( 1 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 10 2009
When I first heard of the Orion Starmax series I was a bit skeptical. I figured that any scope designed to be this compact and portable would inevitably come at a great cost. Well, fortunately I was wrong. These small and portable Maks are remarkably strong performers, especially on the Moon and planets. And the somewhat larger sizes - such as this Starmax 127 - can also give respectable views of nebulae and clusters. The tube is very sturdy and well-built. Collimation was spot-on. The focus knob on the back of the tube adjusts the mirror's position and has proven to be very easy to use. When put into action, the Starmax can deliver almost unreal views of the Moon and very beautiful detail on Jupiter. Tight binaries such as Lyra's Double-Double are easily split, and the scope can handle 300x on good nights without any trouble. (It comes with a 25mm Plossl for 61x.) There are only three minor weaknesses with this scope. The first is that the focal length is so long (1540mm) that wide-field views are not attainable. Secondly, the finder scope is rather poor, and I recommend that you look for another finder. Finally, if you buy the Apex version of the Starmax everything will be the same except for a 45-degree diagonal that gives right side up views. This diagonal is not very good quality. But once you deal with those issues, you will have a scope that gives refractor-like image quality within the solar system but can still reach out into deep space from time to time. This makes an excellent first telescope if portability is an issue. If you already own a large scope then this one would excel for taking with you on vacation.
