SV503 80ED Refractor Telescope for Beginner Astronomy

The scope itself is tack sharp to a point that any higher end scopes are going to be very minimal / incremental improvements, but you will pay 100s more. Compared this with a Nexstar 5 SE, Astronomics 70mm ED, Apertura 72 mm and a Skywather 72mm evostar, all of these are in the same league. But SVBONY is an unbeatable value prop. Note that the rest of optical train is also very important, so got the SVBONY SV188P diagonal, SVBONY sv182 finder scope , a zoom eyepiece. With all these on the sv225 Alt- Azimuth and sv225t tripod , whether viewing the moon, Jupiter, Saturn or Venus it is tack sharp. Just entering into AP and this scope pairs well with the ZWO AS120MS wide field camera using PHD2 and Sharpcap . In short great telescope for beginners and amateurs that is looking for a high quality scope to start and not some cheap departmental stores ones. As others have mentioned the FL51 ED objective with Lanthanum glass inside are doing the job perfectly. The R&P focuser is great and prefer to the Crayford types that slip under heavy EP or camera load.

Peek into the home of any advanced amateur astronomer and you'll be surprised not only at the number of telescopes but that there will almost always be an 80mm telescope and you might be more surprised that it is the most used. Every telescope has its advantages and the 80mm is a perfect size for taking wide area images of the night sky. Many objects in the sky are actually quite large and require a small telescope to image, see the image of the North American Nebula attached. An 80mm is also the perfect “Grab and Go” telescope for when you want a quick view of something but don’t want to setup the “big” telescope. Every astronomer has a small telescope they can use on a tripod when they want a quick look at something. I've had this telescope a little over a week now and I'm quite impressed. If you are just starting out this is a telescope you can grow into and not out of. It is light weight, only 6.3 pounds, and will be at home on a tripod as on a telescope mount. For the more advanced amateur, this telescope is an astrophotographer's dream! The North American Nebula and though you can see some coma near the corners, it has over a degree of tack sharp star images. The image of the Galaxy M101 was taken a few nights later with a HoTech SCA Field Flattener and has over a degree and a half of coma free area. Who should get this telescope? Those in astrophotography who need something with a wider field of view, people wanting to view the sun (be sure to use an approved solar filter) and the moon. You can also see star clusters, nebula and some larger, brighter galaxies. You can certainly view the planets through this telescope, but the short focal length makes it better for wide field objects. If you are a beginner and are looking for a good telescope that you can use later for astrophotography then this is a great scope to start as you will not outgrow it. You should note that the telescope only comes as an Optical Tube Assembly, you do not receive a star diagonal, eyepiece or finder. That is typical of high end astrophotography telescopes. If you are just beginning you will need a SVBONY 1.25 inches 90 Deg Mirror Diagonal, a set of eyepieces, a finder scope and base, and a large tripod or telescope mount. I would recommend also buying a 2” extension tube such as the Orion 5124 2-Inch Telescope Eyepiece Extension Tube or the Explore Scientific Rack and Pinion Focuser 2" Extension Tube - ESRPEXT2 if you want to do astrophotography. I found only one minor complaint and that is the focuser. Unlike the description, it is not a Crawford style, but a rack and pinion, the latter being the standard for most telescopes. That isn’t a big deal, but for astrophotography a Crawford is preferred. The focus is a bit spongy, but still quite usable. I was able to add a motorized focuser and, while there was some image shift while focusing (as is usual with all rack and pinion focusers), it was still easy to reach a good focus. The image of the North American Nebula was focused by hand. Like almost all astrophotography refractors, an extension tube (mentioned earlier) is needed when using a camera. Not a big deal, but it would have been nice to have it included. I was able to compare this telescope to another 80mm ED f/6 scope from another company that costs twice as much. The SV503 was as good if not better in almost every respect. The image in the SV503 was brighter, even though it is an f/7 and the other scope was an f/6. The only reason might be that the other scope has three lens elements while the SV503 has two and that resulted in more light being absorbed. Still, it was surprising. Both telescopes had about 1.1 degrees of coma free field of view. The SV503 was lighter than the other but was a bit longer. Both telescopes had a way to rotate the focuser to allow for better framing with a camera, but the SV503 was much smoother and had a better locking mechanism than the other telescope. Both had rack and pinion focusers and both had similar focusing characteristics. Between the two the SV503 was the clear winner even without the cost differential. Pros: 1. Incredible price, about half what other 80mm ED telescopes sell for 2. Perfect for beginners and advanced amateurs alike 3. Bright, wide images, superb telescope for astrophotography 4. Tack sharp over 1.1 degree, even more with a field flattener 5. Focuser rotation is super smooth Cons: 1. It is listed in the description as a Crawford focuser, but it is Rack and Pinion. It still works quite well. 2. Focus extension tube not included. Not a big problem. Should you buy this telescope? Definitely! In fact, the friend I had help with the image of the North American Nebula and M101 likes it so much he buying one for himself.

Purchased this telescope for my birthday, got a few good nights of clear skies to try it out and was able to see alot of stars and planets and a few constellations up close, very happy with how it turned out. Excellent unit to start with when wanting something better quality than a cheap telescope. Clarity is a lot better than the less expensive ones I have. I purchased the lens kit by plossi and worked great with it.

I have a Celestron Astromaster 114EQ reflector and wanted to buy a telescope that would be more useful for astrophotography. I'm a keen amateur, but I'm not a professional or expert in astrophotography, and I wanted to buy a good telescope at a good price. I decided on the SVBONY 8O and received it 10 days ago. Due to weather, I haven't been able to use it regularly these past few days. However, I'm more than happy. The telescope is sturdy, and the quality is felt and evident in all its components. I was able to focus very easily with my Canon T3i camera. I couldn't focus with the Celestron 10mm and 20mm eyepieces, so I bought the SVBONY188P diagonal and was immediately able to focus with both eyepieces without any problems. Conclusion: I think I made an excellent purchase, and when I can use the telescope to take my photographs, I'll update the review and probably give it 5 stars. So far, I'm extremely happy. Today, I have to update my review. These past two months, I've been able to use the telescope more, and I'm even happier. I was able to view Jupiter with its four main stars, and the image is gorgeous. You can see the bands. Saturn is a beauty. The rings are visible, but not the Cassini division. I'm in the astrophotography mode, experimenting with some software. It's a really good product for the price.

I purchased the SV503 80ED in 2024 when it was on sale along with a .8 focal reducer/flattener. The build quality of the SV503 80ED is superb! So much so I rate it higher than the build quality of a $1700 75mm refractor I recently purchased from a reputable online astronomy equipment store. The SV503 80ED with .8 focal reducer/flattener provides nice tight round stars across the field of view of an ASI585MC Pro. It however does suffer from pretty bad blue/violet chromatic abberation on brighter stars. I did purchase the SV231 filter to combat the chromatic abberation problem. I've only tried it once in line with an Antlia Quad-Band filter on the Horsehead Nebula (attached). Integration time was short that night and I pushed post processing a bit too hard and it's not the best representation of what this scope can do. But I did attach other photos as well. Some post processing of the images are better than others. All in all this is a great scope for the money and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to take their first step into astrophotography. Of course with a disclaimer about the chromatic abberation if using a color camera. I have been so impressed with the SV503 80ED I have been seriously contemplating getting the SV550 122mm APO.

Update: After using it for nearly 2 years I still enjoy it and can pull up great pictures of the planets. It’s not the strongest scope out there but it does what it should for the money! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💯 Really liking this scope! Don’t expect to se footprints on the moon or incredible details of Saturn’s rings but you will definitely see the Saturn and it’s rings, moons of Jupiter and it’s clouds. Keep in mind picture of the moon I attached was taken on my phone and scope was mounted on wobbly tripod so it’s came out pretty bad haha. Now, I’m a beginner but wanted something better after trying few scopes and doing a lot of research and I’m satisfied, and I think I will be satisfied for a while lol it’s just matter of good tripod.Expect to purchase nice mount and you will get a good image through eyepiece in return. Didn’t try it for nebula yet, as still exploring planets with it, trying out different eyepieces/filters. Overall it’s a great scope for its money.

Came securely packaged and on time. First use was perfect.

Love this scope! Very well made. 2 speed focuser is great. Image quality is excellent, really beyond expectations. Very sharp, no discernable chromatic abberation.

After waiting for almost a fortnight to trial my scope, there was a break in the skies (for less than an hour) and I was able to take it out for its first viewing. In a nutshell I was extremely anxious to see how things would appear through the scope particularly because I had just sold my Stellarvue Access 80 Super ED. Many owners of the Svbony scope raved about its quality and I certainly concur with them in all regards about the scope – quality of build, smoothness of focuser and fine optics.

I wanted to get my hands on a portable APO refractor but did not have the funds to spend $800+ for an ED doublet/triplet. I have everything from a 10" SCT to C90 but wanted something portable for easy terrestrial viewing but with a wide enough FOV for astrophotography as well. I also have a Sky Watcher EvoStar 100 APO Doublet which I adore but it's too darn long to travel with. I found this SVBONY ,the photos online do it little justice. First the build quality. It weighs a little over 6 pounds and it is built like a tank. Some people may consider the weight a con but sometimes build quality adds some weight. It has a 2-speed crayford-style focuser which feels superior to my EvoStar in almost every way. It's not a true crayford (actual rack-and-pinion) but feels great. It has graduation marks on it as well. The focuser is rotatable so you can adjust the position of the focus knobs. This feature is incredible at this price point. It is smooth as silk. The dew shield is retractable another feature which I wish my EvoStar had. The paint on the OTA appears super durable and is pleasing to the eye. Even the lens cap is heavy-duty aluminum. The mounting rings are nice and solid as are the tensioning knobs but you may need a longer dovetail down the line since the scope seems to be off balanced even with the rings all the way toward the focuser end. Extending the dew shield helps somewhat but not enough to help with heavy eyepieces or cameras. The scope is reminds me Orions EON class in almost every way. I'm wondering if it wasn't manufactured in the same plant. The glass is supposedly FPL-51. I only had a chance to take a peek at Jupiter with 20mm and 8.8mm EW eyepieces on using my EvoStar 2" dielectric but I noticed no CA. I was able to clearly distinguish bands with the 8.8mm. I did notice some CA on the moon however. This is a solid piece of equipment. Does not come with a diagonal or finder scope or finder scope mount for that matter but it only costs $400! SVBONY sells the finderscope mount for about $10 on Amazon. Add a diagonal and case and you're still way under budget for what you're getting. Very happy with this purchase. Will update when possible.