I have had the ETX-125 Weaver about a month now and very happy with it. It’s brighter than any other scopes I have used. I have used it at night – twilight – mid day 80+ degrees up at 73X with the standard 26mm eyepiece the mirage kicks up right away with any heat. I have been trying to get a real world resolution test, with a 620 yd measured look at a metal building across the tarmac runways. I ended up measuring the screw heads at .320 painted the same tan color as the surrounding metal,no rust or dust contrast). These were easy to pick on a warm 72 degree day, so it’s still an apples and oranges test.
I have included some photos of the scope, The nice thing is with the 26 mm eyepiece you can use the 8 x aiming scope looking through both for a quick change toward another target / critter watching.
The photo shows the longer 40mm, with plenty of old man eye relief )that I bought on top and the 26mm standard at the rear. Since this is an astronomy type scope, Maksutovo -cassegrain )the top eyepiece will show the scene reversed ,not a problem for stargazing / critter watching).
These can be selected by flipping a mirror lever to view with the rear or top eye piece, so you could have two different magnifications at the ready . The down side is each needs refocusing after switching back due to the difference in focus distance to the eyepiece.
The rear eyepiece is on the erector prism; this will show a normal view. To me the 40mm is a better eyepiece for general viewing under 600 yds / hot conditions at 48 X its plenty of power for 300 yd shooting / critter watching.
The glass is all Meade along with the eyepieces. As I wrote in an earlier post the only difference, is the rear body is plastic, it seems stout enough. I think the Meade unit it aluminum and you pay for it.
The controls felt good, the 8 x aiming scope is a bit cheesy but works. There is a camera mount available for film & SLR digital cameras,T Mount) .
I would hold out for a motor driven scope if you wanted to stargaze, but the 125 works well on a large tripod. Compared to my 8†Meade Cassegrain star scope its almost as sharp. Great performance for the price
Hans K.
The 40 mm is not included with scope.
Due to the Wide lens,the scope looks bigger in this photo
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I have included some photos of the scope, The nice thing is with the 26 mm eyepiece you can use the 8 x aiming scope looking through both for a quick change toward another target / critter watching.
The photo shows the longer 40mm, with plenty of old man eye relief )that I bought on top and the 26mm standard at the rear. Since this is an astronomy type scope, Maksutovo -cassegrain )the top eyepiece will show the scene reversed ,not a problem for stargazing / critter watching).
These can be selected by flipping a mirror lever to view with the rear or top eye piece, so you could have two different magnifications at the ready . The down side is each needs refocusing after switching back due to the difference in focus distance to the eyepiece.
The rear eyepiece is on the erector prism; this will show a normal view. To me the 40mm is a better eyepiece for general viewing under 600 yds / hot conditions at 48 X its plenty of power for 300 yd shooting / critter watching.
The glass is all Meade along with the eyepieces. As I wrote in an earlier post the only difference, is the rear body is plastic, it seems stout enough. I think the Meade unit it aluminum and you pay for it.
The controls felt good, the 8 x aiming scope is a bit cheesy but works. There is a camera mount available for film & SLR digital cameras,T Mount) .
I would hold out for a motor driven scope if you wanted to stargaze, but the 125 works well on a large tripod. Compared to my 8†Meade Cassegrain star scope its almost as sharp. Great performance for the price
Hans K.
The 40 mm is not included with scope.
Due to the Wide lens,the scope looks bigger in this photo
