William Optics is renowned for its refractors, so it comes as no surprise that it takes just as much care over its finders.
This one was certainly a well-made bit of kit.
It has three added bonuses: a straight-through design with an erect image, a rubber eyecup for the eyepiece and illuminated crosshairs.
The latter is a real bonus, as on dark, Moonless nights, crosshairs can often be difficult to see.
Just as much thought has gone into the bracket, which you buy separately, costing £64.50.
It comprises two mounting rings on a solid base, and has two sets of three screws for adjustment.
The screws have plastic caps to prevent scratching the finderscope tube and the bracket base comes with its own fixing mount, making it a complete solution.
We found Castor and Pollux fitted snugly inside the 5° field of view.
This was pretty sharp almost all the way across, with just a slight trailing off towards the edges.
As for colour, Betelgeuse’s reddish hue stood out well.
Even with the lower magnification of 7x, Struve 747 could just be resolved and we got a glimpse of the Crab Nebula.
With a wide variety of objects within this finder’s grasp, it’s a worthy upgrade indeed.
Vital stats
- Price £85.00
- Aperture 50mm
- Finderscope Straight-through, erect image, illuminated
- Supplier Altair Astro
- Telephone 01263 731505
- Websitewww.altairastro.com
This review was first published in the March 2007 issue of Sky at Night Magazine.
