20231227 — There are two main types of image sensors: CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). CCD sensors have been ...

Problems?  Yes, there are a few.  Complaining about this scope is a bit like stepping on a kitten, but since they market and sell this as a serious observing tool, I feel I should treat it as such.  As I see it, there are three major issues:

While it’s difficult to call out “downsides” to these cameras, as they offer so much to a huge audience of photographers, when compared to higher end categories of cameras they often lack quality.  Most often this is quality of the resulting image, but it might also be build quality (ie, made of cheaper materials, less durable, etc.).

The first issue is that being mirrorless, they do not feature an optical viewfinder standard.  If you are upgrading your point and shoot to one of these, you probably never had an optical view finder in the first place, so this is a moot point.  However, for those that are considering going from a DSLR to a mirrorless, you will have to adapt to the fact that you will be looking through your eye piece at a digital screen, rather than a glass “periscope”.  For many photo ops, this shouldn’t be a problem.  However, for wildlife photography, it can be an added difficulty to focus on that lion hidden amidst thick brush, or a small bird high in the rain forest, through a digital viewfinder.  Again, many people will not have an issue with this, but it’s something to be aware of.  At this time this was published, several companies offer optical viewfinder accessories to their mirrorless camera models.

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The scope comes with low power eyepiece of Plossl-like design yielding about 25X, which you put together yourself.  Insert the barlow (a closely spaced doublet at the end of a 2" long extension tube) and the scope will do 50X.  The barlow is confusing, as it looks like they've given you another eyepiece.  If you put it into the focuser, it will yield an image, although not a good one.  The drawtube is a friction-feed type with a locking ring.  There is a dew shield, but no dew cap.  Finally, there is a display stand so you can proudly...uh, display your scope at home.

Fast forward to last month. While cruising Astromart, what do I see but an ad for a pristine sample of that same 4.25" Edmund scope. You hardly ever see these for sale. The chemicals in my brain reacted and before I knew it, I'd arranged to buy the scope. When you adjust for inflation, I'd paid next to nothing for it.

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Taking its limitations into account, it's not a bad little scope. However, the 4.25" f/8 Dob I recently cobbled together from spare parts is better, both optically and mechanically. Don't overlook these vintage scopes when they show up on the used market. They hark back to a time when telescopes were loaded with character, unlike the anonymous scopes of today. Desirable brands include Cave, Parks, Meade, Criterion, StarLiner, Quantum, Questar, etc. And Edmunds like this one. When I'm using it, I don't think about its awkward quirks; for a couple of hours during the night, it's 1979 again and I am one of those kids in that ad...

They've clearly taken steps to insure that this isn't another department store junk scope.  For starters, the two-element achromat isn't stopped down internally, and even appears to be coated.  Also, the drawtube accepts standard 1.25" eyepieces - that's right, no trashy .965" eyepeices.  Instead of attaching a throwaway optical finder, there are simple sighting bars on top of the tube.  Reasonable powers - 25X and 50X are used - gone are the ridiculous "675X" magnification claims.  The Galileoscope web site has numerous resources to help you if you get stuck.

However, the biggest cost is that you lose your multiplying factor for your big lenses.  That is, the 300mm that could be a 480mm on your crop frame just got shot back down to earth at 300mm.  If you are mostly into landscape or cultural photography this isn’t a big deal, but for wildlife photographers, it is significant.  You now either have to carry a bigger lens, a more expensive lens, settle for a lens with a bigger minimum aperture, or all of the above.  If you’re ready to make the splurge on a full frame DSLR, be ready to also make a splurge on a new zoom lens.

Types of cameraPDF

When the scope was first launched earlier this year, the price had grown to $15.  By early summer, the scopes were seriously backordered, and customers had to wait weeks for delivery.  As of August, the price had risen again, to $20 (if you decide to donate one, the cost is still $15.)  I started getting requests from novices asking for my opinion, and decided to check it out.  I went to the Galileoscope web site, and got ready to place my order.  Then I saw they were going to hit me with $14.55 for shipping.  My finger hovered over the mouse, and wavered a bit at that point.  Then I contacted local club members.  It turns out one member had bought a couple of them and had one to spare.  He dropped one off to me the next day.

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1) The mount.  The quality of your experience is going to depend so much on the steadiness of your mount.  I can't overemphasize this.  The problem is, the Galileoscope people have left this critical part of the equation up to the consumer, and based on experience, the Average Joes out there always overestimate how sturdy their tripods are.  I can imagine people mounting the scope on a flimsy tripod that was "perfectly steady" for their little digital cameras and coming away frustrated.  The Galileoscope web site does suggest a few suitable tripod models, but I don't think it goes far enough.  I'd also suggest a minimum weight limit (I'd recommend something in the 4 lb range as a bare minimum.)

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The upsides to full-frame cameras are monumental if you prioritize image quality.  When you take your first photos with a full-frame, you’ll likely gasp at how crisp the resulting photos are and how much you can crop in on them and still retain top quality.  It’s difficult to say whether years of photography will make you a perfectionist, or it’s only the perfectionist that is with photography for years, but those that demand the best will reach for a full frame every time.

3) When it's really dark out, it's hard to see the little finder nibs.  I wound up just guessing where the tube was probably pointed, and the low power eyepiece offers enough field of view that panning around usually solved the problem.

Fortunately, the makers of crop frame cameras have specialty lenses dedicated to crop frame.  For Canon, the lens is deemed and “EF-S”, adding the “S” and Nikon affixes the “DX” label onto their crop frame lenses.  The result, is that they can only be used on crop frame sensors, but they do get extremely wide.  For example, you can pick up a 10-22mm for a crop frame, which is effectively a 16-35mm on a full frame.  Thus, very wide.  However, because of the making of the lens, that same 10-22mm cannot fit on a full frame camera.  The reciprocal is entirely feasible, though, in that you can always put a full frame lens on a crop frame body.  It just incurs the multiplier effect.

So what does a “crop frame” mean?  Basically, when lenses were first rated and named, they did so based on a “full frame” camera.  As a result, a 300mm lens is a true 300mm on a full frame camera.  However, because crop frame DSLRs have smaller sensors than the big full frame DSLRs, the lens has to be mounted a little bit differently, effectively giving it a multiplier effect.  Without going into too much sciency detail, this means that for most crop frame cameras, you are essentially magnifying your focal length.  Thus, for a crop frame with 1.6X effect, your 300mm would actually be a 480mm – allowing you to get much more zoomed into the animal.  This is great, right?  Mostly it is.  However, this also means that on your wide angle end of the spectrum, it’s also multiplied.  So a 24mm would actually be closer to a 38mm – becoming less wide and less ideal for landscape shots and the like.

However, they now have to compete with the smaller, lighter, and potentially more affordable mirrorless cameras described in the above section.  As a result, companies that are firmly vested in the DSLR world are doing everything they can to get these bodies lighter, better quality, and generally more attractive.

Types ofcameras for film

Moving up to 50X, things got a little rough.  Tripod shake becomes an issue, but once the shakes settle down, the images of the moon, Jupiter, and stars usually remained sharp.  Deep sky images got a little dim.  Still, I preferred the views at 25X and stayed there for most of my observing.  By the way, I don't know if they designed it this way, but eye relief is comfortable.  I could observe with glasses on with no problems.

The first is the price tag – they are not cheap, with most models starting in the couple thousand dollar range (note: both Canon and Nikon now have a sub-$2,000 full frame).

In the end, point and shoots are a brilliant category of camera, both for the beginner and seasoned professional alike.  What they may lack in high end tech, they make up for in ease of use, flexibility, and adaptability.  Many pro photographers will actually carry a small point and shoot with them, along side their big fancy equipment, because of how easy it is to whip out of their pocket and grab that candid shot, or go from shooting a far away city scape one second to a close up of a flower the next.

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The second issue, which is becoming a non-issue, is focusing speed.  Again, when compared to a point and shoot, the speed will surprise you because it’s very fast.  However, some people complain that when compared to their high end DSLR, the focusing speed is slow.  This author has experimented with this on newer models of mirrorless cameras, and their focusing speed was impressive – appears to be a resolved issue.

These are the big daddies of the camera world.  Both literally and metaphorically.  They are without choice much bigger than a point and shoot, and are solid hunks of camera.  However, they are also the top tier in the camera world, too, producing the largest, sharpest, and most data rich images out there.  They have bigger sensors and come with high brow tech inside their internal computers.  Thus, you are going to get huge megapixels out of them.  The newest models at the time of this publishing are 50 megapixels plus.

We buy telescopes for lots of reasons. Some of us are just getting started, some are trading up, adding to our collections, and some are paring back. And increasingly, we buy them...just because. Because we're curious how a new or different scope will perform.

Types of camerawith pictures

I didn't have the "pleasure" of assembling the scope, per se.  Apparently one consistent complaint of the Galileoscope is its confusing instruction set.  I downloaded the instructions, and for a long time was confused about how to use the eyepieces.  Although the scope was delivered to me assembled, I wound up taking it apart several times during the course of the review just to get familiar with it.  The scope assembles with no tools.  It's held together, variously, by snap rings and rubber O-rings.  If you have a mind to, you can take the whole thing apart and stow the pieces away in a small bag or box.  The plastic for the most part is thick and substantial.  Fully assembled, the scope weighs a whopping 1 lb.

Keep in mind, all of these observations were done with a $20 telescope.  It's really amazing that they managed to cram this kind of performance into a scope that costs next to nothing.

How does the scope hold up? Well...mostly, pretty well. The red-tubed Edmunds were a step up from their older white-tubed models from the 1960s. The mounts, in particular, were vastly improved, heavier, and more robust. My 4.25" unit replaced the long-lived 4.25" "Palomar" scope. Ads from the time bragged that "It is so powerful that with it you can read a newspaper headline at 1 mile." Wow! I want to do that, don't you!? And by the way, is it just me, or is "Palomar" the coolest name ever for a 4.25" telescope? They just don't market stuff this way anymore.

Types of camerafor beginners

While the verdict is still out on whether a crop frame DSLR or a mirrorless camera is the best body with which to upgrade from a point and shoot, crop frame DSLRs are still a standard as one’s “first good camera”.

Another major benefit is the ability to increase your ISO to rather high levels.  While ISO 1600, 2000, 3200 and above tend to get a bit “grainy” with anything else, full-frame cameras tend to retain surprisingly good quality at these higher levels.  Ideal for indoor photography, or shooting wildlife at dawn or dusk, the ability to whimsically shoot at ISO 2000 when things are dim, but still get a good shot, is life-changing.

10types of camera

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I've been actively involved with astronomy during the past year, but have been trying to avoid the equipment rat race.  All I can say now is - y'all have been busy while I was gone!  There's so much new stuff out there, I don't know how people keep track of it all.  In the past year, you should know I've passed on reviewing a 25" Obsession, an FSQ106, and a TOA130.  Yes, ~$21,000+ worth of optics have passed through my hands and I decided not to write about them.  A $12,000 telescope that performs like a $12,000 telescope?  Yawn.  A $20 telescope that's going to change the world?  Sign me up!

One morning I got up at 4 AM and took the scope out to look at the winter objects.  The Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, the Double Cluster, and the Andromeda galaxy were all very nicely framed at 25X.  Open clusters like M35, M37, M36, and M38 were visible, but dim.  I had a rough time seeing M33, but am holding out hope and will try for it again on another night.

Today, many photographers are comparing them to higher end DSLRs for image quality.  This is a big deal.  When you can get the quality of a DSLR at half the weight and a smaller price tag, why wouldn’t you?  Well many people are making the switch.  However, there are still some issues to be aware of.

Photography was truly revolutionized by this category of camera, as they are accessible, easy to use, offered in a range of affordable options, and some even come in waterproof or shockproof housings.  It truly is amazing what you can get with these workhorses of the camera world.

The fundamental reason for this lack of quality has to do with the technology and parts that go into them.  For one, they have a smaller sensor.  This critical part to any camera is the eye of the camera – it’s what processes and creates the image you see.  Having a smaller sensor means they can’t get the same detail, clarity, and overall quality of a camera with a larger sensor.

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There are essentially four types or categories of cameras on the market now that consumers have easy access too.  Some could argue that film cameras still have a role to play, too, but we will make the argument that these four categories still hold true, with each category coming in a digital or film version.  But truthfully, we won’t talk much about film here, as it’s quickly going the way of the dodo.

The intro SLR camera (Single Lens Reflex) has been setting the bar for many years, originating in the film days and transgressing nicely into the digital age.  Companies like Canon and Nikon have poured huge amounts of money for R&D into these and the quality shows.  Now, new sensors, processors, and general tech are making their ways into smaller and lighter cameras that are getting more affordable all the time.

Encouraged by the views of the easy stuff, I decided to see how "deep" the little scope would go (the following observations were all done at 25X.)  Mizar and Alcor were easily split.  Albireo was split as well, and the blue/orange color tints were readily visible.  M13 is a dim smudge, M92 and M15 dimmer still.  The Dumbbell is easy.  The Ring Nebula is a little tough - it's bright but small, and just barely visible at 25X.  The Double Cluster looks nice.  I could just pick out M81 and M82.

Although I was tempted to use a heavy mount and better eyepieces (more on that in a moment) I was trying to Keep It Real, doing what a novice might do with the scope.  Therefore, I put the Galileoscope on the smallest and lightest tripod I own, a Bogen Jr (#3405 ) weighing about 4 lbs.  Having said this, I think even the Bogen Jr is more substantial than many tripods in homes today.  I worry about stability.  But if you don't look too hard, the scope/tripod combination actually looks kind of cool.

The moon looked quite nice.  Craters on the terminator looked crisp at 25X.  While there was only minor false color on the limb, a bigger problem is glare.  The dew shield is short, and the unbaffled tube, while black, does seem to reflect quite a bit of light (again, another project for the mod-crowd out there.)  On the night of September 29th, Jupiter was about 2 degrees away from the moon, and while looking at the planet, the entire field of view was washed out in white.  Speaking of Jupiter, two bands are easily visible at 25X, as are the four moons.

Optically, the scope is pretty good. The mirror is spherical, so it shows some undercorrection, but it's not serious, especially at f/10.6. Since you can't really get it collimated very well, precise viewing is kind of a lost cause. The scope seems to have some light-baffling issues. I'm not sure where the leaks are coming from, but I do note that the focuser is awfully close to the front of the tube. A few more inches of tube length would go a long way. If there's any stray light around, the entire view washes out in a sea of light brown. I tried to stay "authentic" by using the 6X30 finder and RKE eyepieces, but soon realized this was an exercise in frustration. Once I substituted a Rigel Quik Finder and my TeleVue eyepieces, things got a lot easier. It's wintertime here, and I cruised the winter sky - M42, M36, M37, M38, M35, M41, the Pleiades, etc. Low power views are decent if you're away from lights, but pump the power up a bit and the views start to fall apart.

Members to the point and shoot club range from your basic smartphone camera all the way to some pretty fancy versions that share many capabilities of high end DSLRs.  Some have incredible zoom ranges that go way beyond what you could get with a camera that lets you change lenses.  They are flexible and extremely versatile.

These cameras are probably responsible for putting many professional photographers out of business due to their relative affordability and superb quality in the hands of dedicated hobbyists and amateurs.  In other words, these cameras are great.

To summarize, these four categories are as follows:  point and shoot, mirrorless (sometimes referred to as 4/3s), crop frame DSLR, and full frame DSLR.  For the sake of organization we’ll break each one down into its own section and discuss the ins and outs of them here.

So while Edmund had made strides, they hadn't done enough. Meade, for example, was already using secondary spiders, real honest-to-goodness hinged OTA rings, and focusers that resembled fine jewelry. Their mounts were excellent. This was not lost on the buying public, and the writing was on the wall for Edmund (I've said this before, but I think Meade reflectors from the late 1970s through the early 1980s -especially the Research Grade models- were the best telescopes they ever made.)

When I first started hearing about this scope, my reaction was probably the same as yours.  A $20 plastic tubed refractor?  Off to the junk heap with you!  But hold on there a minute...Created for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, the scope has genuine high-end aspirations.  It was developed by real optical engineers, and people who care about what you get for your $20.  The Galileoscope.org web site lists several impressive endorsements, including the IAU, NSF, Sky & Telescope magazine, and others (full disclosure - I have written for S&T, and Rick Fienberg, one of the members of the Galileoscope organization, is a friend.)  The goal of the project was to get low cost telescopes into as many hands as possible, even adopting a "one telescope per child" model.  Schools and organizations are encouraged to place quantity orders, perhaps into the hundreds, for discounts.  The initial goal was to produce a $10 telescope.

While my 4.25" scope had many improvements, it has some issues. Some of these are serious. The secondary is a joke - a little square mirror mounted on a single stalk at a 45 degree angle (or thereabouts) that attaches to the focuser. It looks like the mirror your dentist uses to check your teeth. The design pretty much assures that accurate collimation is next to impossible. It's a holdover from the 1950s and 1960s. The mount is OK, but has play on both axes. I've tried to open it up to tighten things up inside, but some play persists. The RA and Dec tension knobs loosen over time, no matter what you do. If you forget to retighten them every few minutes, eventually the tube breaks loose and you'll hear a big -WHAM- as it whacks the side of the mount. And the Rube-Goldberg strap cinching system for the tube would make any Victorian corset manufacturer proud.

Types of cameraand their names

That's about it.  An additional "problem," if you want to call it that, was the limiting nature of any 50 mm refractor.  There's only so much it can show you.  After 10-20 minutes of observing, I found myself milling around, racking my brains for things to look at.  But this was never intended to be a long-term observing instrument.  It's a jumping off point for beginners, and in that regard it succeeds.  In conclusion - and I never thought I would ever say this about a $20 telescope: Recommended.

The second thing is what we already mentioned, is that they are usually bigger and heavier than other cameras out there.  Since they are usually fabricated with a metal body, this heft is also a benefit as they are generally very durable.

These quick summaries of various camera bodies is in no way exhaustive of their various merits nor shortcomings.  As new tech comes out, the line between each will shift and sway and be drawn again many times over.  However, for someone that is new to photography or thinking about upgrading or just simply is curious about the options out there, we hope this will be of help.

Sweeping the camera world by storm, these mighty little powerhouses are solving many long time issues.  They have larger sensors and much better computing power than their point and shoot cousins, but don’t carry the extra weight around with them like their big brother DSLRs.  In fact, many mirrorless cameras are of similar size and weight to the larger point and shoots, making them a wonderful travel camera.  In addition, they give you the ability to change lenses, which further increases optical quality.

This isn’t meant to overwhelm you, but this is something to keep in mind when deciding on cameras.  If you get a crop frame DSLR and start collecting specialized lenses, you may have to reinvest significantly should you ever wish to upgrade to a full frame camera.

Types ofcameras brands

Being the model of what most modern photography is based on, having one of these in your bag means the sky is your limit.  You can shoot on extreme time lapses, very high apertures, add on a myriad of accessories and off camera flashes, and put on highly coveted big zoom lenses to get incredible wildlife shots at astonishingly good quality and resolution.

The upsides to these high tech beauties are significant.  As already mentioned above, they are a massive quality upgrade from a point and shoot, packing the punch of a DSLR in a small package.  They are lightweight, more portable than a DSLR, and their equipment is generally priced a bit lower, too.  In addition, they come in both crop frame and full frame versions, which has resulted in many photographers making the switch.

4types of camera

2) As noted around the web, and on the Galileoscope web site, the scope does not have enough in-focus travel to accommodate a diagonal.  This is a real inconvenience.  I live at 42 N latitude, and observing anything higher than Polaris was a chore (One reason I had so much trouble seeing the Ring is that it was directly overhead.)  Looking at the scope, I think this is an easy modification.  Shortening the tube and lengthening the drawtube would fix the problem (I think) at minimal cost.  To keep the cost down, Galileoscope doesn't necessarily have to include a diagonal, they just need to made a provision for one.  If this project is successful financially, could we see a modified Mark 2 version in the future?

One of the most vivid series of ads I can recall was for the red-tubed Edmund Newtonians from the mid to late 1970s. Back then, Edmund was a serious player in the market, right alongside Meade, Celestron, and Criterion. I would have liked to own any of those reflectors, but it was the 4.25" f/10.6 that really caught my eye. The ad in the catalog showed a couple of kids huddled under the scope with a flashlight by the ocean, while city lights glowed in the background. Those kids looked like they were having the time of their lives. Looking back 30 years later, that ad probably did more to get me into the hobby than any other single factor. And to this day, that long, skinny Edmund was one of two telescopes that I've always wanted to own (the other is the 8" f/6 Meade Research Grade Newtonian from about the same period.)

In short, surprisingly well.  The scope is well worth your $20, and although there are issues (there are always issues) if you want to stop reading here and just place your order on the Galileoscope web site right now, you'll get no argument from me.  The objective lens is quite nice - better than almost any department store refractor, and is worth the cost of admission by itself.  It's capable of throwing up sharp images, and the star test yielded only minor undercorrection (nothing to worry about.)  Since the f/ ratio is kept relatively long, and since it doesn't gather a lot of light to begin with, false color is kept at bay.  The modkateer subculture out there is going to have a field day with this lens.  I can already imagine the elaborate Galileoscope-based  "overkill scopes" showing up at next year's Stellafane.

Back in my misspent youth, I'd spent an unhealthy amount of time reading catalogs. You know how most normal teenagers will sometimes take a dirty magazine to bed at night with them? I took telescope catalogs with me. I'd imagine myself exploring the night sky with various scopes. I did a lot of this largely because I didn't have a penny to my name. Imagination was free.

After while, I decided I was tired of Keeping it Real, and mounted the scope on a Bogen 3001 equipped with a Telepod head.  I also ditched the supplied eyepieces and went with a 19 mm Panoptic. Yes, I was now using $600 worth of accessories on a $20 tube, but everything got better.  Mechanically the motions were smoother, and the Panoptic was a pleasure to look through (at 40% of the weight of the scope, it did make the rig back-heavy though.)

As with nearly all things, you get what you pay for, and given the reasonable price tags of point and shoot cameras, they come in at an incredibly good value.

The second component of their tech is that they generally have a more basic computer inside of them.  Their ability to process colors, judge light and dark, achieve perfect focus quickly, etc., is a bit hampered by less computing power.