A quality apochromatic telescope at is able to accomplish a heavy workload in regards to improving your astrophotography, as they are designed specifically to eliminate chromatic aberration. The best telescopes for astrophotography are always going to be apochromatic refractors, and while more expensive than your typical viewing telescopes, they offer a lot of bang for the dollar. On average, refractor telescopes cost more to make, as decent quality in image production requires more lenses to smooth out and focus the photons accepted through the optical lens. Packing four fully multi-coated lenses, this telescope is guaranteed to do a lot of work for you, but as with most apochromatic telescopes this is a dedicated imaging telescope, meaning that it cannot be used for visual astronomy. At a price of $1,339 and championing the Sky and Telescope Hot Product of 2018 commendation, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope has the power to move the capability of your astrophotography forward by leaps and bounds.
Bearing the Meade branding, you can trust the company’s history of providing quality top-scale consumer telescopes for a sensible price. Meade is one of the oldest and most established telescope manufacturers on the market, and has provided affordable consumer telescopes since its founding by John Diebel in 1972. By 1980, Meade began manufacturing their own line of telescopes, launching a tradition of engineering some of the best consumer telescopes available informed by over forty years of experience. This is supported by the one year limited factory warranty that comes with all Meade products. In the world of telescopes, you get what you pay for, and if your drive for telescopes is fed by astrophotography, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is a great option that will leave you wowed by the spectacular images it can help you produce.
Quadruplet optics and Petzval design eliminate chromatic aberration
The Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope packs four high quality lenses into its compact design. These fully multicoated lenses are crafted with FPL53 ED glass that provides for low dispersion, creating sharp and bold color imaging free of chromatic aberration. No longer will your images be plagued by that pesky magenta hue common with doublet or triplet refractor telescopes.
Thanks to the Petzval design of the lenses, this telescope does not require the aid of an additional field flattener. The optical assembly does all of the work, as the leading lens corrects for chromatic aberration, and as the light passes on through the optical tube the additional lenses correct for astigmatism and coma, producing an image that is flat for the entirety of the field of view. Not having to worry about adding an additional field flattener also means that you won’t have to worry about setting the proper back focus. Your images will come out crisp and clean as is.
High class imaging telescope
For imaging large deep sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies, you will be hard pressed to find a telescope within this price range that can compete with the performance of the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope. With a seventy millimeter aperture—or, two and three-quarters inches, a focal length of three-hundred and fifty millimeters, and a focal ratio of f/5, this is a fast telescope that accepts a large amount of light and provides the perfect field of view for seep sky objects. While this is an imaging telescope that is not designed for planetary or lunar imaging due to the high field of view, which will cause planetary objects to appear small, it is perfect for both galaxies and nebulae.
The Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope also has an imaging circle of forty-two millimeters. As the typical full frame imaging sensors are built at thirty-five millimeters, this means that this telescopes functions well with both full frame and crop sensors and produces no vignetting.
The telescope comes with adaptors for both forty-eight millimeter and forty-two millimeter T-adaptors, allowing you more options when it comes to acceptable camera choices. You can use any DSLR, CMOS, or CCD camera with the T-adaptor that comes provided with most cameras, and for your DSLR you will want to ensure, as always, that you have the proper adaptor for your brand and model.
The telescope also comes with a built in expandable dew shield to prevent moisture buildup on the lens during humid evenings, ensuring protection from the elements.
Most impressive is the upgraded two and a half inch dual speed rack and pinion focuser. The ten to one gear ratio between the coarse and fine focus knobs is designed to make achieving pin-point focus easy for both the novice and experienced astrophotographer. The drawtube is millimeter marked to provide for accuracy, and the focuser can easily be rotated for framing purposes. There is also a two inch self-center locking mechanism, which ensures that your camera will be perfectly centered as long as the mechanism is engaged.
Lightweight with a provided aluminum carrying case
Weighing in at only four and a half pounds, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is highly portable. It can easily be transported to even the most out of the way imaging locations, easing the labor that comes in setting up your rig. Even better, the telescope comes with an aluminum hard carry case for transport and storage, guaranteed to protect your equipment.
Features and specifications
- The Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is a wide field quadruplet apochromatic refractor designed explicitly for astrophotography and deep sky imaging
- The telescope is lightweight and portable, weighing in at only 4.5 pounds
- The 70mm aperture, along with the 350 mm Focal Length, and f/5 Focal Ratio allow for superb and sharp wide field imaging of deep sky objects
- High quality quadruplet lens design features premium multi-coated FPL53 ED glass that lowers dispersion and eliminates the worry of chromatic aberration and image reflection
- Comes with two adaptors— a 48 mm and a 42 mm, compatible with T-adaptors for your DSLR, CCD, or CMOS camera
- The telescope’s imaging circle of 42mm ensures that the telescope functions with both full frame and crop sensor cameras
- The telescope includes a built in dedicated corrector, removing the need to purchase a field flattener and guaranteeing crystal clear focus and precision
- The telescope comes with a Vixen style dovetail
- The telescope comes with built in extendable dew shield
- The telescope comes with an aluminum hard carry case for transport and storage
- The telescope includes a 10:1 factory-tuned 2” rack & pinion focuser, and a 360˚ rotator
- The Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope comes with Meade’s signature full one year limited factory warranty
User impressions
The Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is featured on a number of different retailer sites, including Meade’s main site, OPT, and Highpoint Scientific. On OPT the telescope boasts a consumer rating of 4.9/5, and on Highpoint Scientific it holds a highly respectable consumer rating of 4.6/5. Google consumer reviews hold the telescope to a rating of 4.5/5.
Overall, users agree that “this scope is an absolute work horse”, and is a suitable “first choice to recommend to beginners considering entering this hobby.” Users are “very pleased with this telescope”, which proves that “it’s true that great things come in small packages.”
While, compared to many visual telescope and even some high-end imaging telescope, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope might have a “small aperture, the f/5 ratio brings in the light quickly” enough to make up for this. The quadruplet lens system “generates very sharp details and high contrasts”, imaging “flawless stars with zero chromatic aberration across the whole field” and a “much improved full flat field image for such a fast wide field refractor.” Users celebrate the ability to image “without the necessity for an additional field flattener in the imaging chain,” which means that “there is no second guessing with back focus requirements.”
Thanks to the design choices, this is an “easy to use telescope as it also does not require any extra accessories” as there are “no additional pieces required for great images.” You are able to easily “slap a camera on and go.” Users remark at how “light” and “east to handle” this telescope is, and that it “takes amazingly clear and crisp images, with very little effort,” making it suitable to both beginning and veteran astrophotographers.
Users find that the “included rack-and-pinion focuser is both robust and smooth,” and that the “Petzval optical train is amazing”, and that the design featuring “two groups of two lens doublets each achieves the very wide flat field characteristic” of this quadruplet telescope. Users also remark that the “included scope rings are well built,” and create “no flex against the dovetail as the mount slews.”
One user claims that they “have had a ball over the last few weeks with this little refractor,” and that “this is the one I recommend to almost all beginners looking for a wide field” imaging telescope.
As with all telescopes, there are some criticisms raised against the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope. One user is dissatisfied with how “short the focus tube is,” find that it “limits the choices I have for filters, adapters, and so on.” One user noted a “very slight amount of coma which is consistent across the field,” but that is only noticeable when zoomed in on images, and he suspects it might be result limited to his specific unit “due to a slight misalignment of the optics or to some other factor.” Still, this user claims that the telescope is “nearly perfect.”
Another user commented on the “need to occasionally get creative with adapters to properly secure the guide scope and the camera,” but that “after a bit of tinkering the scope works for any style of camera” and that they were “even able to get it to reach focus with an eyepiece for a special project. Depending on your camera, you might need to adjust the position of the dovetail.”
Despite the fact that most reviewers speak highly of the this telescope, which is reflected in the consumer review scores, it is worth mentioning that they are actually negatively weighted by a specific reviewer who has posted a number of two star and three star reviews. He claims that because this telescope utilizes a Petzval quadruplet design, it cannot be truly considered an apochromatic telescope, and is rather a semi-apochromatic telescope, or achromatic, that produces longitudinal chromatic aberration. Take this for what you will, but there were no other users who found fault or disappointment in the apochromatic capabilities of this telescope, although the specific reviewer with issue does claim to be an “optical scientists.” It also worth mentioning that, with time, and the number of reviews they have posted, their ranking of the telescope improves each time.
To summarize, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is a fairly priced imaging telescope best suited for wide field deep sky imaging of nebulae and galaxies that has earned the Sky and Telescope Hot Product of 2018 award. It is a dedicated imaging telescope, and is not capable of visual astronomy, nor is best suited for planetary or lunar imaging. The premium multi-coated FPL53 ED quadruplet lens system lowers dispersion and eliminates the worry of chromatic aberration and image reflection. The lens system works as a dedicated corrector, removing the need to purchase a field flattener and worry about back focus, guaranteeing crystal clear focus and precision with every shot. Weighing in at only four and a half pounds, the telescope is highly portable and works to reduce the labor and effort involved in setting your rig up in the field, without sacrificing image quality. The telescope also features an upgraded two and a half inch dual speed rack and pinion focuser, with a millimeter markings on the drawtube, and a unique two inch self-center locking mechanism, which ensures that your camera will be perfectly centered as long as the mechanism is engaged. Also included are a built in extendable dew shield and aluminum hard carry case for easy transport and storage. Priced at $1,339, the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope is a fantastic telescope for your deep sky astrophotography needs.
Comparable telescopes
While we endorse the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope, you might also consider the following products:
- Explore Scientific AR127 127mm f/6.5 Achromatic Refractor Telescope
Additional accessories
Here are some accessory suggestions that will improve your experience with the Meade 70mm Astrograph Quadruplet APO Refractor Telescope:
- Apertura 10 x 50 Right Angle Finder Scope with Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece
- Orion Atlas EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount
- ZWO ASI183 Pro Cooled Color CMOS Astrophotography Camera
