The original Sharpstar 61EDPH doublet refractor was widely praised by astrophotgraphers who valued its superb optics and build quality. Building on the success of the 61EDPH, the 61EDPH II refractor introduces additional features and capabilities that meet the needs of serious astrophotographers seeking a premium instrument for wide-field imaging.

The 61EDPH II upgrades the original doublet objective of its predecessor with an air-spaced apochromatic triplet objective with one ED element. With a focal length of 335mm and a fast focal ratio of f/5.5, this fully multi-coated objective offers superb color correction and image sharpness in a highly compact design. The performance of the objective is enhanced by the internally-blackened aluminum optical tube that helps maximize image contrast. When the dew shield is retracted, the optical tube is just 235mm long.

The anodized tube rings and matching carrying handle and finderscope bracket offer a stylish and beautiful appearance. The handle includes slots and mounting holes for attaching accessories such as a guide scope. The 61EDPH II also includes a 10cm dovetail plate for mounting on a standard Vixen-style saddle on an equatorial mount. The dovetail plate also includes a mounting hole for attachment to a standard photo tripod.

The 61EDPH II is equipped with a medium 2.5″ dual-speed rack-and-pinion precision focuser. As a further upgrade from the 61EDPH, the focuser is fully rotatable by 360 degrees for ideal framing of targets on the camera sensor.

Unlike many telescopes at this fast f/5.5 focal ratio, the 61EDPH II accommodates a dedicated 0.8x focal reducer (select bundled offer), the same Sharpstar reducer used for the 61EDPH. The air-spaced triplet reducer brings the scope to a very fast focal ratio of f/4.5 and an effective focal length of 275mm with an image circle that supports full-frame cameras at a field of view of 7.5 degrees X 5.0 degrees. The 2.3″ reducer’s drawtube has female M63×1 thread that attaches to the telescope’s focuser while the other end includes an external male M48×0.75 thread for a camera to ensure the 55mm back focus requirement is satisfied. The back focus can be extended to 99mm by unthreading the back adapter of the reducer which gives access to another M63x1 thread to attaching to the focuser after you attach additional accessories such as a filter wheel. The reducer also includes a female M48x0.75 thread for attaching a filter and a mechanism to rotate the attached camera by 360 degrees.

With its premium color-corrected optics, this little scope also works well for grab-and-go visual observing (without the focal reducer) and includes a 1.25”-2” adapter for use with smaller diagonals and eyepieces.