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  • Camera companies should start building telescopes

    From RichA@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jul 24 02:30:19 2022
    Why? Some used to, most notably Nikon and Pentax. In-fact Ricoh-Pentax stopped making telescopes not that long ago, selling the patents to Vixen, a telescope maker in Japan. But I've seen other companies add things to their portfolios that produced
    add-on sales that while not large, fit in with their product expertise. Nikon and Pentax already produce telescope eyepieces, an offshoot from their hunting and sports optics lines. Camera companies as camera makers and sellers are at a nadir in their
    existences, with camera sales very depressed compared to 10 years ago. There really is no reason why they couldn't begin entering the middle-to-upper tier of the telescope market now dominated by America, a few Japanese and (prior to the war) one
    Russian company. The hobby of amateur astronomy is growing, probably owing to the growth in space exploration, which is what drove growth in the 50's and 60's. Additionally, the "boomer" retirement boom also generated a lot of sales for scope companies
    and the next generation is headed to retirement now. While the Chinese have entered the market at the low and mid-end, there is still room for more makers, for the telescopes, mounts, filters, digital cameras, etc. Especially now scarcities in supply
    are major with deliveries on new, formerly mass-produced and easily-obtained scopes stretching out for a year or more. High-end scopes take even longer to acquire.

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  • From Whisky-dave@21:1/5 to RichA on Mon Jul 25 06:35:03 2022
    On Sunday, 24 July 2022 at 10:30:21 UTC+1, RichA wrote:
    Why? Some used to, most notably Nikon and Pentax. In-fact Ricoh-Pentax stopped making telescopes not that long ago, selling the patents to Vixen, a telescope maker in Japan. But I've seen other companies add things to their portfolios that produced add-
    on sales that while not large, fit in with their product expertise. Nikon and Pentax already produce telescope eyepieces, an offshoot from their hunting and sports optics lines. Camera companies as camera makers and sellers are at a nadir in their
    existences, with camera sales very depressed compared to 10 years ago. There really is no reason why they couldn't begin entering the middle-to-upper tier of the telescope market now dominated by America, a few Japanese and (prior to the war) one Russian
    company. The hobby of amateur astronomy is growing, probably owing to the growth in space exploration, which is what drove growth in the 50's and 60's. Additionally, the "boomer" retirement boom also generated a lot of sales for scope companies and the
    next generation is headed to retirement now. While the Chinese have entered the market at the low and mid-end, there is still room for more makers, for the telescopes, mounts, filters, digital cameras, etc. Especially now scarcities in supply are major
    with deliveries on new, formerly mass-produced and easily-obtained scopes stretching out for a year or more. High-end scopes take even longer to acquire.

    Maybe it;s a bit like buying a really highend lens or camera not that many people want one or afford one, and when it comes to astronomy you are limted by where you live and the weather.
    I'm thinking of buying one but a high end one wouldn't be of much use due to light pollution and weather in London UK.

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  • From David Taylor@21:1/5 to Whisky-dave on Mon Jul 25 14:47:44 2022
    On 25/07/2022 14:35, Whisky-dave wrote:
    Maybe it;s a bit like buying a really highend lens or camera not that many people want one or afford one, and when it comes to astronomy you are limted by where you live and the weather.
    I'm thinking of buying one but a high end one wouldn't be of much use due to light pollution and weather in London UK.

    Same in Edinburgh. Different if you can get out into the countryside, but from the back garden, no.

    --
    Cheers,
    David
    Web: https://www.satsignal.eu

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  • From RichA@21:1/5 to David Taylor on Wed Jul 27 20:23:43 2022
    On Monday, 25 July 2022 at 09:47:50 UTC-4, David Taylor wrote:
    On 25/07/2022 14:35, Whisky-dave wrote:
    Maybe it;s a bit like buying a really highend lens or camera not that many people want one or afford one, and when it comes to astronomy you are limted by where you live and the weather.
    I'm thinking of buying one but a high end one wouldn't be of much use due to light pollution and weather in London UK.
    Same in Edinburgh. Different if you can get out into the countryside, but from
    the back garden, no.

    --
    Cheers,
    David
    Web: https://www.satsignal.eu

    It doesn't rain all the time, and light pollution is inhibiting but you can always look at planets, the moon, the sun, brighter deepsky objects.

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  • From Whisky-dave@21:1/5 to RichA on Sat Jul 30 16:50:38 2022
    On Thursday, 28 July 2022 at 04:23:47 UTC+1, RichA wrote:
    On Monday, 25 July 2022 at 09:47:50 UTC-4, David Taylor wrote:
    On 25/07/2022 14:35, Whisky-dave wrote:
    Maybe it;s a bit like buying a really highend lens or camera not that many people want one or afford one, and when it comes to astronomy you are limted by where you live and the weather.
    I'm thinking of buying one but a high end one wouldn't be of much use due to light pollution and weather in London UK.
    Same in Edinburgh. Different if you can get out into the countryside, but from
    the back garden, no.

    --
    Cheers,
    David
    Web: https://www.satsignal.eu
    It doesn't rain all the time, and light pollution is inhibiting but you can always look at planets, the moon, the sun, brighter deepsky objects.

    It's not just rain but clouds too, I haven't seen the milky way from London since the 80s it's similar in most of the UKs larger cities and this will limit the amount of use a high end telescope has.
    There's only about six locations in the UK which are considered dark skies and most of those are in national parks,
    not many live in those places.

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