The SVBONY SV555 | A Low-Cost RedCat Alternative BUT Watch This Before Buying
Planning on buying the SV555? - Use the below discount codes to get 20% off: Official website: https://bit.ly/sv555 Discount code: koala20 Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3WUoKNn Anothe...
Thank you Luca, you saved a lot of money !
Does the newly updated version of SV555 (fall 2025) correct these issues as Svbony claims? At Amazon sale price of $489.95 seems like a very good value if these issues are truly fixed. Thank you!!!
I haven’t had the chance to try the new version and they haven’t been in in touch with me about this so unfortunately I don’t know
Hi! do you know the inside diameter of the mounting ring is?
hey I measured it for you, the internal ring diameter is 68mm. However, it is not fully closed when mounted on the tube, so a better point of reference is the external tube diameter at the mounting point, which I measured to be 68.9mm
Given that the quality control seems to be lax to an extent, I would opt for paying for the Askar. Dearer, yes, but you get what you pay for.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaffffffffffffffffffffooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hello, I started with astrophotography 15 years ago. Where I live, it is very difficult to see the North Star, Polaris, because it is very close to the horizon. I would like to be able to take photos with a fast telescope; I have two Celestron telescopes, the Omni XLT 150 mm and the NexStar 8SE. I also really enjoy making timelapses.
I recommend using software to polar align. There are so many options available on the market! I have no issues seeing Polaris and I still use software because it's just more accurate (my mount also doesn't have a polar scope :D )
I'm one of the lucky ones. My SV555 has pin sharp stars in the center to very good stars in the corners of an APS-C sensor. Mine focuses easily with a DSLR even without the thinner adapter (which SVBony also provided).
Lucky indeed!
As soon as you showed the center I knew you lost the the lens lottery. Videos I've seen when compared with the askar they looked pretty much the same with very sharp stars from corner to corner. Just got the SV555. Hope I won the lottery.
haha the Lens Lottery - sounds accurate! Actually I still haven't given up, I'm thinking I might try to loosen the lenses - not like I will make it any worse, realistically. It is a shame, because the corners look exactly the same as the center - that suggests it is super well corrected! If i could fix this pinch, it would be comparable to the SQA rather than being comparable to the RedCat...
i really do not understand svbony. sv555 usd - $599 eur - 639€ I feel robbed
not sure where you saw those prices but is it possible that the EUR price already includes VAT? Prices in the US are generally advertised without sales tax so this can contribute to the large difference
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My SV555 seems to perform well on stars. Round stars from corner to corner on full frame sensor. I do have large pixels though as I'm shooting with Sony A7 III. My sample doesn't focus perfectly to infinity (let alone past it for autofocus routines). I'm still waiting for a new backplate from SVBony to fix that issue. I've managed to take some decent images so I'm pretty happy for the price I paid, 490€ with a camera adapter including shipping on black friday.
For the price and to enjoy the hobby I think this is a good option, not all of us are pixel pickers but I would go for the askar sqa55 as a long term setup. Thanks for the honest review. CS
Thank you for the review. Very informative. Great that you compared with competitors!
I’m glad you found it helpful!
My SV555 has perfect shaped stars from corner to corner, I don't have any of the problems shown in the examples shown in this video or in other videos on this topic so I can only assume that you either get a good one or you don't. I obviously got lucky and am very happy with it.
Yes this is my impression as well. Quality control is iffy and if you get lucky it's the best deal on the market! One option is to buy on Amazon and keep returning until you get a new one :D
I really like your videos, they are very educational and help a lot for those of us who are just starting out in this vast world of astrophotography. I have already received the SVBONY555, but I did not receive the adapter to mount my Nikon DSLR, I have to look for it separately, thank you very much for your guide.
I hope you'll get to test out your SV555 very soon!
The wonky stars could it be pinched optics? I don't think tilt would create stars like that. What I've seen is that some parts of the image are slightly out of focus while others are sharp. Thanks for the review!
on the fullframe one there's definitely tilt, but it's not the cause behind the strange looking stars. The star shapes are so strange it is most likely a combination of different issues
@the_space_koala @the_space_koala a couple of years ago I removed the optics of my sharpstar for cleaning. When I put it back there was one element that was very hard to put in place but managed to make it work (somehow) and when I used for imaging I had those stars, I can't recall if it was across the frame or just certain areas. I took everything apart and the one element was pretty stuck and slighted slanted. I corrected everything and the issue thankfully went away. Learned something that day!
you disassembled a refractor? That's a whole different level of brave! kudos that you made it work again!
I enjoyed your sincere review video. I often review Svbony optical devices, but the central image is unforgivable :)
Friendly advice, since you talking is a big thing of this content, please pay attention to your audio levels. Atm its way under the norm. Try keep it as close to the loudness of the average Youtube videos and it will be perfect. Other than this, nice as always!
thank you! It's been said to me before but everytime I check it seems fine to me! Not sure where it goes wrong :(
@the_space_koala Hmm, if it seems fine when editing then maybe Youtube does some strange stuff in the background on the uploaded material. To optimize the audio just for this seems a little bit of overkill imo, it should be fairly straight forward get decent audio levels. Hope you eventually figure out where it fails. Best wishes
How to tell it’s a sponsored video without telling us it’s a sponsored video… the price is missing.
I literally mentioned SVBONY sent the scope to me! :D But you are right, I forgot to mark the video as a "paid promotion", which I did now. Thank you for pointing it out.
I really like mine. Build like a soviet lens from the 70s (I still have my Tair 300mm) and my unit has a great image quality. Very happy.
you got lucky! Amazing for you then, you made a good deal