Takahashi FS-152

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Telescope Reviews:Takahashi FS-152

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Brand and Model:Takahashi FS-152
Price ($USD):10000
Type:Apochromatic Refractor
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:152mm (6")
f Ratio:f/8
Focal Length:1216mm
Finder:none
Electric Power:na
Mount:none
Tripod:none
Weight (lbs):24# lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:This scope provides the highest optical quality of any I have ever looked through. The star test is flawless, when temperature stablized the in-out
diffraction pattern is identical. The Jovian views are the best I've seen,
Saturn while excellent, does not show as much improvement over high quality reflectors.

Takahashi America's FS-152 Page
Todd Gross's Review
Cloudy Nights AP 155 Starfire vs. Tak FS-152
Ed Ting's Review

Vote Highlights Vote
Takahashi FS-152
my experience under the stars with this scope was brief, but i decided to share my thoughts anyway. the only other scope in this catagory that i have had serious time to spend with on more than one occasion is the 6" AP. any comparisons i make with the 6" AP are from memory, at no time did i have these scopes side by side. this scope is big, bigger than the AP scope. the focuser is big and living up to the reputation of takahashi buttery smooth. i looked at a few summer favorites, M57, albireo, dumbbell nebula, M71, the double-double. contrast was great and everything snapped into focus. the scope screamed for more power and this is where i felt there may have been a difference between this scope and the AP155. when we started to push the power i noticed maybe some false color or what seemed to be a breakdown in the image. now please note when i say this it was slight at best. the AP scope never had this problem that i can remember, in fact the AP scope amazed me with the power it could handle with no breakdown in the image and absolutely no false color. and trust me when i say that both of these scopes are capable of ridiculously high power. i do not recall any difference in contrast between these scopes, both provided pitch black skies with pin point star images. maybe seeing was not as good on the night i used the TAK, i dont know because there was a considerable amount of time between the use of these scopes. now i am in no way an expert when evaluating this very fine instrument, but i can say this is one killer scope that i would love to own. now for the part i really did not want to dig up agian, is it worth the current asking price???? i really feel the 6" AP is a better performer at half the price, i have no idea why this scope cost so much. from what i understand it is more readiy available than the AP scope. i would love to compare it to one of the larger TMB scopes, if the smaller TMB line up is any indication of how the larger ones perform both AP and TAK may have some stiff competition. so there it is, if you don't want to wait for a scope from AP and money is no object (try to check out TMB if at all possible) i think anyone would love this scope. i give it a solid 9 when comparing it to the 6" AP which is a sloid 10.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38622

Takahashi FS-152
FS-152 is the best refractor for me because

- It's very light (10.5kg) and can be mounted by my EM-200
- It cools fast as it's doublet
- Excellent optics for visual (I don't do AP)
- Reasonable price (compared to AP 155, TOA-150, TEC 160 etc today)

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Ease of Use:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=616239

Takahashi FS-152
I have had this Telescope for 8 months now. It is as close to perfect that telescope optics I have ever seen. I have 10 scopes, but this is the one that gets the most use.
CS
Jonathan

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=609337

Takahashi FS-152
Excellent optics, nice fit and finish. This will be my retirement scope.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=607454

Takahashi FS-152
I´m owning one of this beast since few weeks, and it´s impressive observing the moon and Saturn with the Tak.
In short form, breathtaking contrast and razor sharp images, even in deepsky a big performer, globulars like M13,M92,M3,M5 are comparable to a 10" SCT or a very long 8" Newton with small secondary, sometimes a bit better - only the long Newt (8" /f8) shows the same small and crisp stars.
If you can get a used one and you are able to spend around 6-8 k$(€), buy it - this is a real classic lifetime telescope.
Martin - Austria

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=596280

Takahashi FS-152
I have had an FS 152 for about 3 months now. Prior to that I had an FS102 for about a year. The FS152 surprised me at how bright it was. It is brighter than an 8 inch SCT and closer to a 10 or 11 inch. All 6 stars of the Trapezium at a dark site plus cloud details in M42 which no other scope showed.

Light but longish, beautiful to look at, gorgeous deep green flourite lens.I fitted the Tak micro focuser and that is a wonderful addition as is the quick release bracket for the finder scope.

Accessories are a bit complex and could be simplified but you get settled down to what you really need.

Overall, a lifetime type scope. After this scope I do not desire more aperture as it is a great blend of portability, handleabilty,
brightness.You need a hefty mount to do CCD work with it. I went with an MI 250 from a Vixen Sphinx which could handle it visually but not for CCD work.

One of the great scopes.

Greg.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Ease of Use:9 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=421252

Takahashi FS-152
I've had this scope for about 4 months now, and have viewed thru it about 2 dozen times. I mount it on a celestron EQ mount, load capacity is about 35lbs. which is ok for visual use only (I don't do any photography). I purchased this scope at the new reduced price of $6995.00, which is a hell of a lot better than the 10 grand it used to sell for!

The optics are 1st. rate, star tested extremely well, both in and out of focus. All stars really snap into focus, I've never seen anything like that before in any scope I've had! There is very, very slight color on venus, it was hard to detect, it was a hair line on the outer edge of the planet, on other planets, and bright stars I saw no color.

The detail,contrast, and sharpness I've seen thru this scope surpasses anything I've seen in any other scope 10" and under.(execpt an astrophysics, which I have not looked thru). I rate this scope an overall 10.

Nick T

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:8 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=322248

Takahashi FS-152
This is one of my most-expensive top of the line refractors.
What can I say?
The optics are amazing, the tube assembly is built like a tank!
This telescope is worth my congratulations. I use it with one
of my fine eyepieces for high-power viewing and an even finer one
for low-power (Vixen Lanthanum 4mm and TeleVue 22mmPanoptic).
Definitely a great scope.

daSentinel

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38630

Takahashi FS-152
Excellent contrast on Jupiter, Saturn. Better than 8" Cave Astrola f7 under similar viewing conditions. Very little color, even on Vega, but star test shows slight undercorrection, around 1/8 wave according to Suiter's diagrams. The EM200 mount is excellent.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38580

Takahashi FS-152
Wonderful optics. Mechanically superb. In focus travel rather restricted. Difficult to use with some modern long eyepieces. Readily available but over-priced compared to other high-end scopes. Often compared to AP and TMB triplets but not quite in same class. Field flatner and focal reducer very expensive.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38579

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