaging with my Istar 140mm Phantom. I think I am going to be very happy with this scope. 

Seeing was good and my auto guiding was just so so, but I manage to get some sharp photos with my new scope.

 

 

 

[Jeffmar]

 

I thought I would add one more image I have taken through my Phantom scope. The longer I use it the more I like it. 

[ISTAR Optical]

I just purchased an iStar Phantom FCL 140mm (5.51") f/6.5 refractor telescope this month, April 2022.  I'm so glad I did!

 

I am getting older, and I can no longer comfortably lift and mount a traditional f/12 refractor of this aperture.  The iStar Phantom 140mm telescope is shorter, lighter, and much easier to mount, and offers me even larger aperture than I had before (old telescope was a 127mm f/12).

 

The Phantom's super apochromatic corrected lens is a delight to view through.  I enjoy studying the moon.  On lunar images, the contrast and detail are astounding.  I tried several of my orthoscopic eyepieces, and saw no limit to details my eyes could discern.  So just for fun, I used a 2x Barlow and my shortest 4mm orthoscopic eyepiece (Magnification = 2* 910/4 = 455x).  The image was still clear to the finest details.  It seemed unbelievable.  Also one of the first things I noticed right from the beginning of viewing, was the colour purity of the image compared to my old telescope. It just was so refreshingly pure.  I can't describe it better with any other adjective.

 

The spring weather in southern Ontario has not been night sky friendly, and seeing conditions had lots of turbulence, 3-4 out of 10 is how I rated the atmosphere.  I managed to

take a quick image through this telescope with eyepiece projection to my cheap grainy webcam. It is a screen capture on a laptop limited to 1366x768 pixels, no filters, no processing, just a single frame shot.  You can see there are details in the shadow of the crater still wanting to be pulled out by a better image capture device.  When viewing directly with eyes, there seems to be no breakdown of the image no matter what eyepiece I used!

 

 

 

The build quality and finish of the telescope are first class.  The fact that it is shorter and lighter than traditional achromatic refractors, has a double mount that can be used as a carrying handle for us older astronomers, yet offers a super apochromatic corrected lens at a price that is lowest on the market for this aperture of telescope, makes it the best telescope value on the market as far as I'm concerned.

 

Boris D.

Toronto, Canada

That is very impressive. Thank you so much for sharing with everyone here on CloudyNights.com.

[ISTAR Optical]

 

 

 

I thought I would add one more image I have taken through my Phantom scope. The longer I use it the more I like it. 

 

Jeff,

 

could you do me a big favor and send this image in full resolution to our graphics guy Petr in Europe petr@istar-optical.com together with basic info about your set up, time sequences, filters used (if any), etc.. I would like to post this image on our website, it is a quite nice one. If you have other images in high quality, please share with us. Thank you,

 

Ales

[Jeffmar]

Jeff,

 

could you do me a big favor and send this image in full resolution to our graphics guy Petr in Europe petr@istar-optical.com together with basic info about your set up, time sequences, filters used (if any), etc.. I would like to post this image on our website, it is a quite nice one. If you have other images in high quality, please share with us. Thank you,

 

Ales

I can do that, Ales. 

 

Jeff

[Bob Aidun]

The focuser on my Phantom 140 is broken. I need to buy a replacement focuser. Does anyone know of a model that will work or does anyone know the thread information for the OTA or focuser flange? I emailed iStar a few days ago and am waiting a response. Beautiful telescope, but I would like to use it.

Bob