Mak60 with Finderscope

I am an amateur astronomer. This is my 3rd telescope but sold 1. I have a 6" Criterion Dynascope that's very old and discontinued. Company went out of business in the 1980's. It is considered a vintage telescope. Very well built but takes a time to set up and put away. I wanted something that is smaller that can be taken on camping trips. This Sarblue telescope, I am also amazed at the quality that this little telescope has. The nice thing is that it is light and portable which I really wanted. The setup and teardown time is fast. This telescope does not have any color distortion called Chromatic Aberration, at least nothing that is bothersome. People think that they need to spend a lot of money to get a good telescope but that's not the case. Sometimes simpler is better. With the quality of cellphone cameras now days, you don't need a giant telescope to see a lot because you can zoom in with your phone cameras and get a good quality picture. It's like looking through a telescope 2 or 3 times bigger than it is. It is a good value for the money. I would definitely recommend Sarblue. I do astronomy presentations at our local state park every year in there outdoor presentation facility. I do have a camera attachment for that telescope also (6" Criterion Dynascope as mentioned earlier). It's amazing, when I did the presentations, People walked out of there with some pretty amazing pictures on there phones.

I got mine on sale for $65, at that price this is an extremely solid starter scope. It doesn't come with much in the way of accessories though so I'd recommend a 15mm eyepiece to go along with it; at that magnification it really shines for looking at the moon, and paired with a 2x barlow it will happily look at local planets as well.

Bought it mostly for my grandsons birthday (but also as a gift to the family). I like the rangefinder, simple way to focus it and phone attachment. Plus, the stand is sturdy. It is more powerful than I thought it would be. Have not got a chance to view the moon yet do to the weather. But using it in the backyard to spot birds in trees a couple hundred yard away is awesome. Also like how compact and easy it travels and sets up.

Finally got around to reveiwing since ive been busy enjoying it so much. Compared it to my buddies old celestron and actually got better looks in mine. this scope has been excellent, especially for the price. I can see planets with decent detail, ive had to buy some additional eye pieces and now waiting on some filters but the image so far is satisfactory. Its small so easily movable but not TOO sturdy. The axis adjuster bent pretty quick as i was in a rush to see the next object. Focus knob is simple and easy but not most convenient location when it comes to switching views or following objects moving a little faster like the ISS. Its maybe 3 or 4 primary pieces so simple to put together and put away and travel with. Phone mount is on point as well, doesnt lose the image if the phone moves and allows for extra imaging techniques which take some time to get the hang of. The case is slightly too small. All in all, the only reason ill upgrade from here is a higher aperture.

I'll start with what I like - the telescope. For a 60mm aperture you get a lot and that's down to its long focal ratio, which is characteristic of the Maksutov design. They call this the Planet Mate and that's what you should expect to use it for - the planets and the Moon. Even with the included Amici prism much detail could be seen with very little chromatic aberration (CA) on the Moon. Whatever CA there is due to the included prism diagonal and not the telescope itself. However, the diagonal is very well suited to terrestrial observation. For astronomical observations, you will need a mirror diagonal adapted for .965" to 1.25". These are easily found and inexpensive. But this review is for the total package - tripod, mount, finder, and eyepieces. My version is with the full size tripod. The tripod is good since the 'scope is so light, but it's permanently wedded to the mount and the mount is not good. It's serviceable for the Moon, but it's frustrating to use since it doesn't hold your targets in view when you find them. Which brings me to the included finder, perhaps the most useless finder I've ever used. If this were a wide-field 'scope this wouldn't be a problem, but a finder is essential at this focal ratio because of the narrow field of view. I quickly gave up trying to find anything with it. I did manage to find the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn without it but nothing else. You can replace the finder even though the finder shoe is non-standard - I used Scotch Extreme mounting tape to attach an inexpensive red dot finder I had lying around to the non-standard finder shoe. No complaints about the included 20mm eyepiece. A decent higher magnification eyepiece in the 10-12mm range would be useful, but this telescope doesn't need expensive eyepieces. I rate this package a 3.5 because I could never recommend it to a beginner. I'm taking a half point off for the useless finder and a point off for the mount/tripod. What we have left is powerful little telescope that is excellent on the Moon and pretty good on Jupiter and Saturn for its aperture. If you already have a photo tripod or astronomical mount and tripod, then I can recommend this for what it's ideally suited for - the Moon, planets, and splitting some of the more widely separated double stars. It's just a shame the total package undermines the good optics and novel design of this powerful but tiny Maksutov telescope. I'm keeping it because I have everything I need to make it work. You might too. If you don't, check the reviews for those who bought the Dobsonian version since that might be the better package.

The telescope is really easy to use for beginners, and it has great instructions on how to set it up. I really like it and it has great camera quality. It is easy to set up and take the parts apart.It has adjustable screws so you can keep the telescope a certain angle and way.It has long extended legs that you can adjust to your comfortable height. For the price, it can see really well and very far unlike other telescopes.When my package came it was in perfect condition and nothings was broken or damaged. I would really recommend this telescope if your a beginner or even if you aren’t.

This is my first Telescope and I’m blown away! The quality with the default lens is phenomenal!! The included phone mount works well and is a nice add on. I actually enjoy using the phone as a viewer more than the eye piece. Also if you have people around it’s easier to share what you’re seeing. I purchased a new 7-21mm view lens but it won’t work with the sent mount so I’ll prob purchase a new one of those. The tripod that came with it is nice but a bit hard to adjust up and down in small movements. To fix that I’m going to purchase an automated head, I think they are like $100 but will be well worth it. Everything is just perfect, if you’re on the fence with purchasing this just do it. It’s super fun and you will not regret it.

Viewfinder does not line up. Been trying for 2 days. Will return