Celestron 52238 C70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope

 (16 customer reviews)

I bought the C70 to serve as a travel telescope for observing the moon and planets. Maksutov-Cassegrain optics, 70mm objective, 700mm focal length (f/10), 2lbs (0.9kg), length 11 in with eyepiece.

PROS
1. Light and small. I have flown with the C70, tripod, laptop, power cord, digital camera, and several paperbacks in a small carry-on backpack.
2. Resolution is good. Saturn was clearly identifiable even at 25x and with the rings almost edge-on. Under clear skies the moon is sharp down to the limit of what my eye can resolve. Atmospheric turbulence has been more limiting than the optics.
3. No false color, no image shift during focusing, and no tube currents, even taking the scope outside to observe immediately in freezing temperatures.
4. Included zoom eyepiece has good eye relief. I wear glasses and have no problem seeing the entire field. Also, unlike most inexpensive spotting scopes, the C70 includes an adapter to use standard 1.25" astronomical...Read more

I bought this scope for all around use: shooting: to spot impacts on targets; general: terrestrial observation. Results: very good, at 25X I can clearly see .22 cal(5,56mm) diameter bullet impacts on paper at 25-30 meters distance. At 50X I can count bricks (8 X 3") on the front of buildings 400 meters away. At 4 km you can clearly distinguish small (1 meter high) cacti from the rest of the vegetation.
I live in a hot area, so looking at far away scenery (3 km+) at 50X and higher gets you looking at heat waves, but this is not a defect of the scope. I also tried some lunar observation at 25X: crisp, clear images.
I had no slop on the focus wheel as other reviewers have had, and as for more info, I think "Black Thumb's" review elsewhere is
detailed and objective.
For the cost, I find this scope pretty much unbeatable, if you use it within its limitations.

I wanted to like this scope but couldn't (it's going back).

The Good: compact for the power, can hold cradled in hands with arms braced on chest at 25x fairly steadily, includes adapter for 1.25" standard eyepieces, light enough to use on fairly small tripods (one is included) or window mounts, includes good lense covers on both ends and a pretty nice carrying case.

The Bad: mediocre optical performance, hard to focus, not weatherproof (though it's rubber coated). Small field of view and less than optimum eye relief.

Optical performance is the killer. I had this scope shipped to my son in the high desert of southern WY, where I was headed for a visit. I had a new Celestron Ultima 80 (straight eyepiece) along intended as a gift for his birthday - so a comparison was inevitable.

He had previewed the C70 before I arrived and was impressed. My initial look through it was very disappointing. Then I realized that most of the problem was heat...Read more