Well, I am finally ready to cast a vote. I give the 133.5 an overall 8. I was disappointed with the images.

The scope is built like a tank. Construction and workmanship is excellent. Focuser feather -touch but easily moved out of focus - I prefer a tighter focus knob.

The finder is a 10+++ - awesome right angle finder that is very useful.

The star test was good, and on terrestial views it was crisp and clear. But, astro images were just not bright and contrast was low. I compared it to an older Criterion 6" reflector. The Criterion RV6 was a much better imaging instrument. Views of M13 in the Lomo were muddled and gray -not much definition. The Orion nebulae resolved the trapezium but lack of contrast and brightness made the nebulae disappointing. The background sky never looked black - always a medium gray that hindered looking at DSO's.

Jupiter was OK in the Lomo. It's position in sky was not ideal. I resolved two bands and slight shading of planet. One band had some details but they were hard to resolve. I never could cleanly focus - either focuser too subtle or temperature problems.

The moon was sharp and clear, so I believe the collimation and optical surfaces was good. I just think this scope lacks the ability to put up a lot of contrast and brightness.The images of DSO like globulars were large but lacked brightness and contrast, thus lacked definition and clarity. Imagine M13 like a big dirty snowball.

The scope is very compact and easily transported. It is a perfect match for a CG5 with a wooden tripod. With this set-up I could lean against the tripod while viewing.

Acclimation to outside temperatures takes a long time. It took over 2 hours in the late winter. Even in late spring I could never reallly get it to reach thermal equilebrium.

A dew shield is a requirement - the outer lens dews up and fogs up very quickly.

I had hoped this scope would perform better and had actively promoted the Lomo Yahoo site and solicited people to post their reviews here. Maybe I will get a Lomo 150 or Intes MK 67 and compare them to the Lomo 133.5.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Mount:10 Ease of Use:8 Value:8
Weight: 10
Date: 06/19/2002 03:28:23 pm PST

Replies: 0

First of all - this is an unsolicited review of Hands On Optics. You can e-mail me direct at electricgolf@abac.com. I live in KY. I have owned a Celestron G8, an Orion ST80 refractor, and a Meade 90EC. I have submitted great reviews of OPT in California and Orion, and a bad review of Woodland Hills (although the reviews appear to have been purged when this site was modified). So - I am not new to this and Gary is not paying me!

I do not understand what is going on here. Gary is well known for excellent service - check out http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews/skywatcher102f5.htm
Cloudy Nights scope reviews. There the author says: "When I got home, I opened the box. My first impression was that Gary Hand does a very careful job packing. The scope was inside the large cardboard box, in it's own smaller box surrounded by packing, bubble wrap, etc. Gary obviously understands the tender mercies of UPS all too well :-)".

I am posting this review based on his price and service. I e-mailed him late Friday night with questions, and he sent 2 e-mails back Saturday. He also discussed my purchase with me for an hour on Monday on his dime (his toll-free number) before I decided to purchase. He was very honest and helpful in spite of being sick with a cold and the flu. His price was great for a Russian Mak Astele Lomo 133.5 I called back later to order wooden tripod legs for a CG-5 (a wise investment) and talked to his wife - she is a nice lady. She was also helpful and expects to ship it all to me this week so I can use it this weekend. I will post another review once I receive the merchandise, but I thought a fair and unbiased comment was required immediately based on what I see going on here. If it all goes to he_ _ when I receive it, believe me I will let you know, but I seriously doubt that will happen. These guys are sincere and run a nice family-owned business that is dependent on good customer service to compete against the big guys out there.

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 10
Date: 03/18/2002 05:58:17 pm PST

Replies: 0