Celestron 21035-ADS Travel Scope 70 Refractor Telescope Kit with Backpack, Black (Amazon Exclusive Including Additional 4mm Eyepiece and 3x Barlow Lens)

OK, let's get this straight; this is not an astronomical telescope per se, yet you can do some astronomical observations with it with care. But if you are after a purely astronomical telescope then you had better look at Celestron's other more dedicated astronomical telescopes rather than this one. This is a scope that is intended that you can sling over your back, use as a spotting scope for bird watching, terrestrial scenic views & some night time astronomical use. So if it is a multi-use scope that you require then this is more for you. And for the price you pay for this then even with the rather poor tripod that comes with it that makes night time astronomy a little tricky, you still get a great versatile scope that will cope with most daylight viewing well, and with some care also night time viewing too. So, let's get down to brass tacks; the weakness of this scope lies in the tripod. As it has to be small & light to fit into the supplied backpack then I knew when I bought this scope that for my nocturnal astronomical forays that it wasn't going to cut the mustard much. Hence, when I use it for observing any of the planets or the moon I use a more robust camera tripod that I used to use for my old (now defunct) SLR camera. This makes moving the scope around a much smoother operation, and more sturdy too. The supplied tripod will work OK'ish, but you have to be a little more careful & precise when aligning it up to a planet, star or satellite. For day time viewing the supplied tripod would suffice for most occasions as you could keep the tripod as low as possible to the ground & sit on the ground or a small chair to use it. The fixing to use any other tripod with the scope is the standard camera fitting, so fitting the scope on any other tripod is simple. You could of course buy an equatorial mount to fix the scope too if you wanted the best mount for it for astronomical use, but this would set you back quite a bit & also makes the system less portable. Equatorial mounts take some setting up, and to be honest if you were going to pay the price for a mount like that you would most likely also go for a dedicated astronomical telescope too. The lenses supplied with the scope (4mm,10mm & 20mm) give good magnification. As I mostly use this scope for astronomical purposes this gives me good views of the moon, most of the planets (the gas giants Uranus, Neptune & demoted ex-planet Pluto are out of range really with this small scope). Saturn looks great as ever through the scope, especially with the rings open wide; Jupiter & its Galilean moons are a jewel; Mars at closest approach to Earth is good; Venus really doesn't show too much except its phases & the same with Mercury too accept smaller & harder to spot closer in to the sun. The 45 degree viewing prism makes observation with the lenses easy, except when trying to view anything close to zenith. This is always a hard thing to do with the kind of tripod used, even with a sturdier camera tripod as well. The 3 x Barlow lens is a little too much for this scope; a 2 x Barlow lens I think would suit it better, especially for astronomy. For daylight viewing it is more suited, but remember the higher up the viewing magnification you go the less bright the view through the scope is going to be, so that is why unless you use it to view the moon then you are not going to see much with it at night time; coupled with the fact that the tripod (whether the supplied one or a camera one) will not give you the fine control that you need to zoom in on these high magnifications on any objects you are trying to view. The finder scope is a little tricky to set up, so if you intend to do any night time viewing then it is best (if possible) to set this up in the daytime on a stationary distant object, rather than trying to do it at night on a slow moving star or planet. The quality of the scope itself is good, given the price range. I can view M31 quite easily through it on a clear night in the city, so if you have great dark skies where you live then it & a few other galaxies should be quite easy to spot too with this scope. I can pick out quite a few globular & open star clusters with the scope, & of course Orion's nebula is wonderful to view as well through the scope. The view through the scope is normal as we see it, so remember that that if you do decide to go for a dedicated astronomical telescope this may not always be so, hence making terrestrial use of any astronomical telescope annoying in the fact that the view may be inverted. I have had this scope now for nearly six months. I have owned much more expensive & more technical telescopes than this, yet strangely I get more reward & fun out of using this scope for things rather than the more expensive ones. Unless you intend to spend some serious time on astronomy (when the weather permits in the UK at least) then like me you may find that this small scope is all you need. Even at the low price you pay for this scope you still get a large amount of satisfaction from any views from it. And if the worst should happen & you drop or damage it, then you haven't lost too much money on it. Now could you say the same for any serious astronomical telescope? Methinks not!

You wouldn't imagine a scope so cheap could be worth it, but this scope isn't only good, it's damned good, and seems very well built. Firstly, it is so light that fully packed in its strong rucksac I can hold up the whole caboodle with only my little finger. The supplied lenses are also excellent and give a nice sharp view of the Orion Nebula, I can also see some of Jupiter's moons. As for our moon I can zoom in to clearly view individual craters, though the supplied Barlow lens is dreadful, and so well worth buying a better one. I also take the scope out on my mobility scooter for very clear views of boats far out at sea, it's also great for bird watching as the field of view is wider than expected. Another great feature is the free astronomy software. I'm just an occasional amateur but the program is so easy to use and prints out a very nice, and yet fully customizable localized star map for any date of the year. I also highly recommend searching for the free download intro version of Stellarium. I knocked off one star because others are right, the supplied tripod is rather unsteady, I experience much better use of the scope with a proper camera tripod.

This little telescope is a real gem, perfect for bird watching and much more versatile than a spotting scope. It is very well made, metal body, good optics. The finder scope is frankly a bit naff but not really needed for terrestrial viewing, if you intend to use the scope for astronomical viewing you may need to upgrade it. The tripod is on a par with almost any light weight tripod, again you may need something heavier for astronomical use, but i have no real complaints. The eyepieces are exactly what you would expect with a basic telescope, the 20mm and 10mm EPs are perfectly useable, however the 'freebies' ie the 4mm EP and the 3x Barlow are pretty much unusable. I cannot comment on the software as it will not run on my computer ( Win XP ). The rucksack is a very nice addition, plenty of room for scope, tripod and all your accessories. Overall i think this little scope is an absolute bargain, for £50 there is really nothing to criticize. p.s. filters screw into the BOTTOM of the eyepieces, hope this helps.

Very brief initial thoughts (much the same as many of the other reviews really!): Useless tripod - don't even bother, buy another one (I use a cheap camera tripod which is much better) Finder scope feels cheap (plastic) and reverses the image compared to the image in the main scope, which shows image the correct way - this takes a little getting used to when lining up objects. 3x Barlow - completely unusable - none of the supplied lenses will focus with the barlow (in my experience and from what other reviewers have said). Having said that, the actual scope itself is great and well worth 5 stars. I've only used it a couple of times so far to look at the Moon and Saturn (very small even at max magnification, but you can just make out the rings), but it seems and ideal starter scope. The quality of the image is great and gives a clear view of the Moons craters and it's really simple/quick to get set up.

I bought this telescope in 2015 when it cost £39.00 for the "Amazon exclusive" version, I'm writing this review in 2020 when it costs £79.99 or £89.99 "Amazon exclusive". The difference is that you get an additional 4mm eyepiece and a 3x barlow, in my opinion they are not worth paying extra for, being of such poor quality as to be pretty much useless. [11/2022 Edit: at £80 in the Black Friday Sale and given how much prices have risen since 2020 this bundle is a better buy] I bought this telescope to replace a better one that had been damaged. I had been quite enthusiastic about astronomy in the past, but my interest had waned somewhat, so I just wanted a simple affordable telescope, that I could use occasionally with my existing accessories. The best part of this kit is the OTA (optical tube assembly: the actual telescope itself). There is a bit too much plastic for my liking, but it does the job when used with a solid mount and a decent eyepiece. I would describe the optical quality as reasonable for a budget scope, not great, not awful. The 45 degree diagonal is also of reasonably good quality, and is great if you want to use this as a spotting scope. I prefer a 90 degree diagonal for astronomy. The bag this comes in is also decent, made of a cordura type material and lightly padded. Now for the not so good, the eyepieces let the scope down, the 20mm is better than the 10mm, neither are good. The tripod is not bad in and of itself, it is a perfectly reasonable, cheap, lightweight tripod, that works well with small and light cameras. The problem is that it is hopelessly mismatched with this telescope, which needs something a good deal sturdier, putting the two together is absurd. The worst part of this kit is the finderscope, it is cheap, nasty, and mine went in the bin. So would I recommend this kit? Not at £80-90, at a discount though it might be worth it. The thing to bear in mind is that to get the best from this telescope you will need to replace much of the kit with better items. That wasn't a problem for me as I've used this with a red dot finder, proper astronomy mounts, and a range of eyepieces I already had. So if you are an astronomer looking for a "grab and go" scope or just a budget short tube refractor then, at the right price, this might fit the bill. For beginners though you should be aware that you will need, at a minimum, a better mount and a decent eyepiece, and ideally a better finder too. A sturdy photographic tripod should suffice for mounting, but few non-astronomers are likely to have eyepieces and finders just knocking around. This means that to get the best from this telescope you will end up having to spend more money, and that in turn means that it may be worth considering kits that cost a bit more but include everything you need. As an example the Skywatcher Startravel 80 Telescope with Stable AZ3 Stand and Accessories is a slightly better telescope and includes 2 plossl eyepieces, a red dot finder, and a proper astronomy tripod and mount for an extra £80-90[11/2022 Edit: The price difference has increased], which you could easily spend on buying all that separately. Also consider the Skywatcher Heritage 100P very different as a reflector on a Dobsonian type mount, but only £10-20 more, and often recommended for beginners. I have never installed the astronomy software included with this scope as I am happy using the, free and open source, Stellarium. As a spotting scope this does the job, again with a better eypiece and tripod, but my Kowa is smaller lighter and sharper (and cost 3x as much).

I can not recommend this telescope enough. It is my favorite scope. I have one other astronomical telescope, a 6" reflector which is good and gives me some wonderful views of the planets but it is very heavy and hard to transport with out a car. The Celestron travel scope 70 is designed with traveling in mind while offering exceptional value and performance. The Travel Scope is made of the highest quality materials to ensure durability. All this adds up to a telescope that gives you a lifetime of pleasure with a minimal amount of maintenance. Featuring a compact and portable design with ample optical performance, the Travel Scope is ideal for terrestrial as well as astronomical observation.The eyepieces that come with this scope are very good to. I have had some stunning views of the moon, Jupiter and its moons, two at least, and Saturn and in the day some great views of wildlife. I can not rate this telescope enough, it is Brill! A good telescope is one that you use the most and I use this scope almost everyday. I rate it for value and performance and give this scope 100% Another thing that I would recommend is a moon filter, these are small filters that screw onto the standard eyepiece to reduce the brightness of the moon.

This is both really good as a beginners telescope that you can take out into the country to set up quickly to do a bit of stargazing away from the light rich environments of the city. It comes complete with tripod, scope, mounting bracket and eyepieces (more than detailed in the product description), all contained within a small backpack.Or, alternatively, you can use it as a spotting scope and do some birdwatching with it. Also in the pack are a basic manual and two CD's; one of which, SkyX, allows you to print off skymaps and access other resources. For the money this is a very good scope, with emphasis on - 'for the money'. This would suit if you've an enthusiastic child (or as in my case) a grandchild, who wants to do a bit of stargazing and you don't want to spend a fortune (in case it's a flash in the pan hobby) but you still want a decent scope to see clearly most of the planets and other objects in the night sky. If you don't want to use it for stargazing it's also a very good spotter scope and would find use in twitching or plane spotting. I was lucky and got this on a lightening deal at £50 and I really do think I got a really good scope on a really good deal. I can't fault it for the price.

First off let me say that I am an experienced Astronomer with decades of experience so I know what I am talking about. I have a lot of telescopes from a big 8 inch Dob to this little scope the smallest of my scopes. I wanted a high quality ultra portable telescope I could take out on a motorbike and to take camping etc that could offer good views by day and good performance under the stars and this little marvel exceeded all my expectations. The scope comes packed in an attractive box covered in lovely pictures that makes for one exciting present if given as a gift. Inside the box is the backpack with everything well packed inside. The instruction manual is very detailed a virtual book of useful information. It comes with a download code for some advanced free Astronomy software too. The backpack is lovely, well padded and comfortable to wear on your back and the whole kit weighs virtually nothing so it really is the ultimate go anywhere scope, you could easily climb a mountain with this little gem on your back. I would recommend you retain the bubble wrap for the scope that it comes in as when packed in the rucksack there is a chance the scope could knock against the tripod. The scope is assembled in about 2 minutes and ready to use. The scope itself is very attractive and very well made indeed. It is finished in a metallic black that does not show in photos on here. It has a very short dew shield which cuts down on the scopes size but still does its job well of keeping the objective lens clear on the dampest of nights. The main body of the scope seems to be aluminium and the draw tube is metal, it is all very well designed for stregnth and durability yet light and portable, its perfect. The quality of the 70mm objective lens is simply astounding and I would say as good as it gets for an achromatic scope, its well coated for light transmission and is an air spaced doublet so false colour is well controlled. The version I purchased and the one to go for was the 70mm amazon special which comes with everything you need. It comes with 3 eyepieces 20mm, 10mm and 4mm and 3x barlow lens. I was very impressed with the performance of all 3 eyepieces with regards to image quality, very impressive indeed however the only thing is the 10mm although giving excellent performance does have a somewhat slightly narrow field of view and the 4mm has a very narrow field of view yet the 20mm has a very wide field of view indeed, if you can live with that though all eyepieces are as good as you could get with regards to detailed sharp images. The barlow is a total let down its a cheap plastic thing and i could not even get it to focus but the 3 eyepieces on their own provide ample power for a scope of this size and if you want more power remembering 150x is a good max then a good barlow is cheap to buy. The other bad point about the scope is the finder scope which is awful. It is impossible to align perfectly and wont focus properley but despite this it just about does the job of locating things in the night sky which is the important thing. Everyone criticises the tripod saying it is flimsy and wobbly, i both agree and disagree with this. It is very flimsy and so light it could easily blow over in a strong breeze and will make the image wobble in a strong breeze too but i personally think its well designed for the purpose as its just strong enough to hold the scope and just high enough to use but so light it weighs nothing therfor perfect for travelling, the scope has a dovetail mount for special astro mounts but also has a tripod bush so my advice is invest in a camera tripod from Amazon about £30 for using the scope in the garden for better stability but when travelling the little tripod included will just about do the job. SO how does it perform on land and under the stars? I live near a mountain about 8 miles away and this little scope astounded me, I was amazed to observe in breathtaking detail and clarity cows grazing in a field, astounding given the distance, image quality is simply amazing. This has been my only session in the day so far but I have already used it at night many times. Turning the scope to the Orion Nebula I was truely astounded as the scope showed the complete fan shape of the nebular and the great rift in extraordinary detail, Andromeda galaxy was also amazing clearly showing the nucleous and nebulous spiral structure, I tested it on some really hard to see star clusters in a scope of this size yet this little wonder scope resolved them all into individual stars. Images are simply breathtaking, really sharp with exceptional contrast. This little scope has magnificent optics. The moon will take your breath away, whilst always good in any scope there was a lot of fine detail visible through this scope that was lost in other scopes of this size. I actually tested this scope side by side with a larger 80mm scope I have and I was truely suprised to find the views through the smaller Travelscope actually being superior. I absolutely love this little scope and its one of the best scopes I have ever owned. It really is a little marvel. For the money its a steal. Ultimate optical performance, ultimate portability. Gives amazing results by day and night. I find myself using this scope far more often than my larger ones as its so easy to move around and set up and despite its small size it still gives lovely views of the universe that will simply take your breath away. Well done Celestron.

Goede telescoop voor dit bedrag. Jammer dat de finderscope vrijwel nutteloos is.

Very good quality easy assembly in 10 minutes first time and a bit hard to focus on the stars but perfect for the moon. Thank you I’m searching for a mobile holder to take photo

Teşekkürler

Pour un premier télescope amateur pour ma fille de 10 ans (et pour moi du coup), c'est pas mal pour le prix. Evidemment ce n'est que du plastique, donc pas très rigide et du coup c'est très compliqué à régler car dès qu'on l'effleure il bouge, il gagnerait à avoir un trépied de meilleure qualité, là il est très cheap et on a peur de le casser (je verrai çà plus tard, mais ce serait intéressant de savoir si çà l'améliore). Vu la difficulté à le régler, surtout avec un fort grossissement, il faut absolument aider l'enfant pour le réglage, sans quoi il se décourage. C'est très bien pour regarder la lune par exemple, on voit bien sa surface, et elle est assez grosse pour réussir à faire la mise au point. En revanche pointer une planète ou une étoile est trop compliqué, çà bouge de trop, dès qu'on le touche on le dérègle, et on fini par perdre patience. On a testé une seule fois a recherche d'animaux sauvage en lisière de forêt, mais là encore, difficile car il faudrait pouvoir scruter sans tout dérégler, et c'est compliqué. J'avais hésité avec un modèle avec support de téléphone, je trouvais à un peu gadget à 10 ans, mais finalement je regrette, car la lune c'est vraiment superbe à prendre en photo. Le petit plus, c'est vraiment le sac de transport. On pourrait croire que c'est gadget, mais ma fille le range bien dedans, et le sac à dos, nous permet de faire des sorties en vélo avec pour s'installer où on veut, même en forêt. Il y a aussi un lien vers l'appli de la marque, pour repérer planètes, comètes, constellations etc dans le ciel, c'est très sympa car on peut décider avant de sortir ce qu'on va chercher dans le ciel (on utilise ce téléscope dans notre cour ou en rase campagne dans un champ en hauteur). Ce n'est pas une carte figée, mais du temps réel avec boussole, on peut voir uniquement ce qui est visible à l'heure qu'il est, on peut faire une recherche par nom etc ... Pour moins de 10 ans, çà me semble trop juste.

EDITO DESPUÉS DE UN MES: Bueno, pues después de darle un poco más de caña voy a subirle a 5 estrellas y os explico por qué (la reseña original está abajo y sigue vigente). Después de comprarle un trípode Victic de 185cm. (35€), cambiar la angular de 45º por una de 90º y usar unos oculares Kellner que tenía por casa, estoy disfrutando del telescopio como un enano. El telescopio es súper luminoso y ya solo el cambio de la mira angular a 90º ha mejorado una barbaridad. Los oculares Kellner que le he puesto mejoran un poquito (son muy normaluchos) pero es que la óptica de este pequeño telescopio me sorprende por lo claro que se ve hasta con contaminación lumínica y cielos mediocres. Hablo siempre de luna y planetaria, ojo, estoy esperando recibir un ploss de 32mm. para ver si se le puede sacar algo a cielo profundo. Y todo esto se combina con su pequeño tamaño y su preparación en unos pocos minutos. En sacarlo de la mochila, plantar el trípode, poner el ocular y mirar se tarda taaan poco que lo hace muy disfrutable incluso desde cualquier ventana o balcón. En conclusión SI NUNCA HAS TENIDO UN TELESCOPIO os lo aconsejo totalmente. Este aúna buena óptica, pequeño tamaño y facilidad de montaje. Con lo que viene se puede funcionar fantásticamente para Luna y en cuanto le pilléis el tranquillo al trípode, podréis ver perfectamente a Júpiter y Saturno aunque estos últimos mejorarán en cambiar de trípode. La mira angular de 45º también deberéis cambiarla en poder porque lo hace más luminoso todavía. Para finalizar, añado un par de fotos de la Luna con el telescopio y el ocular de 20mm. La primera directa, sin tratar y la segunda obtenido por apilamiento de imágenes tras grabarla unos segundos con el móvil -------------------------------- RESEÑA ORIGINAL: Empezaré comentando que es mi segundo telescopio tras un fantástico Skywatcher Evostar 90/900 con montura AZ3. En una reciente oferta de Amazon, compré este Celestron Travelscope 70 a un precio de 69€. Quería algo pequeño para llevarme a mis viajes y acampadas ya que el Skywatcher es demasiado grande y, aunque me da menos follón que mis hijas, tampoco es cuestión de hacer ese cambio :P Os voy a dar mis primeras impresiones. Empiezo con lo bueno. Al abrirlo me ha sorprendido lo ligero que es. Todo el contenido va dentro de una mochila de unos 40-45 cm. de alto. Además del buscador y el trípode, viene un codo de 45º, tres oculares (20, 10 y 4 mm.) y una Barlow x3. Anoche con buena visibildad o 'seeing', pude probarlo durante un rato para observación de Luna y planetaria. Con los oculares de 20 (20 aumentos) y de 10 mm. (40 aumentos) se veía perfectamente los cráteres de la periferia y el astro lunar claro y nítido. Por desgracia estamos en luna llena y no llevaba ningún filtro lunar, algo que probaré estos días. Para resolverlo,, la tapa delantera tiene una abertura más pequeña que le quita mucha de la luz reflejada así que pude observarla durante un rato razonablemente bien. Con 4mm. (100 aumentos) y con la Barlow x3 acopladas a las otras lentes no conseguí ver nada, por falta de enfoque o por demasiados aumentos. Tampoco insistí mucho, mi objetivo era dar una prueba rápida a los componentes y ya volveré a probarlo con más detenimiento y también de día. Aprovechando que tenía cerca a Saturno, lo enfoqué con las tres lentes. En todos los casos la observación fue muy bien. Se distinguía claramente y perfectamente enfocado el planeta y su anillo. Por desgracia el brillo no me permitió apreciar detalles en el planeta, a ver si a la próxima con filtro consigo algo más. La barlow x3 no la probé en este caso. Objetos de cielo profundo no he probado a observar todavía. Y ahora, lo no tan bueno: El trípode sin duda se lleva la palma. A ver, no es un drama. Para observación lunar con la lente de 20 o incluso 10 mm., se puede manejar con cuidado para centrar y disfrutar nuestro satélite, pero poco más. Para planetaria, elementos más pequeños o que requieran de mayores aumentos, nos complica mucho la vida. El telescopio queda bien fijado, pero el trípode es poco estable en cuanto a vibraciones y con solo tocar el ojo con la lente ya se produce una vibración bastante molesta. Eso hace que tanto centrar como enfocar elementos en los que necesitas cierta precisión, sea complicado. Tampoco ayuda que su altura sea de 120-130 cm., lo que hace que tengamos que estar continuamente agachados o inclinados, con el consecuente malestar en la espalda tras un corto rato. El buscador incorporado hace su función, sin más. Al final también queda limitado por el movimiento del trípode. Por otro lado, se agradece la incorporación del codo de 45% que corrige la inversión de la imagen, aunque no resulta cómodo del todo por la medida del trípode. Las lentes están bien para empezar, con el tiempo seguro que os pica el gusanillo. Se puede mejorar, por ejemplo, cambiando el codo a uno de 90º más luminoso, metiéndole un ocular ultra gran angular 6mm. 66º, otro de 32mm. o incluso cambiando el de 20mm. por otro mejor, pero bueno, eso ya son caprichos que cuestan dinero y hay que valorar si invertir en este o tirar por otro telescopio. CONCLUSIÓN. Lo primero es recordar el precio que me ha costado: 69€. ¿Por qué? Pues porque a ese precio me parece un muy buen telescopio para empezar si no has tenido nunca otro. Trae todo lo necesario para abrir, montar en 5 minutos y disfrutar donde queráis por su portabilidad (se me ha olvidado comentaros que también viene una licencia de un programa de astronomía para PC) y el tubo trae una buena óptica. Esta versión de Amazon trae bastantes lentes y mochila y, aunque ya sé que estas "chuches" suelen ser de mala calidad y excusas para subir precios, como he dicho, la óptica del telescopio es bastante buena. Lo malo es que en cuanto hagáis unas cuantas salidas vais a notar la necesidad de mejorar el trípode (con unos Joilcan o Victiv de 180 cm. por unos 35€ ya ganáis una barbaridad). Y ahí viene mi conclusión: si lo pilláis de oferta es buen cacharro para empezar siempre y cuando tengáis en mente más temprano que tarde comprarle un trípode mejor. A su precio "normal" de 120-130 euros iguales renta buscar otras opciones mejores con un trípode si puede ser con mandos de movimiento lento. No creo que exista mejor que este en relación calidad/precio/portabilidad, pero ya en precios de cerca de 150 euros puedes encontrar mejores alternativas de calidad. (buscad por ahí que hay buenos foros con guías de compras). Y si tras un tiempo de uso os pica el gusanillo de entrar en este apasionante mundo y os animáis a comprar algo mejor, seguro que a este le vais a seguir dándole uso para darle batalla con niños y llevarlo de viaje. Bueno, pues eso es todo. Espero que os haya sido de utilidad mis impresiones. Un saludote. PD. Aunque no hacen justicia porque están tomadas "malamente" con el móvil a pulso delante del ocular, os dejo un par de fotos de la luna con los oculares de 20 y de 10.