64 replies to this topic

[Cbaxter]

Some unboxing images and initial thoughts on the TS-Optics CF-APO 102 mm f/7 FPL55 Triplet.

 

Outermost of three shipping boxes: Very satisfied with the level of protection and care that went into the shipping packaging.

 

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Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:40 PM.

[Cbaxter]

Inside all three shipping boxes: a protective transport case that feels sturdy, more so than several other included cases I’ve had in the past.

 

Inside protective transport case: The scope will fit in the case as is with the matching reducer flattener installed on the scope. There was also room for me to trim the foam so that the very nice twist lock 2”/1.25” eyepiece adapters fit nicely in the case while the reducer is installed on the scope.

 

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Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:41 PM.

[Cbaxter]

Set screw for dew shield: This small screw is easy to miss as it was taped to the bubble wrap where it blends in and could easily be tossed with the packing materials if not careful.

 

The set screw for the dew shield installs into the only empty spot on the dew shield retaining ring. The set screw for the dew shield pushes a non-marring compression style ring that is under the blue dew shield retaining ring, it compresses around the OTA to hold the dew shield in place, if needed.

 

The FPL-55 Triplet lens:

 

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Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:41 PM.

[Cbaxter]

3.7” R&P focuser with camera angle adjuster:

 

Removing the intermediate step-down threads and the 2” twist lock accessory adapter reveals a M92 connection to the camera rotator.

 

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Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:41 PM.

[Cbaxter]

3” 0.8x reducer flattener made specifically for this scope:

 

Internal M48 filter threads accessible on the inside of the camera side M72 to M48 adapter. The M48 adapter can be removed to increase the available backspace (55mm from M48 connection).

 

Scope side connects direct to focuser via built-in M92 connection on the camera side of the very smooth and solid camera rotator:

 

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Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:41 PM.

[Cbaxter]

Finally, a blurry photo of a crookedly printed test report on a very worn piece of paper. A piece of paper that some will find fun and interesting but will ultimately reinvigorate an ongoing civil war about test:

 

That is all for now since it will be some time before the weather will allow me to test it out under the stars. For now I will be doing an artificial star test and watching the weather ticker closely...

Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:43 PM.

[Xeroid]

5

[Cbaxter]

I guess I didn't include a photo of the whole scope out of the box.

This scope will be doing mostly EAA live stacking, mounted side-by-side with another 4.5 or 5" APO for visual, on CEM120.

Edited by Cbaxter, 21 March 2022 - 07:53 PM.

[Xeroid]

Nice!

[ris242]

Great photos!

You have almost convinced me to grab the 90mm little brother. lol

[Cbaxter]

Great photos!
You have almost convinced me to grab the 90mm little brother. lol

Thanks.

If you are interested in the CF-APO 90 then also take a look at this thread: https://www.cloudyni...t/?fromsearch=1

[denis0007dl]

Excellent telescope, congrats on it!

 

I have same version in 130mm in diameter-love it!

 

Enjoy in it 

[Cbaxter]

Excellent telescope, congrats on it!

I have same version in 130mm in diameter-love it!

Enjoy in it

Thanks!

The 130mm looks like a big boy, mind sharing what you have it mounted on? Also, I like the blue accent color more than I thought I would.

[denis0007dl]

Thanks!

The 130mm looks like a big boy, mind sharing what you have it mounted on? Also, I like the blue accent color more than I thought I would.

Its some Manfrotto mount and tripod, with fluid head.

 

Yeah, I like as well that blue colour as well.

Primary reason I get it was its binoviewers friendly (only 130mm and 155mm units are from FPL55 series).

[900SL]

Thanks!

The 130mm looks like a big boy, mind sharing what you have it mounted on? Also, I like the blue accent color more than I thought I would.

Following    . I'm interested in this scope (the 102mm) as a step up from my GT71, now I have a mount able to carry it. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on real world performance.

Edited by 900SL, 06 May 2022 - 07:10 AM.

[Cbaxter]

Following . I'm interested in this scope (the 102mm) as a step up from my GT71, now I have a mount able to carry it. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on real world performance.

Hi,

This weekend I'll post a raw sub from a FF MILC and later when weather improves I'll get some APS-C data from IMX571 with much smaller pixels. The FF MILC is a Canon RP, so pretty big pixels at 5.75um. Using the matching reducer gives egg shaped stars in the corners of the FF RP. I do not have any FF cameras with smaller pixels so I probably won't even bother with trying a 1x flattener. As for crop sensors, I won't know for sure until I get more data, but what I have seen looks very well corrected out to and even past crop sensor size. I have not noticed any CA and I doubt I will. Visually, the star test shows this scope to be the most well corrected optics that I own. Note that I do not own any super premium brands to compare it to. The star test is even better than my TS Photoline 115, which is a really nice optic. Mechanically this scope is leagues above the TS 115, seriously. Actually, I am probably one of the few owners of 115t that finds the stock focuser to be poor. The CF-APO 102 is in another class completely when it comes to mechanics, fit, and finish. I'll definitely give more updates as I get raw data for folks to look at and make their judgments. It's just a long time between actual clear skies hear in the U.S PNW.

Clear skies.

Edited by Cbaxter, 06 May 2022 - 10:15 AM.

[900SL]

Thanks CB, it's always good to get real feedback from end users. Appreciated

[900SL]

@Cbaxter
Was wondering if you have had clear skies with the 102 yet?

Regards Rich

[Cbaxter]

Yes, one single night, and it was far too windy to image. Sadly there just aren't many nights worth imaging out here. Some images for the TS CF-APO line are starting to show up on Astrobin (a search turned up images for the 70/80/90/102/and 130mm versions), so you may want to also check out Astrobin until I can collect some usable data.

Edited by Cbaxter, 15 May 2022 - 12:24 AM.

[Cbaxter]

Here is some crap data from a while ago during very poor seeing. it is a stack of a few short exposures. less than 90" total. full frame full spectrum modified Canon RP with a very dirty senor. The stack looks about the same as each individual frame. Corner stars are not round as can be seen. I am about 1mm too far out for the specified 55mm for the reducer, though I wouldn't count on ever getting perfect stars in the corner of a FF camera, especially with smaller pixels. The proscribed 1x FF may get close but I won't know until I get more clear skies and more data. Next clear skies will be spent collecting data for a proper image with this scope and OSC IMX571.

TS CF-APO 102, .8x RFF, Canon RP @56mm

*edit* it looks like the 50mb file I uploaded to the gallery was compressed to a half mb... I'll update the link in the morning after I upload a tiff somewhere.
Link to full res tiff on Telescopius: https://telescopius....er/by-cruiserj 

Edited by Cbaxter, 16 May 2022 - 07:07 PM.

[900SL]

Thanks CBaxter. i think the price just went up at TE! 

[Cbaxter]

Updated link to a full res tiff on Telescopius. One day, eventually, I will get proper observing weather and I will get some good data with a proper astro cam, the IMX571 osc.

[Cbaxter]

Thanks CBaxter. i think the price just went up at TE! 

The most impressed I have been with this scope is the visual views through an eyepiece and with the color correction in images. I am not concerned at all about star shapes in my APS-C sized IMX571. I have a hat ready to eat just in case, but I am confident that, based on my experience with the RP and 571 on my other scopes, the IMX571 images will be very well illuminated and have round stars to the very corners. 

 

When I purchased this scope it was hundreds less than it is listed for now. With the cost of this scope at it's current price (>1600 eur), + a flattener or reducer flattener (another >300 eur), + spacers, it's getting up close to the cost of the Askar 107PHQ here: https://www.teleskop...Astrograph.html. The 107PHQ is a quadruplet Petzval design, which means no need of an extra flattener and no messing with backspacing. Something you may want to consider if you want a very versatile imaging scope that will be great for full frame right out of the box, should be much less fiddling and headaches, attach camera, focus, image.

 

considering the price difference between a nice triplet + flattener + spacers + frustration and the 107PHQ, the former may end up costing more than the pricier scope. If it is for visual use with some imaging, then I can see not wanting to spring for the extra ~500 eur, investing that instead into a premium eyepiece. At the eyepiece, under excellent seeing or in brief moments of excellent seeing, the high Strehl of the triplet will be appreciated by experienced visual observers, vs a scope that is focused on flat field (round stars in the corners) of astrophotography images, where seeing is usually the limiting factor. Even an exposure of a few seconds will miss (average out) many moments of excellent seeing that one can observed at the eyepiece.

 

Anyway, It is a really nice all-around scope with excellent optics, just not sure it is worth the current highly inflated price. Something similar happened after I purchased my cem120 mount, I took delivery and a few days later the cost went up nearly $1k.

[liors]

I also just purchased the CFAPO102 plus 0.8x reducer, TS gave me a nice 10% discount for both before shipping, it will take about 3 weeks for delivery.
They also added a free 0.5mm M48 spacer that will bring my CMOS camera and FW to the exact 55mm of back focus from reducer M48/0.75 thread to camera sensor.

I made quite a research lately about my next imaging refractor, I was focusing on a refractor with an aperture between 100-107mm and a FL between 420-570mm, my first preference was to go with SW Esprit 100 and either Riccardi reducer 0.75x M63 or TSAPORED075 the older version of 2019 and not the current version of 2020, however, the Esprit 100 is out of stock and it will take quite a while until it will be back in stock, I also checked the option to go with TS 106/700 with Hoya FCD100 optics plus 0.75x reducer but from a user review I saw bad stars in the corners with APS-C size sensor so I ruled out this option.

I also checked about the new Askar 107PHQ and had a hard time decisions to make, the 107PHQ and CFAPO102 both have the same native f/ratio, the 107PHQ has a larger aperture, the 107PHQ does not have a proper reducer at the moment but it will be at the near future, at least that is what I have seen from what Sharpstar announced, The 107PHQ has a built-in corrector Petzval like and the image circle of 66 is quite large suitable for FF cameras and nice round stars at the corners of the frame and no need to add such spacers or adapters to reach the exact back focus unlike flatteners and reducers that back focus distance is crucial.

For me three of the main key components to decide was the optics quality, nice round stars at the edges of the frame with my APS-C size sensor and a faster system.
I finally decided to go with the CFAPO102 plus reducer because it comes with FPL55 Ohara glass unlike the 107PHQ optics which unknown to me, couldn`t find any specifications about that, I also get a faster system with reducer, the image circle is unknown but TS specified that it`s good for up to FF sensor so there shouldn`t be any problems with bad stars at the corners with my APS-C sensor.

 

Hopefuly I made the right decision Time will tell!!!

 

BTW- Here is a very nice review by Vic Maris from Stellarvue about Optical Glass Types, worth reading and looking at the diagrams. https://www.stellarv...al-glass-types/

 

Lior

Edited by liors, 18 May 2022 - 09:42 AM.

[Cbaxter]

I also just purchased the CFAPO102 plus 0.8x reducer, TS gave me a nice 10% discount for both before shipping, it will take about 3 weeks for delivery.
They also added a free 0.5mm M48 spacer that will bring my CMOS camera and FW to the exact 55mm of back focus from reducer M48/0.75 thread to camera sensor.
I made quite a research lately about my next imaging refractor, I was focusing on a refractor with an aperture between 100-107mm and a FL between 420-570mm, my first preference was to go with SW Esprit 100 and either Riccardi reducer 0.75x M63 or TSAPORED075 the older version of 2019 and not the current version of 2020, however, the Esprit 100 is out of stock and it will take quite a while until it will be back in stock, I also checked the option to go with TS 106/700 with Hoya FCD100 optics plus 0.75x reducer but from a user review I saw bad stars in the corners with APS-C size sensor so I ruled out this option.
I also checked about the new Askar 107PHQ and had a hard time decisions to make, the 107PHQ and CFAPO102 both have the same native f/ratio, the 107PHQ has a larger aperture, the 107PHQ does not have a proper reducer at the moment but it will be at the near future, at least that is what I have seen from what Sharpstar announced, The 107PHQ has a built-in corrector Petzval like and the image circle of 66 is quite large suitable for FF cameras and nice round stars at the corners of the frame and no need to add such spacers or adapters to reach the exact back focus unlike flatteners and reducers that back focus distance is crucial.
For me three of the main key components to decide was the optics quality, nice round stars at the edges of the frame with my APS-C size sensor and a faster system.
I finally decided to go with the CFAPO102 plus reducer because it comes with FPL55 Ohara glass unlike the 107PHQ optics which unknown to me, couldn`t find any specifications about that, I also get a faster system with reducer, the image circle is unknown but TS specified that it`s good for up to FF sensor so there shouldn`t be any problems with bad stars at the corners with my APS-C sensor.

Hopefuly I made the right decision Time will tell!!!

BTW- Here is a very nice review by Vic Maris from Stellarvue about Optical Glass Types, worth reading and looking at the diagrams. https://www.stellarv...al-glass-types/

Lior

Hi and congrats on the new scope! You will be happy with APS-C performance with the reducer.

Altho my main imaging camera is an IMX571 I did reach out to TS optics about the stars in the corners of my FF Cano RP. They asked for some full res jpg files and pictures of the rig set up so they can make some recommendations. They seem to believe I can get better stars in the corners of FF with the reducer. I'm not optimistic but will follow all of their guidance and see what I get.

Anyways, please update us later with your impressions and hopefully some AP samples. I am sadly in long stretch of bad weather😭