Sky-Watcher 62ED Evolux - Preview & First Impressions

SMALL & MIGHTY

When being asked by Sky-Watcher Australia to review the 62ED Evolux, I did wonder “why ask a wide field Astro Landscape photographer”. They knew I used their Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Tracker, and said to me that this scope can be used on it, and urge people to consider it as an option for starting to venture into deep sky Astrophotography.

So for me personally I’m always thinking and strategically buying gear in the thoughts of how I’ll use it down the line for when I do end up making the switch over to deep sky astrophotography, or at least share my time between both deep sky and nightscapes.

Now this scope isn’t the smallest on the market, and certainly isn’t the biggest by a long shot. I know that if I want to invest my money in gear I want to buy once, cry once! A scope of this size and quality that has a focal length of 400mm is pretty awesome, and thats what attracts me, and if you use the dedicated field flattener & reducer the scope goes from the native 400mm f6.5 to a 360mm f5.8 and you get fantastic image quality edge to edge (Well from the one image I’ve taken so far).

I also have to mention the great design choice of the 62ED with it’s integrated dew shield. It simply slides back and forth for easy deployment when out in the field, but also for packing the scope away so it packs down nice and compact for transport.

DESCRIPTION

  • Unparalleled levels of optic performance for an ED telescope

  • Updated 2-lens element design

  • New ED glass - (Not sure if it’s FPL55 Glass)

  • 61mm / f 6.5 (f5.8 with optional reducer)

  • New optional re-designed dedicated reducer/field flattener for wider field of view and faster imaging - (See here)

  • Retractable integrated dewshield for improved handling

  • Precision 61mm (2.4″) dual-speed focuser

SPECS

  • Optical Design - Refractor

  • Diameter/Aperture - 62m

  • Focal Length - 400mm

  • F/Ratio - f/6.5 (f5.8 with optional reducer)

  • Focuser Diameter - 61mm

  • Accessories - Aluminium case

Out in the field with the 62ED Evolux

THE SET UP

So as I mentioned earlier I use the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracking mount, as this mount gives me the best accurate tracking possible with my gear, and allows me to do really long exposures of the night sky at lower ISO’s which in turn giving me better dynamic range and better colours. Usually when I use it when shooting my nightscapes I can either shoot without any counter balance weight, but usually I will use the 2kg weight supplied in the Pro Pack to help with better tracking in slightly windy conditions. When setting the 62ED Evolux for the first time it soon became apparent that the 2kg weight wasn’t going to be enough for the scope and my bulky DSLR, so luckily I was able to call on my Dad to help me with a 3kg weight that he had spare from the use of his 72ED EvoStar.

Once I had the 3kg weight, achieving balance was super simple and I was almost ready to start imaging. I preformed a quick polar alignment and then used the dual speed focuser to gain focus on the stars…it was super quick and easy! Now I don’t have any guiding set up or anything like that, so it’s really down to how well I can polar align my tracker.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

For my first target I thought I’d aim for something reasonably large and bright in the night sky, and living in the southern hemisphere that just had to be Eta Carina Nebula (NGC3372).

I remember trying to capture an image of the Carina Nebula a few years ago for the first time just using a 50mm lens, and it was a total shocker! I couldn’t believe how bright it was, and how many stars showed up in my image around it. But I’m glad now I have a couple more years experience under my belt, and I’ve now captured an image of it with a small refractor telescope.

Eta Carina Nebula (NGC3372) - Only 15mins of data + dark frames, just a quick little outing.

I do plan to use the 62ED Evolux over the coming months to give it a real test, and to get some images of different targets. So watch this space & subscribe to my YouTube channel to see the BTS vlogs as well.

joel Stafford