levenhuk.com Reviews

Michael B - 10/02/2019

We haven't yet completed assembly so I cannot rate yet, but my nephews are thrilled with the telescope and are looking forward to using it.

angel R - 06/01/2016

love this telescope you can see almost everything with this telescope and the shipping is extremely fast highly recommend this product

John H - 08/19/2014

Bought it in February. Such a powerful tool! I've seen Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with my own eyes for the first time! I am still under the impression. And the weather this spring was great too as if inviting all stargazers to enjoy observations! =) The only spoon of tar is the Barlow lens included in the kit, optics quality is poor, so if you are going to buy this telescope, buy decent Barlow lens right away. I've also purchased zoom eyepiece in addition - now I literally can't take my eyes off of the sky! ;) This telescope is A+. And you wouldn't find such a rich kit from any other manufacturer, it's like your own portable astrolaboratory! MAKs are always a bit pricey, but they worth the money 100%.

Dog S - 04/30/2014

The review from site www.opticsplanet.com
Over the years, I have observed through all sorts of telescopes from 2" refractors to large-aperture Newtonian reflectors, including some that I made myself. So, I figure it''s not too bold to say I know a little bit about star-gazing. I have always heard that a modest 3" refractor is not only an optimum sized telescope for general observing of brighter astronomical targets but handy because of the portability factor. I have been looking for an 80mm to 100mm refractor with a mount and tripod that I could lift and tote by myself. After comparing notes on the internet, I decided to obtain a new Lewenhuk Strike 900 Pro refractor telescope from Optics Planet. Delivery was fast (with basic shipping) and the instrument arrived complete, intact and without any damage. I bought the telescope package that was offered sinc e it had extra goodies like colored filters, mylar sun filter, additional eyepieces, stellar planisphere, observer''s guidebook with charts (nice) and a padded carrying case. The additional accessories seemed to be worthwhile so I didn''t mind the nominal extra cost. This model has an equatorial mount and it supports the telescope tube reasonably well. It is stable and secure when the clamp and lock-knobs are tightened on the R.A. and declination axes. Although the slow motion motion controls are nice to have, the tube hits the RA knob in certain orientations; sometimes I''ll just remove the knob and track the stars by turning the knurled metal wheel on RA axis rather than touching the tube itself. The tripod is sturdy, with adjustable-length, mill-finish aluminum legs, hinged such that they collapse into a compact form for transport. A metal accessory tray is included but I have never installed it since I usually keep spare eyepieces in my coat pocket. The 6x30 finder is small but decent and certainly better than those 5x24 non-achromatic versions that tend to appear on cheaper models. It has a metal bracket with an adjustable mounting ring that allowed alignment to be done fairly quickly. The focuser is a metal rack & pinion type which holds the supplied star-diagonal and eyepieces without noticable flexure. The focuser has very little play and moves smoothly throughout its range of travel; it is designed for 1.25" diameter eyepieces. Balancing the telescope tube in the ring mounts is fairly easy and the RA balance is achieved by locking the counterwight to the desired position on the metal shaft. I leave the tube attached to the mount and tripod all the time. I can lift the entire telescope by myself and carry it outside without crashing it into the front door. Optically, the telescope performs quite well. The 3.5" diameter objective lens is aligned and collimated. The glass surface looks clean and the coatings are uniform - no scratches or defects. The image quality is very good. Jupiter''s image came to a crisp focus when seen high in the sky. The image had excellent contrast and several cloud bands were seen on the planet''s surface using 90X. The Galilean moons could be focused until they appear as tiny dots, almost pin-point with faint, round "Airy discs" barely visible around each moon (an indication that the lens is performing well). Since this design is not an "apochromatic" refractor, I expected to see some residual chromatic aberration (color fringing) around the perimeter of the Moon, Venus & Jupiter. It was detectable but not distracting - just a faint violet fringe was visible once the target was brought into sharp focus. The effect was less pronounced on fainter objects; practically invisible on stars fainter than 3rd magnitude. Defocused star images appeared round and undistorted, without any hint of astigmatism. I could not detect any spherical abberation either; the lens was evidently well polished. It gave a very nice, sharp and clear view of the "Trapezium" stars embedded in the Orion Nebu la. The nebula itself was beautiful and I could see it extending across the 25mm eyepiece field even with the light from the cresent Moon nearby. I like the plossl eyepieces that were supplied with the scope but the barlow lens seems to be of limited quality; I doubt I would use it anyway. I enjoy using this telescope, especially for quick observing runs - when I don''t want to spend lots of time setting up the instrument. Despite the small aperture, views of some the brighter "deep-sky" astronomical objects were actually pretty good when using the 25mm eyepiece. I would recommend this telescope for adults getting started in amateur astronomy as well as for those folks who want a portable, second telescope for casual star-gazing to compliment a big, heavy reflector-type "Light-Bucket".

Sofia - 12/24/2013

Everything that comes in the kit - just wow! so much stuff in it!! Amazing! It has all you need for your observations: additional optical accessories, a learning set for astronomy, a huge number of filters, and telescope bag (actually two bags if you give it a thought) !!! My son's totally gonna love it!