Minicat 51 raw images William Optics MiniCat 51 WIFD · Aastro123 · ... · 29 · 1492 · 48

Aastro123 2.11
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Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )
Edited ...
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Photon_Collector 1.43
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Nice test! 

I would expect better stars in the corners on an APC sensor like that…
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andreatax 9.89
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Nice test! 

I would expect better stars in the corners on an APC sensor like that...

Agreed. Pretty poor correction and it shows even after BXT. I'd never ever ever buy anything so poor, given the price.
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cryhavoc38 0.00
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What is the purpose of the minicat 51 versus the regular cat 51?
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ccdicelestial 0.00
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If the mini was at least $250 cheaper, maybe it would be worth it. The corners are not good, especially when the RedCat 51 is the same price.
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AstroLux 11.43
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Even a Rokinon 135mm below F3 has better performance than this on APSC.

Shame for this trend, creating a mediocre telescope and justifying it by telling people "software" will fix it  "don't be a pixel peeper".
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TiffsAndAstro 1.81
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Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )


Bigger stars seem to resemble packman?

Like a little cutout on each, in same position?
Other than that looks good to me.
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StewartWilliam 5.21
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Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️
Edited ...
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Dark_Dust 1.43
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I find wiliam optic generate a lot of bloating stars and to have some of the worst flattener/reducer ever.

I feel a lot of new comers got the "Wiliam Optic hype" from Astrobackyard.  There is no way those scope would be as popular otherwise.

Maybe at some point in time their product were better. Since a few years tho, all review I see from their scope offer the same average result.
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Eteocles 1.51
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AstroShed:
Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️

In what universe is $900 a premium price?
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andreatax 9.89
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Dan:
In what universe is $900 a premium price?


For a finder-sized scope? In mine for sure.
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StewartWilliam 5.21
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Dan H. M.:
AstroShed:
Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️

In what universe is $900 a premium price?

For a 50mm scope with such poor optics, it’s deffo a premium price, and I’m glad that you have enough money that $900 to you is not a problem and you can afford to waste on such a poor performing scope, but personally, £900 to me is a lot of money would be premium.. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Edited ...
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StewartWilliam 5.21
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Also there are a lot of scopes much less that that price with better optics, The Skywatcher 50ED, the Asakr FMA180 pro, the SVbony SV555,  the Sharpstar optics 50ED and more
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Eteocles 1.51
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AstroShed:
Dan H. M.:
AstroShed:
Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️

In what universe is $900 a premium price?

For a 50mm scope with such poor optics, it’s deffo a premium price, and I’m glad that you had enough money that $900 to you is not a problem me you can afford to waste on such a poor performing scope, but personally, £900 to me would be premium.. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I didn’t buy it, and I likely won’t.  Just pointing out that $900 is not premium in this hobby, like it or not.
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StewartWilliam 5.21
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Dan H. M.:
AstroShed:
Dan H. M.:
AstroShed:
Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️

In what universe is $900 a premium price?

For a 50mm scope with such poor optics, it’s deffo a premium price, and I’m glad that you had enough money that $900 to you is not a problem me you can afford to waste on such a poor performing scope, but personally, £900 to me would be premium.. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I didn’t buy it, and I likely won’t.  Just pointing out that $900 is not premium in this hobby, like it or not.

Yea, and I am pointing out that it is to some people, spending £900 on a scope is maybe several years of saving, and to buy one and find it’s this bad, I have owned Takahashi FSQ85 and it was garbage, I then bought an Esprit and is great, I also owned the Redcat 51 and was garbage, I also have the Askar FMA180 and it’s superb, and just got the SV555 for review, and that is also superb,  but all my owned scopes were second hand, as I never had the money for new.
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Ricksastro 1.51
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I believe  your single frame/corner and 8 hr stacked/corner images are identical…same noise pattern.
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Robservatory 2.39
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I use mine with a full frame 6200MC Pro. I’m happy. https://www.astrobin.com/2ybx5d/
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StewartWilliam 5.21
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Rob Lyons:
I use mine with a full frame 6200MC Pro. I’m happy. https://www.astrobin.com/2ybx5d/

Well if that image is with full frame and with no BlurX used, which it does not look like it has had, then it’s excellent, and such a massive difference to the OP’s scope and the optics are 1000% better, so how can they make such varying examples of the same scope it’s ridiculous…if I was the OP I would be sending it back and getting another version
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andreatax 9.89
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Well, actually that image shows the fingerprints of BXT all over the place…
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Iridiumflash 0.00
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Please note that WO actual point out at their website, that there are problems with the stars at the corners, if using a APS-C sized sensor and they recommend to use BXT to correct it:
Due to the nature of MiniCat’s fast aperture optical design, edge stars may not be as round as with other RedCats. However, our tests show it still outperforms conventional lenses. With aberration correction software like BXT, peripheral distortions can be perfectly corrected on APS-C sensors, while Full Frame may need some fine-tuning for even better results." Link
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Robservatory 2.39
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AstroShed:
Rob Lyons:
I use mine with a full frame 6200MC Pro. I’m happy. https://www.astrobin.com/2ybx5d/

Well if that image is with full frame and with no BlurX used, which it does not look like it has had, then it’s excellent, and such a massive difference to the OP’s scope and the optics are 1000% better, so how can they make such varying examples of the same scope it’s ridiculous…if I was the OP I would be sending it back and getting another version

I used BlurX. If you look st the description it has before and after aberration inspections. It’s not a perfect scope, but it gets the job done.
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Aastro123 2.11
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Rick Krejci:
I believe  your single frame/corner and 8 hr stacked/corner images are identical...same noise pattern.

You may be correct... it looks identical. My mistake
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Aastro123 2.11
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Hey everyone! OP here! I wanted to emphasize a point that I shouldve made clear in my original post. I was curious to try it out! I originally bought this because I enjoyed my redcat 51, but I wanted something more widefield and maybe a touch faster. This scope on paper seems to fit that want. 

With my experience using the redcat 51, my stars were never perfect with multiple cameras. the corners always presented with some degree of coma. I used a rokinon 135 prior to the recat. I also own a askar fma 230. 

I do enjoy using the minicat 51, but it certainly does not perform as well as it should. those stars are not at all what I would expect from WO. I was very much aware of the warning on their website regarding the need for BXT in post. I personally dont think this is acceptable. If you NEED BXT in post, then your scope isnt that great. 

I will say I have never owned a "perfect scope", but have owned many. I have had a 8in newt, have a 10in newt. both of which struggle to have "perfect flat fields", despite multiple CCs, laser calibration, Cheshire eye pieces etc. I owned an Askar 130 phq, which had great corners with native FL, but poor performance with the reducer. This scope also suffered from "pacman star distortion", even after I sent the first scope back to Askar for recollimation. 

My point is Ive never owned a perfect scope thats has 100% flat field, is fast, with an interesting FL. Maybe one day Ill take out a mortgage on a Planewave LOL.  

Im going to keep working with the minicat for some time, I think I can do some cool stuff in the future, weather permitting, with my current setup. 

Im happy I got to display my findings for others, so they can make the decision on purchasing this scope. That was another key point of my post. 

Andy
Edited ...
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TexasMan 0.90
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Thanks Andy for taking the time to experiment and more importantly share, the good and bad. This kind of post is great for those of us who are just starting out in this hobby and looking to start building their first rigs!
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Gondola 8.11
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AstroShed:
Hey everyone! here are some minicat 51 images, raw only with STF and aberration inspector. I included stacked image, before and after blurxterminator.  The goal of this post is so those considering buying the minicat 51 can see what to expect regarding star quality in the corner. Not as much of a review of blurxterminator... I think we all know how powerful that is. 

Minicat 51
ASI2600mc air
Star Adventurer GTI
Bortle 5/6 backyard 
Images are drizzled 2x for more round stars 


Below is a single 60s frame only with STF 



below is the stacked, 8hr worth of 60s exposures. Only with STF applied 


Below is the single 60s frame, inspecting corners

single frame corner.jpg


Below is the stacked 8hr image, inspecting corners
stacked corner.jpg

Here is the 8hr stack with blurxterminator and STF. 
blurxterm.jpg

And finally the corners after applying blurxterminator 
blurxterm corner.jpg


I understand theres some controversy regarding this scope. I bought it because I wanted to test the quality and have a portable setup with wide FOV

Should we expect more given the price and the name brand William Optics? 

If we use blurxterminator in our workflow, does it really matter?  

Curious what you all think!



Final image I processed on my profile : )

Yea, you should expect far more from this scope and named brand, it’s dire TBH, you may as well but a cheap 50mm Ed scope like the skywatcher evoguide and just use BlurX, it will give pretty much the same results, what is the point of spending loads on good or in this case poor optics only to have to use BlurX, just buy cheap to start with and use BlurX…🤷🏼‍♂️
It’s a shame but this BlurX was and is a game changer, and not exactly good for some up market scope manufactures, so Williams optics have realised this and just put out a poor optics scope and selling it at a premium price and tell you to use BlurX in the marketing material, so even they realise there is no point any more for companies to fork out a fortune on quality optics, just put a poor cell in a trusted and well known red tube. Other manufactures will follow now ☹️

I'm afraid this is a very good point. AI software is advancing quickly, I fully expect for the ability to correct all sorts of optical aberrations to be available in the near future, BlurX is just the beginning. I would expect that the market will respond with lower quality at the same price or crow about perfect stars and push pricing even higher because there will always be people who want the perceived best at any price. All in all I think this is fine because powerful software allows everyone to dig deeper into the data and show amazing things. In the end what matters is the final image on the screen or wall. Marketers will continue to work their money grubbing ways one way or an other. As always it's buyer beware.
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