Celestron C70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope 52238
The Celestron C70 Mini Mak 52238 is a compact but powerful spotting scope that includes a tabletop tripod which has built-in slow motion controls, a built-in zoom eyepiece capable of 90x magnification, and a soft carrying case. The Maksutov optical design is recognized for being easy to use and suitable for both terrestrial and astronomical use. It features angled viewing and uses mirrors and a lens as the image forming optics, and provides images that are sharp, and free from false colour fringes seen with many cheaper refractor telescopes. The C70 is ideal as a take-anywhere powerful beginner’s astronomical telescope, or a very useful compact and lightweight spotting scope for bird wathing, for example.
The Celestron C70 Mini Mak gives spectacularly clear views for the size and the quality of the main 70mm optics are first rate. The included zoom eyepiece (25x to 75x) provides very clear images of the lunar surface. A real bonus on this angled scope is the inclusion of an adapter for 1.25" eyepieces which means that it can be used with a range of eyepieces and we would suggest that it's worth buying a couple of these (or a higher quality zoom eyepiece) for really unlocking the quality of the truly excellent objective lens optics.
The included mini tripod is actually quite sturdy, albeit a little cheap looking, but assuming that this will be used outside a lot, it would have made more sense to provide a larger one. The included case is actually a cover with a carry strap so you can actually use the scope without removing the cover. Even without the cover the construction seems to be very robust, which is important for a scope of this type.
For star-gazing though there is a shortcoming - there is no finderscope, so it can take a few moments to have it point, for example, at a bright planet, even at tle lowest magnification of x25.
Our review:
Pros:
- Compact, light and small
- Angled viewing
- Good resolution
- Clear view, no false color, no image shift during focusing
- Maksutov-Cassegrain optical Design
- 45 degree eyepiece
- 1.25 inch eyepiece adaptor (with good eye relief) allows usage of any 1.25 inch eyepiece
- Table top tripod with slow motion controls
- Soft carrying case
Cons:
- No finderscope
- Views are dim, especially at high powers
- The focuser has some slop
- Narrow field of view
- Tripod could be sturdier and better quality
