Good video and great review! Ive just purchased my GT71, lovely scope! Do you know of a goog flattner only (Ive got the flat 6Aiii .8 reducer) William Optics don't seem to make just a flattner only! I would like to use it at 420mm and not 336. Thanks & Clear skies!
Absolutely beautiful Telescope and as you say, a work of Art! The engineering is also a work of Art in itself, and my goodness i cannot wait to purchase one myself. Great vid btw. I'm Wes, from Liverpool, England. I'm new to your channel. ( Bortle 8 skies, but i still get awesome views with my 114mm aperture, to 203mm aperture Dobs! ) Clear skies and great seeing to you sir!
I know I’m late on this video but wanted to thank you for your input. I just ordered mine. I’ve been imaging with a Meade 8” LX200 and wanted a wider field of view. I’m currently using a full spectrum modded Canon 70D. Can’t wait to use this scope!
Rene de Feijter excellent choice! Good luck with your imaging pursuits. Thanks for watching and check out my other videos for helpful tips and advice on imaging. Clear skies!
Good video! I just started in Astrophotography and use my Nikon crop sensor (1.5x) camera and right now my 200mm lens for a total 300mm focus length. There seem to be a lot of objects that this 300mm setup can photography. I also have a full frame Nikon camera that I can use. Would this be a good replacement for my 200mm lens? I live in a bortle 7 area and I'm assuming a Optolong light pollution filter screws into the field flattener. Thank you
I see you have an Eos Ra. I have an Eos R and I found your video after putting this scope in my cart at Highpoint, and looking for reviews. Have you used the Ra with this scope? I'm wondering if you needed any other extender to achieve focus? Have you used it with the Ra and without the reducer? Any advice is appreciated, I'd really like this scope to work out. Thanks!
@@AVAstronomy Thanks for reply, I saw the Ra link under the vid, I thought you owned one, I didn't read the heading before it. So with the 77D was there any extender needed for focus on the GT71?
@@AVAstronomy Thanks for the reply. I have seen good reports on the ZWO too. The Pegasus Focuscube 2 also looks like a good choice. I haven't decided yet but I'll report back on my experiences with whichever product I decide on.
Check the specs of the field flattened and make sure it matches the one listed on your order/ the website. Once you confirm you have the proper flattener it screws right on to the telescope tube but you’ll need to take out the black housing that has the 3 lock screws on it. Unscrew that and then you can screw on the field flattener. Hope that helps. Clear skies and God bless!
@@Unleashedxpower As a rule of thumb I would always use the field flattener. Otherwise, you will have really bad field curvature around the edge of your frame. The only time you might not use it is if you want the extra focal length and are shooting a target that’s in the center of the frame. Clear skies and God bless!
What about using my smartphone 20MP camera;(with the lens off, just the exposed sensor!), on the eyepiece of a telescope to photograph deep sky objects?
Biswa Jeet yes you can do this for lunar and even some planetary imaging. It’s called eyepiece projection. I’d recommend getting a tripod with a phone attachment. This will steady the image. Good luck and clear skies!
Biswa Jeet give it a shot but you’ll need to find a way to attach it to the telescope. That could work for wide field Milky Way type photos. It’s worth a try.
TheDesert IsPatient Hi, it is really really long. I imaged one time without the reducer and probably won’t do it again. I think it was around 100mm or more once it was in focus but even worse was the field curvature. You lose a lot of your field due to curvature. I’d highly recommend only imaging with the reducer.
A.V.Astronomy Measuring the focal length I’m a solid 4 cm short for cmos w/o reducer or flattener. I ordered an 80 mm extension which should work for now since the focuser is full out (91cm). Thanks
A.V.Astronomy Here’s what I found about the spacing: First the WO GT71 420 mm FL ie w/ no reducer/focuser: Native, the WO did allow focus of a visual view using a 2” diagonal and a 55 mm plossol. The focuser rack was at 90 of 92 mm travel. My Canon EOS required about 1.5 cm spacers. With the 80 mm extension the focuser racked in at 21 mm of 92 mm travel. My ZWO Asi178mc required about 3.5 cm spacers. With the 80 mm extension the focuser racked in at 55 mm of 92 mm travel. The Stellarvue 80 mm extension did the trick. Guess I could have got by w/ a 60 mm extension.
Nick Minderman Hi Nick, the focal ratio is a little faster on the red cat as well and I don’t believe the red cat has a focal reducer so it’s really a one trick pony. The 71GT can be used at its native 420mm or 336mm when reduced. Personally, I’d love to have a red cat in addition to this scope because of its wider field of view and ultra portability.
@@AVAstronomy ok I'm new to deep sky. I have the canon EOSR ( not the new EOS RA) and the new 70-200 RF. Which is probably the sharpest 200 on the market for photographers. Any way I just got a tracker and tested it new year's Eve and everything worked perfect. I took 30 images at 30sec each and stacked them. I'm now addicted and want longer focal length. So I don't think I need the red cat since I have 200mm already and it's f2.8. any advice would be awesome.
@@nickminderman7380 Welcome to the Club Nick. That EOS Ra is incredible. You'll get some wonderful images from it. Personally, before you buy anymore gear you need to ask yourself what types of targets you want to image. There is quite a large range of focal lengths and they all will get you different targets or at least different a field of view of those targets. Also, as you go up in focal length you tend to go up in weight too and would need to invest in a sturdy mount. Most people would recommend going wide field first. Which, really, you are already doing with the redcat. You won't see a big difference in the field of view from the 250mm redcat to something in the 300-400mm range. CHeck out my video on Stellarium. It's a free software that let's you plug in the data of different lenses, telescopes, focal reducers, etc.. and will give you a nice preview what your image scale will look like with a particular telescope and camera.
@@nickminderman7380 There is a difference. It's not huge but will be more noticeable at the 420mm range than the reduced range at 336mm. It's really subjective on what you consider a big difference. The easiest way to know for sure what the difference will be is to use this online tool called astronomy tools. run a search on it and click on imaging mode. put in redcat 51 and your camera and then do it again for the William optics 71GT and your camera. This will give you a true apples to apples comparison of your field of view.
Good video and great review! Ive just purchased my GT71, lovely scope! Do you know of a goog flattner only (Ive got the flat 6Aiii .8 reducer) William Optics don't seem to make just a flattner only! I would like to use it at 420mm and not 336. Thanks & Clear skies!
Absolutely beautiful Telescope and as you say, a work of Art! The engineering is also a work of Art in itself, and my goodness i cannot wait to purchase one myself. Great vid btw.
I'm Wes, from Liverpool, England. I'm new to your channel.
( Bortle 8 skies, but i still get awesome views with my 114mm aperture, to 203mm aperture Dobs! )
Clear skies and great seeing to you sir!
wesley donnelly thank you Wesley! You won’t be disappointed! This scope has given me some tremendous imaging results. Good luck to you sir!
I know I’m late on this video but wanted to thank you for your input. I just ordered mine. I’ve been imaging with a Meade 8” LX200 and wanted a wider field of view. I’m currently using a full spectrum modded Canon 70D. Can’t wait to use this scope!
Awesome! It’s a great scope. Clear skies!
What do you mean by modding your camera? I have a cannon rebel t3. Do i need to mod it if i buy this telescope?
Ordered one. Hope to get it tomorrow.
Rene de Feijter excellent choice! Good luck with your imaging pursuits. Thanks for watching and check out my other videos for helpful tips and advice on imaging. Clear skies!
@@AVAstronomy Improving from an Achromat to this one. you can take look at my images on www.astrofotos.nl
I'm looking to upgrade to this scope from the SW 72 ed.
They're built like tanks, superb optics as well, focal reducer is also a field flattener, just wish they had it in red.
John Doe yes! And red would look awesome.
Good video! I just started in Astrophotography and use my Nikon crop sensor (1.5x) camera and right now my 200mm lens for a total 300mm focus length. There seem to be a lot of objects that this 300mm setup can photography. I also have a full frame Nikon camera that I can use. Would this be a good replacement for my 200mm lens? I live in a bortle 7 area and I'm assuming a Optolong light pollution filter screws into the field flattener. Thank you
Could you use this for visual use only? Like a grab and go refractor on a light mount/tripod.
TheBuddhaBilly absolutely! Does nicely on lunar and planetary and can be easily setup on a tripod as a grab n go.
@@AVAstronomy how is your experience with this on planet s?
@@herbklee1 planetary views are nice and sharp but being small aperture don’t reveal as much detail as other large aperture scopes
I see you have an Eos Ra. I have an Eos R and I found your video after putting this scope in my cart at Highpoint, and looking for reviews. Have you used the Ra with this scope? I'm wondering if you needed any other extender to achieve focus? Have you used it with the Ra and without the reducer? Any advice is appreciated, I'd really like this scope to work out. Thanks!
B M I actually use a modded canon 77D. However, everything I’ve seen and read about the Ra is awesome. Go for it!
@@AVAstronomy Thanks for reply, I saw the Ra link under the vid, I thought you owned one, I didn't read the heading before it. So with the 77D was there any extender needed for focus on the GT71?
B M you’ll want to use a .75x focal reducer with the 71GT. You’ll also need an m48 canon t mount adapter to connect it to the focal reducer.
Thanks for a very informative video. Do you have a recommendation for a compatible electronic focuser?
Thank you. I haven’t upgraded to an electronic focuser yet but I’ve heard the ZWO is a good one.
@@AVAstronomy Thanks for the reply. I have seen good reports on the ZWO too. The Pegasus Focuscube 2 also looks like a good choice. I haven't decided yet but I'll report back on my experiences with whichever product I decide on.
Great review. I'm guessing you got the imaging package. The standard package doesn't include the flattener-reducer.
Ikramuddin Zwane thank you and yes, I ordered the package that included the field flattened it is a must. Clear skies!
@@AVAstronomy Kcool. Thank you for the clarification. It's a lovely scope.
Ikramuddin Zwane you’re welcome.
I just got my new WO Zenith81 and tried to focus on my Canon 5D and Canon M50 but failed. Can you advice ?
Congrats on the scope! At what point are you having trouble? Are you using a bhatinov mask?
Good review. Picked up this scope last year used. What camera are you matching with it?
ORBIDA FAMILY thank you! I pair it with my Ha modded canon 77d. Clear skies!
Is this scope light enough to use on a small equatorial like the star adventurer? I think it’s max payload is 5kg.
Andrew Nicolas hi Andrew, that might be pushing the weight limit.
I can't figure out how to attach the field flattener, can you help? It came in space grey instead of gold so im hoping it's the right field flattener.
Check the specs of the field flattened and make sure it matches the one listed on your order/ the website. Once you confirm you have the proper flattener it screws right on to the telescope tube but you’ll need to take out the black housing that has the 3 lock screws on it. Unscrew that and then you can screw on the field flattener. Hope that helps. Clear skies and God bless!
@@AVAstronomy I think I see what you are talking about, does it require a allan wrench to get the housing off?
@@Unleashedxpower yes, it will require an Allen wrench
@@AVAstronomy i figured it out! Thank you so much! Final question, should the field flattener be used with a CCD camera or just a DSLR?
@@Unleashedxpower As a rule of thumb I would always use the field flattener. Otherwise, you will have really bad field curvature around the edge of your frame. The only time you might not use it is if you want the extra focal length and are shooting a target that’s in the center of the frame. Clear skies and God bless!
Thanks for the review!
My pleasure!
Excellent Review!
The focus mask comes off, right?
Yes
What about using my smartphone 20MP camera;(with the lens off, just the exposed sensor!), on the eyepiece of a telescope to photograph deep sky objects?
Biswa Jeet yes you can do this for lunar and even some planetary imaging. It’s called eyepiece projection. I’d recommend getting a tripod with a phone attachment. This will steady the image. Good luck and clear skies!
@@AVAstronomy What about deep sky objects? My smartphone have pro mode in the camera where i can set ISO (upto 3200) and shutter speed (upto 32 secs)!
Biswa Jeet give it a shot but you’ll need to find a way to attach it to the telescope. That could work for wide field Milky Way type photos. It’s worth a try.
Do you know the back-focus on your GT71 w/o reducer or flattener? Thanks
TheDesert IsPatient Hi, it is really really long. I imaged one time without the reducer and probably won’t do it again. I think it was around 100mm or more once it was in focus but even worse was the field curvature. You lose a lot of your field due to curvature. I’d highly recommend only imaging with the reducer.
A.V.Astronomy Measuring the focal length I’m a solid 4 cm short for cmos w/o reducer or flattener. I ordered an 80 mm extension which should work for now since the focuser is full out (91cm). Thanks
A.V.Astronomy I’ll let you know how this works out.
A.V.Astronomy Here’s what I found about the spacing: First the WO GT71 420 mm FL ie w/ no reducer/focuser: Native, the WO did allow focus of a visual view using a 2” diagonal and a 55 mm plossol. The focuser rack was at 90 of 92 mm travel. My Canon EOS required about 1.5 cm spacers. With the 80 mm extension the focuser racked in at 21 mm of 92 mm travel. My ZWO Asi178mc required about 3.5 cm spacers. With the 80 mm extension the focuser racked in at 55 mm of 92 mm travel. The Stellarvue 80 mm extension did the trick. Guess I could have got by w/ a 60 mm extension.
Thank you sir!
Nice review
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY ACE OF SPACE ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY thank you!
Can I see all the planets with this?
Fluffy Cat the larger ones yes, but you’d be hard pressed to see planets like Neptune, Uranus amd Pluto. It’s possible but they’d be very small.
What's the difference between this and the red cat other then 250mm
Nick Minderman Hi Nick, the focal ratio is a little faster on the red cat as well and I don’t believe the red cat has a focal reducer so it’s really a one trick pony. The 71GT can be used at its native 420mm or 336mm when reduced. Personally, I’d love to have a red cat in addition to this scope because of its wider field of view and ultra portability.
@@AVAstronomy ok I'm new to deep sky. I have the canon EOSR ( not the new EOS RA) and the new 70-200 RF. Which is probably the sharpest 200 on the market for photographers. Any way I just got a tracker and tested it new year's Eve and everything worked perfect. I took 30 images at 30sec each and stacked them. I'm now addicted and want longer focal length. So I don't think I need the red cat since I have 200mm already and it's f2.8. any advice would be awesome.
@@nickminderman7380 Welcome to the Club Nick. That EOS Ra is incredible. You'll get some wonderful images from it. Personally, before you buy anymore gear you need to ask yourself what types of targets you want to image. There is quite a large range of focal lengths and they all will get you different targets or at least different a field of view of those targets. Also, as you go up in focal length you tend to go up in weight too and would need to invest in a sturdy mount. Most people would recommend going wide field first. Which, really, you are already doing with the redcat. You won't see a big difference in the field of view from the 250mm redcat to something in the 300-400mm range. CHeck out my video on Stellarium. It's a free software that let's you plug in the data of different lenses, telescopes, focal reducers, etc.. and will give you a nice preview what your image scale will look like with a particular telescope and camera.
So the 71 GT I won't notice a difference from my 200mm?
@@nickminderman7380 There is a difference. It's not huge but will be more noticeable at the 420mm range than the reduced range at 336mm. It's really subjective on what you consider a big difference. The easiest way to know for sure what the difference will be is to use this online tool called astronomy tools. run a search on it and click on imaging mode. put in redcat 51 and your camera and then do it again for the William optics 71GT and your camera. This will give you a true apples to apples comparison of your field of view.
GT71! At least say it correctly 🤣
Freddy Acosta funny thing is I never noticed that until you mentioned it. Lol!!