Customer Reviews

Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70 AZ Refractor Telescope

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have been a backyard stargazer for several years. My very nice 8" Dobsonian Reflector became too much to haul to darker skies away from light pollution, so I have been indoors on starry nights for a couple of years now. When a local camera shop was going out of business, they had a fabulous blow-out price on a Celestron AZ70 Refractor. I know two things about refractors 1) beware of flimsey tripods and 2) beware of extravagant claims of HIGH POWER. I first noticed intelligent power claims on the box (60X per aperture inch TOPS). The Celestron AZ70 suits all my needs. It's compact and light enough to transport easily, it has GREAT optics and a VERY macho tripod and Starfinder with a bright reticle which nailed Venus in 1 easy try right out of the box. Absolutely the best 50 bucks I ever spent and I would GLADLY recommend it to anyone for 4 times that price.

I bought this scope for my neighbor's kids as a Christmas present. They (along with their dad) had very little experience with telescopes, so I expected it would take some time (along with a little help from me) to get this scope up and running. I was wrong. The very night I gave it to them, they (actually, the dad) set it up and enjoyed looking at the moon with it. They didn't need me at all. In fact, I have yet to look through the scope myself. They tell me it's fantastic. It certainly struck me as a serious, well-made scope when we took it out of the box. The fact that it is so easy to use makes it a really great scope.

This is my and my wife's first venture with a telescope so we sought something that would not require a big investment; would not "jiggle or shake" if bumped when in use; would be easy to handle and transport by hand; and allowed us some recreational fun. This item is sturdy and easy to set up but lacks a couple of minor conveniences that could inexpensively been added by the manufacturer to enhance the user's enjoyment. Without detracting from our feelings that there is inherent value in this item to introduce the beginner (especially kids) to astronomy, the changes would be: (1) although the tripod is nice and firm with a locking mechanism, the removable little tray that one snaps inside the legs to hold some of the extras is not easy to put into place or remove; (2) there is insufficient guidance on how to best utilize the infrared eye piece that is battery powered and it is easy to overlook that this eyepiece battery is in the on positon when folding up and storing it and a dead battery will ensue; (3) there is not a protective cap for the 10mm or 20mm lens inserted into the eyepiece if you do not always want to have to remove and store them when not in use; and (4) a carrying case (cloth or plastic) for storage for a few bucks more would have been a nice addition...we're still searching for something suitable. Again, overall it was worth <$100 price paid but I would have been willing to add an extra $10 or $15 for the improvements mentioned above.

We bought this telescope as a birthday present for our 11 year old daughter. The tripod is very good for this price: very sturdy yet easy to point the telescope by unlocking the position and then tightening it at a new location with the knob on the arm.

We have seen the rings of Saturn (although small) and the kids love the details of the craters on the moon. The lighted finder scope seems to be more of a gimmick than actually useful, but maybe we just haven't figured out how to use it yet. Definitely worth the purchase.

I bought this telescope last Christmas for my family. I have one daughter, age 7. I did a lot of research around the Internet and this product appeared to be a good starter telescope at the right price. (Incidentally, I paid $69.99 on amazon just before Christmas last year, so clearly prices on electronics change as much as airfares!) We are VERY satisfied. It's perfect for families just beginning to explore the stars/planets/moon with their young ones. It also was easy to assemble. Those who've criticized the parts for being less than perfect are probably right -- but then again, they probably want to be buying a telescope in the $100-$200 range or higher. The parts are fine. Sturdy enough for family use. The tripod works well. We live in Northwest Ohio where our clearest nights tend to be early fall and during extremely cold January/February. So, indeed, our biggest challenge has been recognizing a clear night when we have one. If you're doing this for the first time, work toward finding the moon first. Once I was able to master getting the moon into view, I was able to work on trying to see a planet. Tonight we saw Jupiter and four of its moons! We even saw a ring around Jupiter. Seeing the stars is harder with this unit, though. But we are thrilled enough to see parts of our own solar system. The CD with the product is pretty good, too and can help you plan what part of the sky to look at, when the full moons are, etc. Very happy to recommend this product and thanks to those who wrote about it previously.

I have been using this telescope for about a year now and it never bores me.

You can easily watch the below celestial objects
-> Moon in a very high definition
-> Mars
-> Jupiter with jupiter's moons
-> Saturn
-> Venus
-> Orion Nebula
and many many objects.

Pros:
-> Very helpfull viewfinder
-> The First light software is very helpful
-> Sturdy design
-> The 90degree prism makes erect images
-> Very nice focal length

Cons:
-> Tripod is very very bad. The movement of the telescope up and down while tracking will be of a big challenge
The horizontal rotation is fine. But when u move up and down while u r watching through the eyepiece, it will become very difficult to track due to the spillover movement in the tripod's rotators. WHen u tight your telescope, it gets tight in a different position. With this tripod, it almost becomes impossible to tight the telescope exactly after tracking something. You fix it and the telescope will move and gets fixed somewhere where u can see only blank sky. For such a company like celestron, this tripod is a black mark.

-> Heavy vibration on the tripods. The nuts and bolts and joints starts sounding unusually after some days of usage.
If you plan to buy this, better buy it along with vibration suppression pads or else it will not be fruitful in long term

From a telescope perspective, this is a very nice investment for a beginer to intermediate astronomers. You will enjoy the fun of it when you see it in refractors.

My suggestion to celestron is to fix these tripods to avoid frustration on these nice telescopes. The goodwill of telescope is lost because of the bad quality tripod.

Overall, this is a product I am enjoying every day. Please be very choosy between reflectors and refractors. And please dont see sun using this. Even with a solar filter, i suggest NO. Refractors get in a lot of light focus which sometimes makes the UV rays even come out of solar filters.

Nice product except for the Irritating Tripod. :)

The celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70 AZ was a great choice for a first refreactor telescope. It has a very sturdy base and easy to use. The magnification lenses are of good quality.

Bought this has my first telescope, not knowing if i would really get into amateur astronomy. Gotta say it served me well for what i paid for. Star pointer can be something of an hassle, but once it is fine tuned it can be really useful. The biggest disapointment is the tripod. It is definetely made for children. I'm 5"9 and i always had to bend over to look at stars. Rough on my back. Solve the problem by mounting it on my camera tripod without any problems, cause it has the screw holes to do it. Overall good enough for star watching and really good for the wallet.

I bought this scope as a Christmas gift for 3 children ages 8 to 12. Not only do they love but Mom & Dad enjoy it too. I also bought them each a "star" (Shining Stars by Russ) to name and they really get a kick out of looking at their very own stars!

I bought this for my 13 year old daughter for Christmas because she loves science. I didn't have a lot to spend, but still wanted something nicer then what you would get out of a kit.I was shocked at the quality of the telescope. I felt as if someone made a mistake, I paid 60 bucks and it's worth so much more. She loves it, I love it, one purchase I will not regret.