TS-Optics 50 mm f/4 ED travel refractor, spotting scope and guiding scope with Crayford focuser - perfect optics

TS 50 mm f/4 ED Mini Telescope

This small telescope delights every aesthete with its imaging. Even at the highest magnifications, an absolutely perfect star is imaged. Landscape and nature observation are also possible. The contrast and sharpness will inspire you. Also the mechanics of this compact refractor is uncompromising and allows perfect working, no matter if an eyepiece is used for observing or a camera for guiding.

A powerful yet compact guiding scope

Simply plug the autoguiding camera into the 1.25" receptacle or screw the camera onto the T2 thread and focus. You will have no problem with focus. The generous 33 mm adjustment range of the Crayford focuser makes it possible. And even heavy tracking cameras are well supported by the focuser, with no tilt or flexing. Clean pinpoint stars are the reward. Due to the very good star definition, optics up to about 10" aperture can be tracked well.

Important: Since the telescope has rigid tube rings, the autoguiding camera should have a larger sensor chip to achieve a large enough field of view to contain a suitable guide star. Alternatively, you can replace the tube rings with guiding scope rings - and also use the telescope as a finder together with a crosshair eyepiece.

Further possible uses thanks to more back focus

A 70 mm long segment can be removed from the tube, creating sufficient back focus for a star diagonal mirror or an Amici prism and opens up further application possibilities.

A great spotting scope for landscape and wildlife observation

Use the compact refractor as a spotting scope on vacation. If you work straight-sighted, the image is upside down. But with a star diagonal or - better - Amici prism, the image straightens up. You can use any 1.25" eyepieces and magnifications up to about 100x are no problem for the very good optics. Observe mountaineers in the steep face or watch the exciting feathering of rare birds. Thanks to the multi-function plate with the 3/8" photo tripod thread, the connection to any common photo tripod is possible.

A small but surprisingly powerful astronomical telescope

You will be surprised what a really good optic with 50 mm diameter can show. Craters and the maria on the moon are just as visible as the spectacular rings of Saturn or the beautiful play of the Galilean moons of Jupiter. But also beyond the solar system many objects like double stars, planetary nebulae or star clusters can be seen. For example, the small refractor becomes a great wide-field telescope with the wide-field eyepiece NED25, which allows you to observe a field of fabulous 7.5° in the sky. With nebula filters, even faint nebulae, such as the well-known North America Nebula, come within your reach. Thanks to the flexible dovetail bar, the refractor can be attached to a photo tripod, a small mount or even a photo tracker.

Technical Information

Teleskop-Service has collected a lot of helpful information about refractors and provided it in English as a PDF file: refractors.pdf