Introducing the new Astro Engineering 0.6x 1.25" focal reducer at a special introductory price of only £23.99 inc UK P&P (list price £39.99 plus carriage)!

Assembled and finished in the UK with superb compound fully anti-reflection coated optics from Taiwan this 0.6x focal reducer has been designed to be used with a wide range of modern CCD cameras even works well with eyepieces. The lens has a female 1.25" eyepiece filter thread and can be attached to camera and eyepiece nose barrels to achieve a 40% increase in field of view. Basically the lens has the effect of reducing the focal length of the telescope by 40%.

Let's take the example of a telescope with a 1000mm focal length and simply multiply 1000 by 0.6.

E.g. 1000 x 0.6 = 600

So the telescope will now perform as though the focal length was only 600mm and will deliver a wide range of benefits for astrophotography use. The benefits include: faster focal ratio (leading to shorter imaging times and reduced image scale per pixel), wider field of view (leading to greatly improved target acquisition, composition and tracking). The shorter exposure times and apparently better tracking compounds to deliver better resolution.

This super quality dual element lens system features fully anti-reflection coating on all air-glass surfaces for increased contrast. And features a unique baffle designed to eliminate (albeit minor) edge of field problems reported in the commonly imported Chinese manufactured 1.25" focal reducers (when employed with DSLRs).

Supplied in a plastic storage case.

The exact degree of focal reduction achieved with any given set-up depends somewhat on the precise position of the FR relative to the imaging chip in the case of CCD cameras and the optics when used with eyepieces. Thus the judicious use of extension tubes and carefully positioned filters can squeeze a great deal of versatility out of these excellent quality observing and imaging aids with recommended focal reduction ranging from around 0.5x to x0.65x.