Customer Reviews

CELESTRON Powerseeker 50 Refractor Telescope

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

[...] Originally I got it for myself, and once it came I proceeded to open it up and put it through it's paces.

It came with a few different lens atachments with varying degrees of magnification. I used the first lens to look down a long street and could clearly read the street sign and people's licenses plates over on the next street.

I used the next lens atachment, and I could see even further down that street and pick up details in the grout of their brickwork.

Once nightfall hit, I used the 3rd and most powerful lens in combination with the 3x barlow lens, and was lucky enough to have a full moon that night. The detail available in the moon was really incredible. I could see many craters and holes and different peaks and vallys, it really made me form a closer connection with our moon. Yes you can look at pictures, and some take with far more powerful zoom... but actually beholding it with your own eyes personally is a completely different experience, it's a little tough to understand unless you've actually done that yourself.

Anyways, I live in the city and there's not much to look at other than other people's houses, and since I'm not a peeping tom / voyeur, or some kind of spy, I decided to pack this up and send it to my mother as a gift. She lives in Florida on a lakefront, and she has a very nice view across a very large lake. So she can watch wildlife, and there is much less city lights in her area so even celestial viewing I'm sure would be better.

She called me and was very excited to receive this out of the blue, she didn't mind that I had already used it. I figured she would get much more use out of this than I could.

The included tripod isn't anything fantastic, but it gets the job done. Since it's lightweight and inexpensive, it does tend to move around, so you have to be careful when useing the really powerful lens because a small shake or shift will cause you to lose your target. At least it comes with a tripod at all.

It also comes with a 3x barlow lens that I mentioned, which will triple the magnification power of each individual lens, which can make for some pretty powerful magnification.

The included software seems powerful, I installed it, but didn't have much of a chance to mess around with it much, but it contains a mind boggling amount of information about celestial objects. The learning curve of the software seemed somewhat steep for newbies, but with some studious application of wit, I'm sure almost any novice could conquer it.

Overall, I would recommend this telescope to a beginner, as it can open up a world of astronomy for them, and if nothing else, they will have a nice little toy to do some casual moon gazing or wildlife viewing.

You can't beat the price on this simple beginner telescope. And the Celestron company has an impeccable reputation. The optics of this scope are excellent and that counts for a lot. The mount is a bit shaky where the scope attaches to the tripod but the tripod itself is sturdy.So I recommend you use this on stable ground, not on a deck.
Viewing through it is pretty good. I can see good definition of craters on the moon, the mid band of jupiter and the jovian satellites. Some of the more popular night sky objects such as m13 and m31 are also pretty well viewed.
Good gift for a child and a good value. WIth something like this though you have to get yourself a book too. You don't want to just take it outside and start looking around. There are a lot of things out there and you need a map or book to tell you where they are.

I purchased this telescope for my 11 year old son and he loves it! It's a great starter telescope for the beginner.

After purching this telescope for myself, I was so pleased with it that I bought 4 more for my grandchildren, ages 10 through 18 for Christmas this year.
I liked that it came with additional lens, which I didn't expect.
Also, the CD's that came with my telescope are the best I've seen.
Thank you for an excellect telescope and price.

I bought this telescope for my niece as a Xmas present. I was a little nervous, but the telescope was successful. She is 11 years old so the telescope was perfect for her. Although,it seemed like the only thing she could see were details of the moon, but that may have been due to the foggy night. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop using it. Overall it was a good buy. She was very happy.

This scope has too many deficiencies to even mention in detail: it is too small a light gathering instrument, and has an inexpensive (poor) mount that vibrates excessively when touched. Consider instead something that has more light gathering power (a larger diameter lens), and a scope that comes with a sturdy adjustable mount. This scope will perhaps show the brighter objects to advantage, such as the moon, but dimmer objects need more light, and this scope is just too small. The mount needs to be sturdy and adjustable (look for an equatorial mount with touch-turn controls). If the mount is shaky and vibrates excessively when touched, it spoils your view of the object.

This scope and mount, less than 50 dollars, cannot be considered anything more than a toy. If you really want to get a starter scope, don't look here. Consider a greater investment in a more quality instrument. Even if the budding astronomer loses interest, the scope, if it is of quality design, will have a greater resale value, or will make a nice gift to someone else.

Having witnessed this scope in action, my advice is to avoid it, unless you are just buying an expensive toy. It is not a serious entry-level instrument.

konedog

My daughter is very happy with her telescope. It is better than I expected for the price. Low dollar microscopes have been a disappointment. This telescope seems up to any amateur astronomy task.

I have never owned, nor have I ever looked into a telescope before, So this was my first time attempting to operate one. It was GREAT!! I had to learn how to use the lenses, but once I did, I was in such awe of how clear this Telescope showed the moon. But not just the clarity, but the detail I could see on the surface! My 14 year old son, who was also able use this scope with ease was in amazement of how good this instrument worked! I read the reviews first, and weighed the options, and am so happy,that I didn't listen to the negative comments about this particular Telescope, and concentrated on the good ones, because they were correct! I consider this purchase a steal, because I'm not easily wowed, and this thing WOWED me!! I think this a GREAT starter telescope, because it is inexpensive, but the end results, and the experience is priceless, and will not disappoint you!

Its a pretty good telescope. Especially for the beginner. Its lightweight so we take it outside at night. You get different lenses for the moon or just cows up on our hill. Not bad!

First let me preface this review by saying I have never owned a telescope in my life. We bought this thinking it would be a good starter telescope but I'm on the fence about it.

- It's really wobbly. The other reviews were right about the tripod of this, it's cheap and sorta loose. There is no way to lock a certain position. One tiny bump and you just lost what you were looking at.
- The sight scope is well out of alignment and almost useless when trying to find something. I need to figure out if there is a way to align it.
- The telescope is really light, so even a slight wind makes stars bounce all around.
- I can't get the magnification lenses to do anything. If I find a star and then switch to the magnification lens, I lose the star completely.

Perhaps I am expecting too much out of a telescope, especially one this inexpensive. It is a hit, we like to play with it all the time, but it seems like I should have spent a bit more to get a better one.