Refractor Telescope Aberrations

[Hadi]

I would like to get a Refractor however i dont want any aberrations as i would like to use it to take astro photos.

what am i looking to spend for a good refractor scope?
thanks

[Vinnie]

Hi Hadi,

This is not a particularly simple question, so first off I will throw a couple of questions back to you. First, what kind of imaging device are you considering, eg's Film SLR, DSLR, CCD, Webcam etc? Second, do you have any sort of EQ mount? If so what?

It is particularly important that you understand that for any reasonable time exposures that the mount that you use is far more important and usually more expensive than the actual scope.

As far as a refractor for a novice imager, it would be hard to go past the current ED80's offered by Skywatcher, Orion US and also by Vixen. These present almost zero CA (chromatic aberration) and are at a good all round F/L at f7.5. The 2" crayford focuser is not two speed, but is still quite adequate, and the overall weight and physical size makes these viable for AP on a mount like an EQ5, although a CG5 or better an HEQ5 would be a great match.

As far as price is concerned, I don't know where you are and prices vary significantly worldwide, but currently you should be able to pick up an ED80 in the US for around $450 US to $500 US for the OTA (optical tube assembly).

If you are looking for more aperture in an ED refractor the price will jump dramatically and disproportionately.

You could also compromise with any achro combined with a CA filter (the Baader semi APO is a good one), but note that I do use the word compromise.

HTH

Vin