Brand
Bundles rather than single parts
The SOLOMARK products on this site are bundles. The fifteen-piece kit is the clearest case: its value is decided by whether the focal lengths inside it are spread usefully or duplicate each other once the Barlow is counted.
Two questions, on this site. Are the focal lengths far enough apart to be worth carrying separately, and does the supplied Barlow turn one of them into a duplicate of another? The page for the set works through both.
A 130 mm reflector on an equatorial mount and an 80/900 refractor. Both are sold with their accessories included, which is the same logic applied to a whole instrument.
Count the useful items, not the pieces. A fifteen-piece set and a five-piece set can leave the observer with the same four usable magnifications.
130 mm aperture · German equatorial mount
A 130 mm Newtonian on a German equatorial mount with slow-motion controls, supplied with two eyepieces, a 1.5x erecting Barlow, a 13 % transmission Moon filter and a phone adapter.
Best for: A second telescope, or a first one for somebody willing to learn an equatorial mount
≈ $270 / £150 / €270
80 mm aperture · 900 mm focal length
An 80/900 refractor on an alt-azimuth head with setting scales, supplied with two wide-angle eyepieces, an erecting diagonal, a phone adapter and a carry bag.
Best for: Somebody who wants the longest focal length in the entry class for lunar and planetary work
≈ $70
Five Plössls · six filters · two Barlows · 1.25 in throughout
A fifteen-piece 1.25 in accessory case with five multi-coated Plössls, five colour filters, a Moon filter, a polarising filter and two Barlow lenses, one carrying a T2 thread.
Best for: Equipping a new telescope in one purchase rather than five
≈ £83 / €89
A metal phone adapter with a tripod mount, for eyepieces of 28 to 47 mm and phone widths of 54 to 90 mm.
Best for: A smaller phone on a telescope or spotting scope, where stiffness matters
Any figure written into the body of this page was true on the day it was written. The amount shown next to each instrument is requested from the retailer as the page loads, and it is that amount, not the text, that stands.
