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Store InfoWHOWho is OPT? Oceanside Photo and Telescope, commonly known as OPT, is comprised of one of the most knowledgeable, experienced telescope staffs anywhere in the world. We can answer any of your questions regarding telescopes, eyepieces, CCD imaging, equatorial mounts, and much more. Our telescope team has hundreds of years of combined experience in the industry and is the most knowledgeable staff on the planet! Give us a call or send us an e-mail anytime and let our staff help you unlock the mysteries of the universe!OPT also has a complete team of camera experts on-hand to fulfill all of your photography needs. Whether it is film or digital you love, we have what you need and can answer any question you may have. We are a full line dealer for Canon and Nikon, and we also offer a wide selection of the most popular photography equipment around. WHATWhat is OPT? OPT began as a small camera store way back in 1947 and has since grown into one of the largest telescope retailers in the world. (See store history below). OPT is a real store, staffed by real astronomy and photography enthusiasts.WHEREWhere is OPT? Around the corner or around the globe, it is easy to get in touch with OPT. OPT is located at 918 Mission Avenue in Oceanside, California. If you live in (or are visiting!) sunny Southern California, stop by and check out our beautiful showroom. We are located conveniently near the intersection of Interstate-5 and Mission Avenue. If you are coming from I-5, exit on Mission Avenue and head west, towards the beach. We are approximately 200 yards west of the I-5 freeway, right on the northwest corner of Mission Avenue and Horne Street.![[ Yahoo! Maps ]](images/yahoo_maps.gif){kind=small} Click on the button to see a map to OPT WHYWhy shop at OPT? OPT is one of the largest dealers worldwide for Meade, Celestron, SBIG, Televue, Coronado, Takahashi, Losmandy, Stellarvue, JMI, Denkmeier, Vixen, Kendrick, and many more. We keep thousands of products in stock for a total inventory value in excess of one million dollars! We carry everything from moon filters and power cords to large aperture apochromatic refractors and large format CCD cameras. If it is out on the market, you can probably find it here at OPT.OPT is also a full line dealer for some of the most popular camera equipment in the world. We are a full dealer for Canon, Nikon, Konica/Minolta, Olympus, Bogen, Delkin and many other fine companies. OPT also features a full line-up of binoculars and spotting scopes from Celestron, Bushnell, Leica, Nikon, Canon, and many more! WHENWhen can I contact OPT? OPT is open seven days a week to help serve you. We are open from 10am until 7pm Monday through Friday, 10am until 6pm Saturday and 12pm until 5pm on Sunday Pacific Standard Time. You can also send us an e-mail 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alternatively, you can send us a fax or, if you prefer, you can send us an old fashioned letter via mail. We will be happy to converse with you regardless of the medium you choose!HISTORY OF OPTOPT was founded in 1947 by Donald Penning a Flying Tiger fighter pilot from World War II. At this early stage, the business was called Oceanside Photographic Center, and it mainly sold camera equipment to the Marines from the local base, Camp Pendleton.In 1974, Oceanside Photographic Center moved into its new, larger facilities at 216 North Hill Street in Oceanside, just a few blocks down the road from our current location. A few years later, in 1977, the store once again outgrew its storefront and moved into a larger facility at 207 North Hill Street. In 1982 Oceanside Photographic Center began selling telescopes and telescope accessories. Three years and a couple hundred telescopes later the business changed its name to Oceanside Photo and Telescope. OPT began a period of rapid growth as the telescope side of the business took off. In 1988, OPT moved to a larger facility at 1024 Mission Avenue to accommodate the tremendous increase in telescope sales and the number of telescope needed for inventory. In 1994 OPT created their very first website, www.optcorp.com The first rendition of the website was a simple list of telescopes and accessories available at OPT. Two years later, in 1996, www.optcorp.com expanded to include photos, more products and more information. In 1999 OPT was selling so many telescopes and cameras that they had completely filled up the store, top to bottom! OPT opened its first warehouse in 1999 to properly inventory the large selection of telescopes, cameras, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and accessories. 1999 was also the year that www.optcorp.com officially became an e-commerce website. The website was an instant success and was expanded once again in 2001 with more products, photos, info and more! OPT had long since outgrown the store at 1024 Mission Avenue, but finally moved into a new location near the end of 2004. The new $1.5 million dollar building is one of the largest and most complete showrooms in the world. Not only can you find nearly 100 different telescopes on display, you can also check out our star dome overhead, our beautiful glass compass underfoot or the exotic astrolabe near the entrance. Or come by and do some hydrogen-alpha solar observing from our balcony and check out the view of the Pacific Ocean through some binoculars or a spotting scope. Also near the end of 2004 (a busy year!) we launched the latest version of www.optcorp.com. This latest version of the website is filled with new features, thousands of products, tens of thousands of pages of information, thousands of images and much, much more. Today, we are one of the top telescope retailers in the world. We have been here since 1947 and we plan on being here for a long time to come! |
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