SVBONY SV503 Telescope ED 80mm F7 Doublet Refractor OTA for Exceptional Viewing and Astrophotography

The SVBony SV503 is a very good small ED refractor at a very attractive price. I purchased it primarily as a "Grab & Go" visual scope, but it appears well suited for astrophotography as well. I've only had the opportunity to use it once so far for viewing the moon. Yes, there was a very slight color fringe on the moon's limb, but it was not disturbing. In general the view and moon detail were excellent. I pushed the magnification to over 100x and there was no breakdown of the image at all - not bad for an 80mm scope. Since the SV503 utilizes an objective doublet with one element made from Ohara FPL-51 ED glass it is not a true apochromatic scope. There is some chromatic aberration (CA) on bright objects, like the moon, but it appears to be minimal. The optical tube assembly (OTA) is very solid and well made with three internal baffles. It has a built-in dew shield that is retractable for easy storage. The focuser is a 2", two-speed fine pitch helical track rack and pinion (R&P) style that can rotate 360 degrees for better framing of photographs or more convenient viewing if mounted on an equatorial mount. My scope arrived with significant backlash in the coarse focuser adjustment. This is not a cheap or bad focuser, however. There are several 1.5mm set screws on the focuser that control the alignment and tension of the focuser mechanism. Although these are not meant to be user adjustable, I found the correct set screw and I was able to slightly tweak it to completely eliminate the backlash. I have another scope with a true Crayford style two-speed focuser and after adjusting the SV503 R&P focuser it is virtually every bit as smooth and free of play or backlash as the Crayford focuser. The R&P focuser helical gearing also eliminates the "creep" that can occur on a Crayford style focuser that has no gears and relies solely on friction to move the focus tube. Overall the fit and finish of this scope is excellent - nothing appears to be "cheap" on this OTA. It has the "feel" of a much more expensive instrument. I deducted one star from this review due to the out of adjustment focuser and the fact that it ships with absolutely no instructions or user manual - in fact no paperwork at all! Pros: Excellent price for an 80mm ED scope. Good ED doublet objective lens. Retractable dew shield. Good Helical R&P 2", two speed focuser. Focuser can rotate 360 degrees. Both the 2" focuser and the included 1.25" adapter have compression fittings. Light weight (OTA, tube rings & mounting plate weigh 6.2 lbs). Nice metal lens cap. Good fit & finish.

This is a very nice scope, especially for its price point. I've taken some lovely images using this scope. From the start, I've used the focal reducer and found I could never get round stars to the corners; it doesn't give a very flat image. This scope is undoubtedly a good buy and perfect for getting into "serious" astrophotography. **Pros:** - Well built - Allows for very nice images with some post-processing. - The dew shield is retractable, which makes it easier to move around. - It looks really nice! - Sold at an excellent price, especially considering its good quality. - The tube rings are moveable and have a built-in handle. - Many more cool features! Love this unit. **Cons:** - I couldn't get round stars to the corners, but post-processing can overcome this. This is a really nice scope. You can get high-quality images at a relatively budget price. I liked it enough I bought the 70ED as well. I would not hesitate to recommend this scope. Like almost anything in astrophotography, you'll want to upgrade to a more flat field scope at some point.

Love this scope! Very well made. 2 speed focuser is great. Image quality is excellent, really beyond expectations. Very sharp, no discernable chromatic abberation.

I purchased the SVBONY SV503 80ED refractor telescope last summer, but due to weather (two hurricanes!) I was unable to try it out until late November. It performed beautifully! The first few targets were the Pleiades, Andromeda, and the North American Nebula. The dual-speed focuser is super smooth and it's easy to get perfect focus with a Bahtanov mask. The extendable dew shield keeps out dew and stray light and stays in place without getting stuck. Overall, the quality of the build is excellent. It is essential if you wish to capture all of M-31 (Andromeda) or M-45 (The Pleiades) in a single frame. As far as optical quality, images are sharp and bright. Even though it's not an APO, I didn't notice any significant blue or purple halo's around bright stars. They weren't completely eliminated, but the very minor ones that did show up were hardly visible or were easily removed via processing. I highly recommend this telescope for astrophotography.