MK105 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope, Dispersion-Free Imaging, 105mm Catadioptric Telescopes,160mm Dovetail Plate Catadioptric OTA, High-Reverse Electrolyte Coating for Planet Visual Photography

This is a review of the MK127. I was going to wait to do some photographic tests with the scope before writing a review, but I have an import *customs and tariff note* - on Saturday morning I got a message from Amazon that my shipment was on hold and I needed to contact DHL. DHL customer support was closed until Monday. On Monday morning I contacted DHL and all was well. The shipper had paid the duty. The scope arrived Monday afternoon, 4 days early. I unpacked the scope. The build quality was top notch - very metal and very sturdy. It felt heavy compared to my C5 so I weighed it. It weighed 6.6 pounds. I checked my C5; it actually weighed 5 pounds. I got a 5 pound weight to check the scale - 5 pounds exactly. I used a high power flashlight to peer into the scope. A little dust on the inside of the corrector, but quite clean. There was one small dust spec on the primary mirror otherwise clean. I measured the central obstruction - 1.5” working out to 30% CC. Very good. It was late in the day so I put on a good quality 45 degree erecting finder, aimed at a bird feeder 50 yards away, and inserted a 25mm Plossl eyepiece. I examined a female cardinal. Feather details with subtle shading differences were clear and sharp. I was optimistic about the night. I put on the reducer and took some shots with my 4/3 mirrorless camera. The pictures looked good edge to edge. I removed the camera and added my T to 1.25” adapter (I will use that with my 715C and my 585C cameras.) I tried a star diagonal and an eyepiece. It would not come to focus. I’m not surprised but a bit disappointed because on occasion I do use a corrector/reducer with my C5 visually to get a wider field. When darkness fell I used an artificial star at 60 yards to check the collimation and do a star test. The collimation was perfect. I used a little masking tape to hold on the tri-Bhatinov mask that I use with my C5 to verify that. I was prepared for what to expect with a star test by the excellent web site on telescope optics by Vladimir Sacek. He explains that the 6th order spherical aberration can be canceled with the 4th order spherical aberration for objects in focus with a Maksutov design. This leads to the inside and outside focus patterns to look different even in a diffraction limited scope. Bearing that in mind the star test was very good. Finally it was dark enough to see stars. I went directly to Izar in Bootes, a tough double. The main star is magnitude 2.5 and the second star is only 4.8, and they are close - only 2.85 arc seconds. In a small scope the first diffraction ring of the main star can cross the dimmer star. I could split the stars at 120 power. The split was very clear at 240 power. Next I check epsilon Lyra (the double double.) At 60 power I can separate epsilon 2, but I’m not sure with epsilon 1. At 120 power both pairs are cleanly split. Everything is crisp and clear. It is now 10 PM August 4th (for those that want to figure out the exact moon phase.) Seeing is good, but the moon is still a little low. The view of the moon is great with no color fringing. I then went right to 240 power on Plato. I could make out 3 light looking craters on Plato’s floor. This is excellent performance. I continued my visual test at 2:30 AM. The transparency has turned pretty bad with all the stars looking dim. The seeing was above average so I went to Saturn. It was dimmer than it should be because of the high thin clouds which aren’t all that thin. The planet, rings and 3 moons are clear and sharp at 120 power. I moved to 240 power and everything is still clear and very sharp. I stepped up to 300 power and still very sharp. The view was a bit dim at 300x because of the high clouds, but very pleasant. I can’t wait for a better night. I switched to Neptune. Nice color but dim again because of the sky so I didn’t bother to increase magnification and look for Triton. Lastly I moved to the Double Cluster in Persius. It almost fits in the view. The stars looked good edge to edge. It was not the fantastic view I usually get because the transparency is so bad, but the stars are sharp. Visually, I can’t imagine a 5 inch scope of any kind that could beat this one to the point where my eyes could see the difference. It is definitely a keeper. Edit Sept. 5, 2025 I finally got a chance to shoot a deep sky object with the MK127. The target was the Wizard Nebula using the included focal reducer making the F-ratio 7.7. The guide scope was 40mm, the camera was a 585C bringing the total weight of the scope and everything to 8.2 pounds. I shot 240 thirty second RGB subs with a wideband (UHC) filter and got 231 without any star trails or satellite trails. The final stacked image showed some non-round stars in the far left extreme bottom and top, but I checked the subs and some had perfectly round stars at these extremes so I think it was a slight guiding problem and there were probably a few subs that should have been rejected. All in all I was very happy with the result. Edit Sept 28, 2025 Traveling overseas I brought the MK127 and my travel mount, an AZ-GTi. In equatorial mode I shot the Helix Nebula. Guiding was sketchy. I shot 15 second subs to avoid visible field rotation. I only got about 1 good exposure out of every 8. The result is a stack of only 55 exposures. I probably shouldn't have posted the picture except I get such a kick out of how versatile this scope is. Edit November 23 Still traveling overseas I got an EQ base and a counterweight kit for my AZ-GTi mount and I reshot the Helix Nebula. I used 30 second exposures and I was able to get 76 good subs out of 142. I updated the photo.

This svbony 105 maksutov with a celestron x-cel lx 5mm eyepiece which gives 272x magnification, very good for the Moon and can give a fairly clear image of Saturn despite quite a bit of light pollution. Obviously you need to lower the magnification to a comfortable 120 to 150 to maintain vivid color in planetary. Considering it's only 105mm aperture, it shows quite a noticeable difference compared to a startravel 120, thanks to the absence of chromatic aberration. Photos taken with the phone on the eyepiece and slightly fixed with the basic program. It also shows a very sharp image with binoviewers during daylight. Updated: In high light pollution Parts used: svbony 18mm ultra flat field svbony 15mm swa svbony 6mm red svbony 30mm spl split double stars. Algieba Mizar Zeta Aquarii Neptune identifiable as a small blue dot with 30mm. With higher magnification the bluish tone was lost. Moon with binoviewers, recommended. And it was excellent in live view on the Moon and Jupiter. The mount used was a SW AZ GTI and an SV 305 camera. Update July 2/2025 for 127MK At the moment, I can only say that the quality of this 127MK is excellent. Everything is smooth, even its metal cover. It's magnetic and very easy to remove or keep in place. I hope to conduct a test and comparison soon, as well as evaluate the collimation process if necessary. I also hope to have the time and weather to add good photos with the svbony 705C. Comparison of the SV48P 102mm Achromatic and the Mak 127. July 8, 2025 First of all, the Mak arrived perfectly collimated. With the moon practically full, the SV 48P, using the SV231 and Moon filters at the same time, and the SV 135 zoom lens, showed good image quality at different magnifications. At the same time, and after both telescopes had acclimated outdoors, the Mak 127 showed a more pleasant image and better details for my eye, although the brightness was very similar at similar magnifications. An ED or apochromatic refractor would probably have been a better competitor, although I don't think by much. After a few hours and without the moon, and knowing what to expect from the refractor (see review on SV48), I simply switched the BinoViewers to the Mak 127. 150x. Brighter and more colorful view of the planet. 180x. More pleasant and sharp view. 225x. The view is still clear and very similar to 180x, only larger, obviously. For me, around 200x is where Saturn starts to become a pleasure to observe. 300x. A forced but sustainable view. The best view of Saturn I've ever experienced was at 400x with Binoviewers on a 200mm Dobsonian. Color and detail. I could almost touch it. The one I got today with the Mak 127 was the second best. Conclusion for now: The best grab-and-go telescope for viewing planets for me is the Mak 127. Although I haven't experimented with the reducer yet, which could make the Mak the most versatile and easy-to-use telescope on my SW AZ-GTI mount.

Decent telescope. Only issue is not being able to add the zwo eaf without a lot of different gadgets. But great for planets or planetary nebulae.

Arrived packed very good with no problems optically and all of the pieces shown. The only thing everyone should know is a duty tax needs to be paid which was around 26 dollars before the shipping company could deliver the scope. The pictures do show some problems that flocking I hope will clear up as light reflections do show up in images. Most can be taken out with image processes. Nice scope for the price.

I have owned this telescope for almost three months now. This is my second unit. The first one was out of collimation and impossible to collimate. I have collimated Maksutovs before. This one had some optical components alignment problems. It was sent back and two weeks later the second one arrived. As soon as it was removed from the box I heard a rattle. It was coming from a loose meniscus lens. The retaining ring had been left too far out. This could not be from transportation alone. I placed the telescope upright with the meniscus looking up, tapped on the sides to make sure that it was in its place on the cell and tightened the retaining ring just enough for a snug fit. Everything seemed alright. On first light I did a star test and again this unit was also out of collimation. This time I was able to properly collimated using a star at high power. After collimation an analysis of the in and out of focus star images showed no astigmatism or pinched optics but it was definitely showing more spherical aberration than it should. The in focus star image revealed a good Airy disc surrounded by a bright first diffraction ring but also secondary diffraction rings that were brighter than they should. In other words too much defocused light around the star indicating spherical aberration. Another reviewer placed defocused star images that show the problem. The planet Jupiter showed the atmospheric bands but I noticed a lack of crisp focus. This was under excellent seeing conditions with Jupiter at a high altitude in the sky. I live at 18 degrees north latitude. I carried on observations of Jupiter as long as I could until it was too low in the western sky. In all the observations the lack of crisp focus was there. On the moon the telescope did a good job but there was this lack of crisp focus that you expect in a Maksutov design, a telescope for the planets and moon. On double stars the optics were more forgiving but that fuzzy unfocused light was there. I own other Maksutovs that are more or less similar to this one in terms of cost and performance. Usually I can push them to a bit higher magnification than what is recommended and definition on extended objects like the planets and moon holds quite well. On the MK105 definition degraded rapidly when nearing the maximum recommended magnification of 200x with premium orthoscopic eyepieces. Regarding the telescope overall construction, it is excellent with a good solid metal structure and a very smooth focuser devoid of image shift. This is a big plus. Collimation screws are easily accessible and covered with a plastic plug. The meniscus lens dust cover is adequate but should fit more firmly. The dovetail is good enough for most mounts and the two finder or accessory mounts are very nice. For deep sky objects in which low power is usually utilized, the MK105 performs well but at f/14 this is a telescope primarily for planetary and lunar observations and imaging. With just a little more spherical aberration correction this telescope would be a champ among other 100-105mm Maks. This is my second sample of the MK105 but I am not the only one that has noticed the spherical aberration. I wrote SvBony about this and they mentioned passing this information to their optical technicians. All of my other SvBony products have shown superb quality. This is their first Maksutov design. I am sure that they will resolve this problem if they have not done so already. I have been in this hobby for 58 years and know my way around most types of telescopes.

Absolutely outstanding for planetary viewing and the Moon. Crisp clear views with fine focus knob. Quality build with good weight and optics. DO NOT HESITATE…….

MK105 is awesome! I use it for AP. I rigged an EAF, ASIAir Plus, 2” image train with ASI585MC Pro to my MK105. I put a 4” plumbing coupler as a dew shield from Home Depot.

No matter how hard you might try you will never get a new unit. This is Amazon product dumping. Completely out of collimation... Buyer beware.