Askar ACL200 Gen. 2 - 200 mm f/4 APO telephoto lens for astrophotography

Askar ACL200 apo telephoto lens for astrophotography and landscape photography

Askar breaks new ground with the ACL200. For the first time a full apochromatic refractor was combined with the comfortable handling of a telephoto lens. Especially the requirements of astrophotographers were taken into account. With the ACL200 perfect astrophotographs succeed right from the start.

Astrophotographic results obtained with this telescope on Astrobin

Here you can find some astrophotographs made with this telescope model: Link to Astrobin

This is what distinguishes the ACL200 from conventional telephoto lenses:

The lens is a 4 element apo with two special ED lenses for best possible chromatic correction. The 2-element corrector is permanently installed in the tube and guarantees a distortion-free field up to full frame size.

In addition to the normal focusing for landscape photography, there is also a micro-focusing at the front end of the apo. A rotation of 360° causes a focus adjustment of only 1 mm! So you can focus down to 0.002 mm and then fix the optimal focus position.

The apo has an M48x0.75 connection thread on the camera side with a working distance of 55 mm to the camera. This allows you to connect all common cameras (astro cameras, mirrorless system cameras and of course DSLR) with the appropriate T-ring.

In addition, the apo has an M69x1 female thread with a working distance of 66.5 mm. This allows you to realize individual adaptations. With our M69-M48 adapter with only 1 mm length, you thus gain over 10 mm for the connection of filter wheels, drawers, etc.

The apo is equipped with a universal connection facility with 360° rotation. So you can always position the object optimally in the camera.

ACL200 Gen. 2: The telephoto lens can now be directly adapted to mounts with Vixen / EQ5 style saddles. In addition, the multifunction plate naturally offers the connection for photo tripods via the 1/4" or 3/8" thread.

ACL200 Gen. 2: On the top is a flexible finder shoe with five clamping options and two screws. This allows you to attach guidescopes but also, for example, the ZWO ASIAIR.

Of course, you can also use the apo without restrictions for landscape and wildlife photography. The results will inspire you.

Astrophotographic results obtained with this telescope on Astrobin

Here you can find some astrophotographs made with this telescope model: Link to Astrobin

Here are two images taken by Wolfgang Ransburg with this lens and the Canon EOS RP Astro:

Object: IC 1396 in Cepheus

Photographer: Wolfgang Ransburg

Imaging camera: Canon EOS RP system camera (astro-modified)

Imaging optics: Askar ACL200 200 mm f/4 telephoto lens

Exposure time: 14x70 seconds with tracking - autoguiding with Lodestar

Filter: IDAS LPS-D2 nebula filter

Tracking: H-EQ5

Site: Taubenberg, about 15 km north of the Tegernsee

Please click for a larger version of the image!



Objects: Lagoon Nebula and Trifid Nebula

Photographer: Wolfgang Ransburg

Imaging telescope: ASKAR ACL 200 mm f/4 telephoto lens

Imaging camera: Canon EOSRP-Astro - converted at Teleskop-Service for astrophotography

Exposure time of astro images: 15x 40 seconds

Other: IDAS LPS D2 nebula filter

Please click for a larger version of the image!

Review by Michael Covington

In the popular astronomy portal Cloudy Nights, the well-known astrophotographer and author of several books on astrophotography has reviewed the ACL200 (optics identical), the review can be found by clicking this link.