Sky Watcher Evostar 100 ED APO Refractor Telescope

I live in a heavily light polluted area and health issues prevent me from traveling to darker skies. I've been searching for a mid range refractor, as I've always found them to be better under bright sky conditions than other types. The problem has always been that most affordable refractors are simple achromats, and suffer from crippling chromatic aberration. And the price tag of most apochromatic refractors is enough to induce seizures. Then I found the Sky-Watcher. At first I was skeptical about a two element objective that claimed to be apochromatic. But reviews I read convinced me to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. I've been astounded by the performance of this scope from the moment I began using it. Crystal clear images, with nearly zero chromatic aberration, even at high power. And the background is noticeably darker than other scopes I've used. The Crayford style, two speed focuser is incredible. Glass smooth and requiring only the lightest touch to bring objects into razor sharp focus. I've used this scope, side by side, with an 8" Nexstar. Under my sky conditions even brighter deep sky objects such as M65 and M66 in Leo can be difficult. In the Celstron, they are difficult to see, barely visible as a faint smudges against a bright background. I was shocked to find that in the Sky-Watcher, they are easy objects, clearly visible at low power, with high power revealing the shape and characteristics of the galaxy. I can't wait to get more time at the eyepiece. This scope exceeds my expectations at every turn. To put it simply, it's made astronomy fun again. I only wish I'd had the funds to get the 120mm model. But as a retiree, living on a fixed income, even it's modest price is beyond my budget.

I've used refractors costing thousands more and can honestly say thet the optical performance, fit and finish rivals those refractors. The Evostar 100 is definitely a winner and the best deal going in amateur astronomy today!

I bought this over a month ago and finally had a chance to use it. WOW! I have a ***** 110 scope and this one produces better views. I would say it outperforms my 6" Meade Cassegrain as well. I could detect no unusual colors on bright objects and the focuser worked well. First, it is truly portable and worked well with my ***** Porta II mount. I will be dragging this one out to New Mexico and Wyoming and so weight is an important issue. The included case took care of the usual need to rig up something using plastic tubs. It is longer than the ***** 110 so take that into consideration if you travel by air. The only issues are skimpy documentation and the eye relief on the larger eyepiece, but that problem was solved using one of my ***** eyepieces. In summary, I was wary of buying a scope similar in size to the *****, but the improved views are worth it.

The optics in this scope are very good. For first light I focused on the moon, Antares, and Saturn since I could see all through the trees in my back yard. I didn't detect any false color using the included eyepieces and collimation looked to be perfect. I thought the 5mm eyepiece did a very nice job on Saturn with a crisp view under less than perfect skies. This scope is my new "grab-n-go." I put it on a ***** Porta Mount II that is rated for 15 lbs. It is a little tricky when using the 5mm eyepiece on a planet so I do recommend slow motion controls when you choose a mount but the 20mm eyepiece (45X) is very easy to use on the Porta Mount II. I think that this is where the scope shines the brightest. Star clusters and bright deep sky objects that occupy around 1 degree or less really look great. I took a picture of the moon with my DSLR at prime focus and am including that in the review. The scope should do nicely for astrophotography on some brighter deep sky objects and I can't wait to try that. If I had to complain, I would note (like others) that the focuser is not the greatest but it does work well. I may replace this in the future. For the price, I highly recommend and for this review feel that 5 stars is appropriate.

I've been looking for a lightweight telescope that has superb optics (sharpness, contrast, color correction) yet does not blow my budget. This is the one! The scope fits perfectly in my ancient Celestron Polaris lightweight equatorial mount. Its rock steady. Planetary images are extremely sharp, no green fringe on the edge of the full moon. Saturn shows lots of detail, Cassini Division is an east target. The attached full moon ("Supermoon") shows the quality from the images! Izar (Bootes) is an easy task, showing a simple split in the double star. Epsilon in Lyra (the famous "double-double" shows inky black space between the components. The entire mount and OTA are easily moved around in backyard observing. It's set up and ready to go out the back door to quick views or several hours of happy observing! Thanks for allowing to make this jewel available! Only things I would have added would be a collapsible dew cap and extension in focuser to allow a smaller case for airline trips. That extension could be removed to allow binoviewers to work. Otherwise, I'm an extremely happy customer! --Hal Jandorf Astronomy Professor/Moorpark College

Wow the optics on this telescope are phenomenal for this price range. I previously had a much larger non-APO refractor which was a little less expensive (ES AR127). Although the diameter of the lens is 20% smaller on this scope I can see 100% more detail due to the high quality ED glass. The difference is amazing! Even very bright stars such as Sirus are pinpoint sharp in good seeing with almost no color fringe. At 280x, which is far above the recommended magnification for a telescope of this size, I could see nice details in the cloud bands of Jupiter! The included accessories are decent. I like the 5mm eyepiece, but the 20mm eyepiece has minimal eye relief. The right angle finder is a nice touch, especially when the scope is pointed near the zenith, and it is a pleasure to adjust since it uses only 2 screws. The case is strong enough to provide good protection for the telescope and all accessories. Although the focuser is not the highest quality it is fully functional and I've had no problems with it. The paint on the OTA is also high quality. Because the telescope is very light it is easy to handle, especially for those times when you just want a quick view. Overall I'm very pleased with the performance of this telescope.