The announcement of the William Optics Pleiades 111 pushed me into researching the available options, which leads me to this thread.
While I love the aperture, speed and design of the Pleiades 111, I don’t think it’s a good value for the money (see my thread here). I turned my attention to other scopes in the ~500 focal length with a minimum aperture of 91 mm. I thought I had decided on the William Optics FLT91, because it felt like an upgrade, I could use my existing reducer and a flattener was available.
Then… the Sky-Watcher sale started. Scopes like the Esprit 100ED and Esprit 120ED were now in consideration, and I might as well look at the WO FLT120, since my budget mysteriously grew.
TLDR
With the massive savings (21%), included flattener and positive reputation I went with the Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED.The goal of this thread is to provide information for others in a similar situation and hopefully pick up tips from anyone that has managed to read this far…
My Equipment
Mounts
- Pegasus NYX-101: my primary mount
- iOptron GEM28: my original mount, which I keep around as a backup and star tracker
- Celestron Nexstar: with the Esprit 120ED, I probably won’t use the 8SE as much for imaging, so I can have a dedicated visual/planetary imaging setup
Imaging
- ZWO ASI533MC Pro: my primary camera
- ZWO ASI585MC: my planetary camera (although capable of DSO in a pinch)
- ZWO ASI120MM MINI: my guide camera attached to the William Optics Uniguide scope for the GT71
- ZWO ASI290MM MINI: my guide camera for my OAG
- I originally used this with my 8SE and guiding was difficult. I know most end up using the ASI174, but I couldn’t justify the expense, at the time
- ZWO 5 position 2” EFW
- I’ve used this on the GT71, but the added weight added a slight sag/tilt, so I think this is pushing the focuser on the GT71.
