Rant: The night sky photos from my dad's old telescope look better than my modern one

I went back to my folks' place last month and dug out this clunky 1990s Meade reflector from the garage. It took me forever to align it but the shots of the Ring Nebula I got from their backyard in Upstate New York actually had more clarity than what my fancy computerized rig captures now. I think the old glass just has a different quality to it, or maybe I'm just nostalgic for the struggle of manual tracking. Has anyone else noticed older gear sometimes beats the new stuff for certain targets?

2 comments

2 Comments

david1231d ago

Got a buddy named Tom who dug his dad's old Tasco out of a basement last year. He said the thing was covered in dust and had a warped finder scope but the views of Saturn through it were way sharper than his brand new Celestron. @andrew_sanchez94 is spot on about the old coatings, Tom thinks the older glass had less plastic and more actual quality control. He spent like an hour leveling the tripod with a bubble level but said it was worth it for that one clear night. The digital stuff just feels too automated now, you lose that connection when the gear does all the work for you.

andrew_sanchez943d ago

My buddy Mike dug out his dad's old C8 from the 80s and his Jupiter shots totally wreck my new refractor. He said the old coatings just hit different for planetary stuff.