The SkyWatcher Esprit 80 apochromatic refractor is in every respect in the premium category. Its optical and mechanical design is first-class, providing unparalleled contrast and sharpness of image. No aberration occurs even at extreme magnifications.If the atmosphere permits, you can go beyond the theoretical maximum magnification and the image will not fall apart. Its performance puts Esprit apo's in the league of market-leading competitors (e.g. Takahashi, Astrophysics, TEC).
The smallest member of the series, the 80/400 Esprit tube is an extremely compact, very easily portable, truly grab-and-go instrument. Its short focal length and high brightness make it particularly suitable for large-sky scanning or deep-sky photography with a wide field of view. The bright, large-viewing size of deep-sky objects at low magnification makes for stunning viewing in the vast field of view. Of course, at high magnification the instrument also performs superbly, with hard, sharply defined planetary surfaces and the Moon looking almost three-dimensional.
The heart of the Esprit apochromats is the triple (triplet) air-gap objective lens, made from FPL-53 and Schott glass materials, which has SkyWatcher's most advanced anti-reflection coating. A two-piece field flattener designed for the lens, which screws onto the tube, provides a 37 mm distortion-free, flat field of view, making the scope suitable for use with full frame (24x36) DSLR and CCD cameras. An M48 thread is provided for mounting different cameras, and the package includes a standard accessory for Canon cameras. Finding objects is made easy with an amici-prismatic 9x50 finder scope.
The rotatable 2.7" 1:10 focusing eyepiece allows for extremely fine, precise focusing and produces vignetting-free images. In-tube knife-edge blends significantly reduce light scattering, resulting in a highly contrasty image. The long dew cap also protects the lens in humid weather. The prismatic lens is Vixen standard, so the tube can be easily fitted to most popular mechanics.
