Comparison between older AP and the Latest APOs

One of the scopes I regularly observe with is an older AP 6" f/12 Superplanetary. I love it. Awesome views and a classic look.

I was wondering if any of you guys have been able to directly compare the refractor performance of this older model to a newer 6" APO, whether it's AP, Tak, etc.

I would expect the latest versions would have better performance, but who has actually compared them visually.

Quite interesting!

I had a 6" AP Superplanetary that had a soft image with CA. There are some that swear their 6" f/12's are the cats meow so you decide. I have a AP 130 from 1994 and a AP 160 that are crisp and sharp. I think if you buy any AP refractor EDT or newer you can't go wrong. Not every early scope that came out of AP is as consistent or good as current productions. Martin

Take a look at this as it mentions Tom Back's AP 6" F/12 and a comp with a newer AP:

"I had my 6"f/12 setup next to the new 6.1" f/9 EDT, and at first glance cast on Saturn, I knew it was all over. This scope was a knockout, and in color correction and contrast, clearly beat my 6" f/12 Super Planetary. This was a prototype, was airspaced and not even coated."

http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/tmb/tmb1.html

I once owned an AP 6" F/12 and loved it. Many times I have wished it was still here - the TMB 175 softens the loss though!

I have a Pre Starfire 1985 6" F9 which I consider to be the scope of a lifetime. It delivers wonderfully detailed, crisp images of the planets. It is also a delight for deep sky objects: stars are pinpoints on a sea of black across the entire field of view. The images are so good it makes me take my time and look more carefully & helps me become a better observer.

Thank you,

Bill

I have a Starfire 130 EDT (F/8.35) from about 1995. It's a great scope with razor sharp images and excellent contrast. There is a trace amount of CA when observing the moon's limb (shows as light green). This is certainly not distracting (and I'm a bit picky) and not noticable on other ojects (Jupiter, Saturn, etc).

A few years ago, I compared the AP 130 EDT to a friend's 5" D&G Doublet(F/12??) and there was no comparison in levels of CA (as expected). Now I own both a TAK TSA-102 (f/8) and an NP-101 (F/5.4) -- don't ask why - 8O. On the moon's limb, the level of CA in the TAK is better than the AP 130 Starfire EDT. There is faint hint of color at focus(very, very faint green). This is hard to notice unless you're looking for it. My NP-101 is colorless. The newer AP's I've looked through (130 GT and 140) are colorless as well. I don't think it's any news to say the newer optical designs/glass from the top manufacturers are yielding essentially better apochromatic images then they did 10-15 years ago.