Category: $3600+ Telescopes
In addition to the unfathomable number of possible optical tube and mount combinations available for astrophotography, or if you just like refractors a lot, a budget of $3000 or more allows you to enter a world of premium-tier and custom scopes, ranging from 14”, 16″, and even 18” Dobsonians to ultra-premium smaller Dobs, beefy equatorial mounts, and giant catadioptrics.
Best Value
Explore Scientific 20″ Dobsonian
Rank 1
4.8/5
A 20″ Dob is the telescope of a lifetime, but Explore Scientific’s 20″ performs favorably versus premium instruments many times its price, with its fast focal ratio removing the need for a ladder. You can still fit it in most cars to transport it to a dark sky site, too.
New Moon 16″ Dobsonian
Rank 2
4.8/5
New Moon’s premium custom telescopes are expensive but offer exceptional views thanks to their handmade optics and ultra-smooth motions, along with an excellently designed and durable mechanical structure handcrafted to order.
Sky-Watcher 16” Flextube SynScan GoTo Dobsonian
Rank 3
4.7/5
The Sky-Watcher 16” FlexTube Dobsonian is an enormous instrument; even when collapsed, the scope easily fills a typical car and is a far cry from the portable form factor of an actual truss Dobsonian design when dismantled. The GoTo base is also extremely heavy/bulky even when dismantled into its separate pieces. However, the views, as well as the functionality of the high-quality GoTo system and FreedomFind encoders, do not disappoint, and planetary imaging with this scope is also possible.
Rank 4
4.7/5
The 14” Sky-Watcher FlexTube is solely available in a GoTo configuration, which makes it a little more bulky and expensive, though it features the ability to be aimed manually, too thanks to its FreedomFind encoders, while the GoTo system is easily operated via your smartphone/tablet. Even when collapsed, the 14” FlexTube is huge compared to a true truss tube scope of this size, but it’s easy to transport and store in most situations.
New Moon 12.5″ Dobsonian
Rank 5
4.7/5
New Moon’s premium custom telescopes are expensive but offer exceptional views thanks to their handmade optics and ultra-smooth motions, along with an excellently designed and durable mechanical structure handcrafted to order.
Hubble 20″ GoTo Dobsonian
Rank 6
4.6/5
Hubble Optics’ 20″ Dobsonian is compact enough to fit in most vehicles but features fully motorized tracking and pointing for both observing and even some imaging, such as planetary imaging or occultation science. However, you’ll need to DIY some upgrades and invest in at least a few premium eyepieces for this scope to perform at its best.
Hubble 18″ GoTo Dobsonian
Rank 7
4.6/5
While most of the Hubble Optics Dobsonians are essentially “kit” telescopes with mechanical issues out of the box, the UL18 delivers unmatched performance for the price, and a savvy user can get one working in relatively short order.
Hubble 16″ GoTo Dobsonian
Rank 8
4.6/5
The Hubble Optics UL16 is a fairly compact and portable example of a 16” Dobsonian; as with the other Hubble scopes, it can need some tweaking (as well as additional accessories) to work at its best but is generally a fine scope.
Hubble 14″ GoTo Dobsonian
Rank 9
4.6/5
While delivering less aperture, the Hubble Optics UL14 is probably the most mechanically sound model of the Hubble Optics lineup and performs fairly well out of the box, with decent optics and a very compact form factor when dismantled.
Celestron Origin Mark II Smart Telescope
Rank 10
4.6/5
The Celestron Origin is a real imaging setup based on Celestron’s 6″ RASA astrograph, with all of the fuss of deep-sky astrophotography sorted out for you (though the best results come from doing your own processing). If you’re interested in a convenient and lightweight setup for quick imaging, however, you might want to consider a smaller scope from Vaonis or ZWO, and for serious astrophotography, there are better camera sensors than the one supplied with the Origin.
Rank 11
4.4/5
The Celestron CGEM II makes for an ideal mount for the C11 XLT for visual astronomy and planetary imaging use, being much sturdier than the Advanced VX and more compact than the CPC or larger CGX mounts. Neither the scope nor CGEM II is ideal for deep-sky imaging, but the C11 XLT is a fabulous scope for the visual observer or planetary imager.
Rank 12
4.4/5
The Celestron CPC 1100 is the largest of the three CPC scopes and is the only alt-azimuth mounted configuration offered for the C11 XLT optical tube. However, it is rather bulky and heavy as the C11 is permanently attached to the heavy-duty fork mount, which can make storage and transport difficult.
Celestron CGX 1100 RASA
Rank 13
4.7/5
The Celestron 11” RASA is pushing the CGX somewhat for the most demanding imaging applications and can be a little much to get used to for those coming from smaller imaging setups, but it’s a fabulous research-grade option for quality deep-sky images – though at only 560mm focal length, not all targets are going to be optimally framed.
Best Astrophotography
Celestron 8″ CGX 800 RASA
Rank 14
4.7/5
The Celestron 8” RASA is a great astrophotography instrument, and the CGX mount is a rock-solid platform for imaging with it, enabling very long exposures with fewer limitations than a smaller and lower-quality mount option.
Rank 15
4.6/5
The Celestron CGX is more than adequate for astrophotography purposes with the EdgeHD 8” optical tube and is usable for a variety of imaging and visual tasks at f/2, f/7, native f/10 or with a Barlow lens for a longer f-ratio. However, the CGX is capable of supporting the larger C9.25 EdgeHD too.
Celestron CPC 1100 EdgeHD
Rank 16
4.1/5
The Celestron EdgeHD optical configuration offers few perceptible advantages over the regular C11 XLT for visual use or planetary imaging, but the CPC fork mount is not exactly the best for deep-sky astrophotography, even when paired with a wedge and autoguiding. It also possesses the same extremely bulky and heavy frame as the regular CPC 1100 model, which may be uncomfortable for many users to set up or transport.
Celestron CGX 925 EdgeHD
Rank 17
4.6/5
While perhaps a little overkill for visual use, the Celestron CGX makes for a rock-solid platform for imaging with the EdgeHD 9.25” optical tube and an f/7 reducer, while also being fairly good for visual observation without too much complexity or bulk and an easy user interface with its hand controller.
Celestron CGX 11″ SCT
Rank 18
4.2/5
The Celestron CGX is a great mount for the C11, featuring a better build than the older CGEM II design and with features that make it more astrophotography-friendly—though you’ll want to use a different telescope than the C11 for deep-sky imaging with the CGX.
Celestron CGX 1100 EdgeHD
Rank 19
4.5/5
The Celestron CGX mount is more than enough to hold the C11 or EdgeHD 11 optical tubes for visual observation and decent enough for long-exposure deep-sky astrophotography, though a beefier and probably permanent mount would be more ideal for the job. The views through this scope are a delight too.
Rank 20
4.2/5
The regular Celestron C9.25 is not ideal for deep-sky astrophotography compared to the EdgeHD version, and the CGX mount is overkill with this scope for visual use. As such, there’s not much of a point in purchasing, though the CGX makes for a fine mount with plenty of capabilities.
Celestron CGX 800 SCT
Rank 21
4.2/5
The Celestron C8 XLT is extremely overmounted for visual use on the CGX while being sub-par for deep-sky astrophotography compared to the EdgeHD or RASA designs. As such, while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the scope, we do not recommend this combination as highly compared to those options.
Celestron CGEM II 800 EdgeHD
Rank 22
4.1/5
The Celestron CGEM II can technically carry the 8” EdgeHD optical tube for deep-sky imaging, but it’s subpar for the job compared to other mounts with stepper motors and overkill for visual use compared to the Advanced VX (the EdgeHD optics are also unnecessary for the task).
Celestron CGEM II 925 SCT
Rank 23
4.1/5
The CGEM II is somewhat overkill for holding the C9.25 XLT for visual use while being completely insufficient for deep-sky astrophotography with such a big scope. However, it is a little steadier than the Advanced VX if you demand more rigorous requirements.
Rank 24
4.3/5
The Celestron CGEM II mount isn’t much of an upgrade from the Advanced VX for imaging purposes, though it’s adequate and a little steadier with the 8” RASA. However, we would recommend springing for an EQ6Ri Pro or CGX mount instead if you can afford it.
| Rank 25 | Hubble 12″ GoTo Dobsonian | 4 |
| Rank 26 | Celestron CPC 925 EdgeHD | 4 |
| Rank 27 | Celestron CGEM II 11″ EdgeHD | 4 |
| Rank 28 | Celestron CGEM II 7″ Mak | 4 |
| Rank 29 | Celestron CGEM II 9.25″ EdgeHD | 4 |
| Rank 30 | Celestron CGX 7″ Mak | 4 |
| Rank 31 | Celestron Advanced VX 9.25″ EdgeHD | 3.7 |
| Rank 32 | Celestron Advanced VX 11″ SCT | 3.5 |
| Rank 33 | Unistellar eVscope 2 | 3.4 |