Askar 60F Review: An Astrograph Under $500?!
Is the Askar 60F a serious astrophotography telescope at the $499 price point? In this real-world review, I test the Askar 60F on an actual deep-sky target to see what this compact...
The Space Koala Astrophotography by Luca Bartek
great idea to break down something complex like the product offering. Can you do an even simpler overview?
well basically the point was that on paper the optical performance is directly proportional to the price - which is a good thing as there are options for literally anyone!
Ι have it and I'm quite satisfied with it! No need to upgrade!
No reducer?
@the_space_koala well depends on camera, but mostly the target. Orion fits fine, but North America or Rosetta need a reducer.
Thank you ,Luca very informative your one of my inspirations
Absolutely loved the breakdown of the Askar lineup 👏 well done!
Love your videos when you make sense of the plethora of telescopes out there. Very overwhelming to have so many choices. Your video here makes sense. Thank you.
thanks for the overview and the review!
I already own a similar scope, a WO ZS61 II, so I'd be more inclined to go for one of the larger scopes. I'm looking at the 91F as it's a good price for the size of the scope and is eminently portable.
Nice breakdown of the askar lines. A much needed primer. =D
Love myself a good stamp collecting catalogue. First 4 minutes - priceless.
Very comprehensive review, and resourceful as always! I have the Askar 103APO and the SQA55, very very happy with these telescopes!
The 103 is my main unit, it’s a brilliant telescope, never disappoints.
@0:54 , the amount of wires that's going around , rivals any networking company hub. Thanks , no matter what angle I look at , spending that much money to photograph sky . I will pick up Celestron Origin and be done with it . Neither me nor you will travel into space. So ??? Besides all the rant from me , you are beautiful and have a gorgeous hair that I wish to have one day , some other life ...
I really like Askar scopes and appreciate that they offer different price points with clear info on what you get and what you don't get. But their labelling is confusing. I have the FRA300 and the 103APO. Both give me what I need for the price I was willing to pay, so I'm happy.
I’ve been considering getting the 111f over the 103phq, just simply due to price. I’m gonna wait for more reviews on it before making a decision! PS: I wanna get the reducer with the 111f as it kinda gives me two telescopes. My current telescope is a 72ed “semi—apo?” 400mm doublet so either would be an upgrade lol.
well yeah on the larger ones I see how the reducer could make sense. As for the 60F the reducer is almost half the price of the scope!
What glass is in the F scopes? FK61? Yeah Askar is very confusing, now they've added a P line too (e.g., 60P). Thanks for this great overview. 4:25 this glass doesn't look good.
they don't really tell you what kind of glass it is (at least I haven't found any information on it). All they say is "one piece of ED glass"
Yep, Askar's line are definitely confusing. Thank you for the explanations! 👍👍
Excellent review Luca . I just got the ZWO FF65 ( exact same scope as Askar PHQ65 ) to go along with my ZWO FF107 and WO Red Cat51 . Really like the FF65 .
sounds awesome! I doubt you'll keep using the RedCat if you have the FF65!
Lucky duck! The ZWO FF line has been discontinued so you grabbed one of the last stock!
@jayrog868Did not know that . That’s a shame as they are excellent scopes . Hope Askar keeps making the PHQ line as they are the exact same scope as the ZWO FF series . Just a different color .
@the_space_koalaNo worries . I’ll be using all three extensively! Now if I could just improve my processing skills . At age 71 I’m just a tad computer challenged lol .
@thomasphenniganyeah, I was trying to get a FF107 as the phq is just too expensive for me. But the only place I could find that has them is in Los Angeles (I’m in Sydney Australia) and they take over 2 weeks to respond to emails.
@jayrog868 PHQ shouldn’t be much more than the ff 107 Jay . Maybe 100$ if that . They are both the exact same scope made by Askar .
@thomasphenniganit’s about 500$AUD more for me.
Which one of these would you recommend for planetary astrophotography ?
if your primary goal is planets, you want a large aperture, long focal length telescope. Typically schmidt cassegrains are a good choice for that purpose
Hello Luca! I think the 250-600 mm focal length range of scopes on the market became very saturated recently, with some good to excellent scopes available for a lot less money than let's say 15 years ago. There are a whole lot of options out there, starting out with the budget Svbony - which is budget in price but still make great images and all the way to some of the premium scopes that cost 1000s. I have 2 FMA scopes and both perform extremely well and they are durable I have zero complaints. I had some 60mm scopes in the past and it cost me a lot more money than $500, especially because they the usual trick of selling the flattener separately for $200 or more. If this 60F scope includes the flattener, then it's an amazing value, hats off to Askar! It's a great beginner scope, considering the price! Also for people who think about adding more reducers, as Luca pointed out, the price of the combo starting to go into other telescope category so it's for those who want an "all in one" telescope for wider field imaging. Also consider the fact, that no matter what, reducers also somehow degrade the optics that meant to be used at its native focal range. It's just my 2 cents regarding about reducers used on any scopes. Clear Skies! Szia!
fully agree with all your points! People like reducers because "fast" is better, but at the end it only makes sense if you're going to use the whole extended field. In the case of such a small scope, it's probably not worth it for most people
Thank you for the super interesting video, Luca!! It’s great to see Askar offering such a wide variety of telescopes, and now an astrograph under $500. Wow! Clear skies! 🔭
Im relieved to find out this is a good scope. I bought the 60f and 91f with reducers in March. Ive yet to get a opportunity to use them due to weather. I totally missed galaxy season. Hopefully soon i get some clear skys.
oh no, 2 months of clouds?! I would be depressed. On the bright side, the 60f is definitely not a galaxy hunter scope and the weather is bound to clear up eventually - hopefully in time for summer nebula season :)