Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ Telescope Review: Good Value
Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ is a decent telescope that provides a good amount of value for its price.
7
- Well Coated Lenses
- Portable
- Slow-Mo Control
- Low Price
- Low Power
- Useless 4mm Eyepiece
- Cheap 3x Barlow
- Thrash 5x24 Finder
Review
Before the review, I have to mention that there is a better alternative available for the same price, and that is Meade Infinity 60. Although their optics and mounts are identical, Infinity 60 comes with better accessories.
That being said, the difference between these models is that notable. You may have different brands available in your country, or the prices may have changed. Either telescope is a good choice for budget prices.
Optics
The PowerSeeker 60AZ has a 60mm aperture. Although 60mm is more than enough for observing the Moon, it may disappoint you with planets and deep space objects.
60mm is able to provide some major details such as 4 Galilean Moon’s of Jupiter and Rings of Saturn. But any other detail such as the Great Red Spot, Saturn’s largest moon Titan, phases of Venus, or details on Mars are hard to observe with this scope. It might be possible with a high-quality eyepiece and on ideal atmospheric conditions, but with the eyepieces that come with this telescope, it is incredibly hard.
Lunar observation is the strong suit of PowerSeeker 60AZ. Its long optical tube increases color accuracy to an almost perfect level. Therefore Lunar Surface looks gorgeous with a significant amount of detail.
60mm aperture is disappointingly narrow, but cheap.
Deep space is an area that requires the maximum amount of aperture with a wide-field view. These are not present with the PowerSeeker 60AZ. Although you can get some detail from the Pleiades and some of the brighter star clusters, the deep space performance of PowerSeeker 60AZ is below-average for its price. A tabletop Dobsonian would be a better choice for deep space.
Overall PowerSeeker 60AZ has great Lunar, average planetary, and below-average deep space performance. Considering the price tag, I would say the optics are more than sufficient.
I have to remind you that at this price range, the slightest increase in the aperture makes a huge difference. PowerSeeker 70AZ, for example, has %36 more light gathering ability. The images it is able to provide are %36 better. It is almost the same as the difference between a 480p video and a 720p video. So try to stretch your budget as much as you can for higher apertures, you won’t be disappointed.
Mount
The mount is more than enough for such a small telescope. It has two attachments to the optical tube and a slow-motion control for the vertical axis. It has two knobs on the side for controlling tension. It could have been a little more sturdy, but other than that, it is satisfying. I wouldn’t expect much more at this price range.
The mount is sufficient for a 60mm telescope.
The tripod is similar to the mount in terms of quality. It is not rock-solid, but it also doesn’t shake in the slightest breeze. It is impossible for any company to send stainless-steel tripods for any telescope that is under 100$. They are most likely to be lightweight aluminum like the one that comes with PowerSeeker 60AZ.
Accessories
Celestron sends useless accessories with their budget telescopes so that they look like high-value products on the webpage. In reality, it is impossible to send a legitimate 3x Barlow and a usable 4mm eyepiece with a telescope that is under 100$.
Expectedly, the 3x Barlow and the 4mm eyepiece that come with the telescope are completely useless. They will only create frustration.
The 3x Barlow and the 4mm eyepiece are awful.
The 20mm eyepiece is, thankfully, a useful Kellner. It provides 35x power and is sufficient for casual viewing. A high-quality eyepiece would improve the image quality by a lot, but they cost as much as the telescope.
The 5×24 finder is also thrash. Celestron should start sending red dot finders instead of these plastic toys.
The diagonal included corrects the rotation of the image. It is useful for terrestrial viewing, but it is not useful for astronomy since it lowers image quality.
The focuser is mostly plastic, but it does its job without any major problems.
Drawbacks
The Barlow, 4mm eyepiece, and the 5×24 finder are all useless.
60mm is pretty narrow for any telescope at any price. The smallest increase in aperture would improve image quality vastly.
Conclusion
Some people want the convenience of a tripod. Although it has its weaknesses, PowerSeeker 60AZ is a good budget telescope that comes with a decent tripod. It’s high-quality lenses, and sufficient mount are able to cover up the fact that most of its accessories are thrash.