🌌 Unlock the universe faster with Astromania’s precision focal reducer!
The Astromania Focal Reducer f/6.3 is a premium accessory designed to reduce the focal length of Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes by 37%, converting an f/10 system into a faster f/6.3. Made from aerospace-grade aluminum with shock-absorbing housing, it features a 41mm fully multi-coated 4-element optical system for enhanced clarity and minimized chromatic aberration. Compatible with a wide range of SCT models, it’s ideal for deep-sky imaging and wide-field astronomical observation.
R**C
Achromatic - Full Size Lens - Lens May Need Reversing
This is an achromatic (color-corrected) doublet (two lenses glued) that is plano-convex (one flat side, one curved outward).Typically you want to look at (or aim your camera at) the flat side of the lens, yet mine shipped with the curved side facing the male threads/user/camera. I used vernier caliper teeth to gently unscrew the retaining ring and carefully with a cotton pad reversed the lens.After reversing the lens, it went from hazy and distorted to sharp, clear, and color corrected. I'm glad I took a chance on this because it's a great find and an amazing pairing with my sv205 astrophotography camera with it's imx415 sensor (only 6mm diameter, but 4k). This helps 'shrink' the image coming from the telescope down so more of the telescope's image and definition fit on the sensor, making a WORLD of difference.If you're looking at this vs the $10 one - get this. By comparison, the $10 versions: - use a smaller lens, have really bad color fringing, even just for visual use
M**A
Good eye piece
Worked as it should. Made of good quality materials
T**P
Great for open sky shots
I'm using this on my Celestron 8" Edge HD. I enjoy astrophotography, and wish I had more time to do that instead of spending time in my woodshop, or up on my electronics bench. We pic our poisons! It's actually pretty rare that I need a reducer, but for some shots, like taking in a huge part of the sky at once, as when photographing the milky way, a reducer works great. This one is relatively inexpensive compared to others I have. However, it's just as crisp and clean, with very little edge distortion. This one is a winner, especially if you're on a budget. Five stars.
D**E
Nice quality.
Works well. Well machined threads. Allows for full view of sun with solar filter or moon with 8” sct.
T**N
Inexpensive substitute for a wide angle eyepiece.
I have three of these from various makers, and they are coming in handy. When setting up a scope you probably want a very wide field view to find stars for lining up your sight. Pop one of these on your highest number eyepiece. The downside is that these may not give great field flatness, possibly producing strange flare effects. Handy, but no substitute for a really high quality field flattener if you are going for wide angle views.
C**R
Great quality!
As advertised, reduced image so I could capture full moon image with my current imager and configuration.
S**S
Worked as designed, but photos has a halo
I got this .5X reducer to use with my Celestron 127 SLT telescope - it is a Maksutov Cassegrain telescope. The problem I was trying to solve for is that without the adapter, the sun and moon fill the screen when my camera is attached, so I am unable to capture the images showing the full moon and sun without them being close to the edge of the photos, and they get cropped in videos.This .5X reducer alone did not work - not a fault of the reducer, it is simply how it works with my telescope. When attached to the camera adapter and inserted into the telescope, the telescope would not focus. I had to additionally purchase an extension adapter to move the camera further away from the telescope to attain focus. This combination worked beautifully. The reducer did indeed widen the field of view as I wanted. I tested during the day and was able to figure out just where my focus ring needed to be adjusted.Then back out at night, everything was set but when it was time to take photos, I could not get rid of the halo around the moon. I tried adjusting the exposure on the camera and nothing worked. I also double checked to be sure that the reducer was clean of fingerprints or any smudges, etc. I'm including photos of the moon with and without the reducer to show the difference.
A**O
Great product
This is an excellent reducer. I use this with my Celestron CPC 800 (f10) and Nikon D3300 DSLR and calculated that I get about 0.6x reduction based on the field of view. You also need a Celestron T adapter and camera-specific T ring to connect the telescope to your camera. These should give a proper back focus. I’m able to get perfect focus (using Bahtinov mask) and I don’t see any distortions of star shapes. It’s nice to be able to have a wider field of vision and faster light acquisition compared to DSLR without reducer.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
1 week ago