"Chuck" wrote in message et...
I wouldn't buy a short focal length achromat. If you truly want a short
focal length refractor for a reasonable price I would step up to ED glass
and buy the Orion 80mm ED giving up some light gathering for color
correction. Otherwise I would buy the Orion 120mm F8 refractor which has
been given very good reviews also. You might want to hold out for a bit
since the rumor is Synta (who makes the Orion refractors) is coming out with
100mm, 120mm and 150mm ED refractors to complement their 80mm ED refractor
(which Orion is selling like hotcakes ...)

Orion has now posted that their 80mm ED uses FPL 53, the finest of ED glasses. How they can produce this glass for such low prices is beyond me. It will be interesting to see if their larger refractors also use FPL 53.

Cheers,
Tom Mack