Having spent a fair amount of time with gear from Chinese company Svbony, I’ve been interested in what’s next from the largely affordable brand. The most recent contender of interest is the MK105, a 105mm (4-inch) Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope with a starting price point of $280 (or R5,300 if you’re a South African).
It’s available in various bundles, the most expensive of which almost triples the price ($790 or about R15,000). For your money, though, you get everything required to start observing. The optical tube assembly (OTA), a mount, tripod, Sbvony’s well-regarded 7-21mm zoom (seriously, you should buy one), a 1.25in dielectric diagonal, a straight-through finder, and a smartphone adaptor for taking afocal images.
Bouncing around the MK105
A Maksutov-Cassegrain (MCT), for those who are unaware, is a telescope format that combines the features of a refractor and a reflector — that is, it uses an objective lens (more or less) as well as a rear mirror to transmit images to an eyepiece. Its benefits and drawbacks are worthy of detailed examination, just not here. Instead, an examination of the MK105 specifically is the plan.
Svbony’s telescope claims an aperture of 105mm. MCTs often provide less than their listed aperture, thanks to the design of the ‘scope, but that might be why Svbony has opted for the 105mm size. It’s a little over four inches and, taken with the 119mm tube width, it’s possible that there’s an oversized primary mirror in the back, bringing performance up to a true four inches.
The tube length offers an f/13 focal ratio, making the MK105 forgiving of most eyepieces. If you’ve got a decent set of Plossls you should be sorted but the claimed 210x max magnification calls for a 6.5mm eyepiece. Svbony will sell you a decent, affordable 6mm eyepiece but you’re probably better off with the 9mm from the same Redline series. The 152x magnification and 0.7mm exit pupil will prove more functional than the 228x/0.3mm combination the 6mm EP will supply.
As a system, it seems largely positive. The only real unknown is the ‘scope’s optics. Since this is a new line from Svbony, there’s little practical information on optical performance. I’d expect planetary performance to be excellent, with lunar in particular being a joy (that’s where you might actually get to use that 6mm EP). But the glass is the thing and, unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to look through one of these yet. I’ll have a rundown of some other Svbony products in a bit and, possibly, a look at this OTA at some point.
Stellar Words 
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