This is a new telescope. It is brand new to the market from a new company. They offered me a telescope and kindly asked if I would interested in doing a review of it.

I don't do a whole lot of reviews. But I jumped at the chance to review this scope because it is something called a Maksutov Cassegrain. (I will explain that more further down). But, Maks like this have a reputation of excellence in optics. And I don't have a Mak. So , I really wanted to get one and give it a try.

Note that I also have a video review of this telescope at the bottom of the page.

The name of the company that makes this telescope is SarBlue and you can find them on Facebook here: @SarBlueOptics

You can also find this telescope on Amazon here: The SarBlue Maksutov Telescope 60

Here is the box.

And here is a look inside the box.

The telescope on it's tripod. The top cover comes off like I show here. This gives you a wonderful look at the inside of the telescope.

Here are all the parts that come with it.

• Tripod - sturdy little table top tripod with a standard camera mounting screw. Mounts directly to the telescope.
• Telescope - The main body
• Focus knob - You turn this to bring the image of the telescope into focus
• Dust cap - You put this plastic piece in the eyepiece holder when not using the telescope. It keeps dust out of the telescope.
• Eyepiece - nice 20mm eyepiece. It gives you 37.5 power
• Right angle erector - This is a nice accessory that makes it more comfortable using your telescope. It also turns the image right side up which is important when looking at objects on the earth like widlife etc.
• Smart phone adapter - snap your smart phone into it then screw it onto the eyepiece of the telescope. It is very easy to use
• Informational booklet - Eight pages - tells you a bit about what a maksutov is and how it works. And how to set up and use this telescope.
• Len's cap - The large cap you put over the big end of the telescope to protect it when not using it.

Using it and comparison testing it

I took the telescope out during the day and at night so I could compare it's performance to two other telescopes. Here are the three of them. On the left is a reflector telescope and on the right is a refractor telescope.

And, not to keep you in suspense about this our Maksutov out performed them both. It gave crisper, cleaner viewing with better color accuracy.

But this is something that is to be expected. A Maksutov Cassegrain telescope is an excellent design and performs very well. I was very excited to see this performance. It was what I expected and what I got!

And one of the nice little bonuses about this telescope is that it comes with the smart phone adapter. It is so very easy to use. You spring load your phone into it with the camera looking through a hole. And then just connect it with a thumb screw to the telescope eyepiece. This is an actual view through the telescope. You can snap pictures this way.

So, What is a Maksutov Cassegrain telescope? And why is it so good?

Let's take a quick look at light and telescopes. You probably understand the prism. This is what happens when you pass light through a glass prism. The light is broken up into it's individual colors.

This happens whenever you pass light through anything or bounce it off any mirrors. And for telescopes it is a very bad thing! You would look through a telescope and see stars and objects broken up into blurry colors. There would be no crispness or clarity. See how the colors have separated through this telescope lens?

There are many ways that telescopes compensate and correct for this problem. One way is by using multiple types of glass paired together. Each type of glass bends the light colors differently and when you pair them up they all cancel out and get the light back to a sharp pin point without much color separation.

And this is where a Maksutov Cassegrain performs very well. It uses a lens (1), and two mirrors(2,3) to do this correction work. And these optical parts are relatively easy to manufacture (not too complex). So, you get really good correction and at an inexpensive price to make. You get crisp and clear views with good color correction at an inexpensive to manufacture price.

Okay, here are some extras that I recommend you get along with this telescope.

The whole system is complete. You get everything you need to get going. It wants for nothing. But, I recommend, if you are going to do night time observing you get a standard camera tripod. Something that is nice and sturdy. It will make your viewing of the night sky more comfortable.

And.... At some point you are going to want more eyepieces for more power. The eyepiece that comes with the telescope is terrific and gives you 37.5 power magnification. I recommend you get at least another eyepiece for more power. A 10mm eyepiece is perfect. It will give you 75 power. I own this exact one I bought on amazon:

10mm eyepiece on Amazon - fits this telescope perfectly and will give you 75 power magnification

And if you are looking for a high quality tripod this is the one I bought on amazon and you see it in the pictures and video. Tarion Tripod

Video Review: