The finderscope is the equivalent of a cosmic tourism guide and is a piece of the necessary equipment to make stargazing and imaging as easy and fun as possible. With the right finderscope, you are offered a much wider field of vision than your telescope to help you locate the celestial bodies quickly.
Best Telescope Finderscope
Below we look through the best telescope finderscopes on the market to help you make the right choice quickly.
1. Celestron 51630 Star Pointer Telescope Finderscope
This Finderscope is the ideal gadget for any telescope and comes with a special ‘point and look’ feature with a 1X magnification. It features an adjustable red dot that can be used both in the day and night and ensures the sky is upright. It sports a mounting base, a long-lasting battery, and fits well on other magnification gadgets.
- Great compatibility with a host of magnification gadgets.
- ‘Point and look’ feature can be used both in the day and night.
- Comes with mount and battery.
2. Astromania Finderscope Starpointer for Astronomical Telescopes with Slide-in Bracket
The Astromania Finderscope is built for ease of use and exceptional compatibility and a 1X magnification. It comes with an easily adjustable red dot for easy telescope aiming and comes with thumbwheels to enable precise alignment with the telescope. It ensures easy adaptability for a wide range of telescope sizes, is affordable, and easy to use.
- Great compatibility with a wide range of telescope types.
- Easy to use and adjustable red dot finder.
- Is affordable and ensures great alignment with telescope.
3. Telrad Reflex Finder Sight
This is a finder scope that works amazingly well and provides an unmagnified wide field of view. Its dimmable (illuminated reticle) ensures you can center your telescope easily on any target object. It yields a 1X magnification and is very easy to use. It is compact, lightweight, and easy to store.
- 1X magnification and easy find function.
- Lightweight, compact, and easy to store.
- Is easy to use and fits securely on a wide range of telescopes.
4. Astromania Finder Deluxe Telescope Reflex Sight
This product offers great versatility with various reticle patterns and comes with fine-adjustment screws to ensure a tight aligned fit on any telescope. It is easy to use and comes with adjustable finder LEDs to aid easy use during the day and at night. It comes with a 1X magnification reflex sight for great viewing accuracy.
- Offers great versatility and 1X magnification reflex sight.
- Ensures aligned, secure fit on any telescope type.
- Can be used both in the day and at night.
5. APOLLO 6X30 Right Angle Finder Scope for Telescopes with Universal Mount
A rather inexpensive finderscope that gets the job done, this gadget is the ideal finderscope for any telescope and sports a rugged exterior for durability. It comes with a 1X view and comes with a universal mount for great compatibility. It is very affordable and is easily adjustable.
- Very affordable.
- Durable protective casing.
- Universal mount for great telescope compatibility.
Telescope Finderscope Buying Guide
The telescope finderscope makes stargazing and locating celestial bodies much easier. With a 1X magnification, you see through naturally and great finderscopes ensure an upright image. Choosing the right finderscope for your telescope pools together a set of considerations we will now look at.
Our buying guide reviews the best telescope finderscopes on the market to help you find the best product your money can buy.
Optical vs. Red dot
Finderscopes come in two major types; the optical finderscope and the red dot. The optical finderscope is a scaled-down telescope and magnifies the field of view and is also great for terrestrial viewing. Red dot finders or reflex finders, on the other hand, yield a 1X magnification and yield an image as you will see with your naked eyes. They are designed to help the user locate bodies with a red dot or circular rings.
Optical finders are inexpensive and way cheaper than reflex finders.
Aperture
The aperture of the finderscope places a figure on the size of its lens usually in millimeters. The greater the aperture i.e the wider its lens, the more light it can accommodate, and ultimately, the greater the field of view available to you. Greater apertures, however, make for bulkier, more expensive units.
Design
Telescope finderscopes take the form of right-angle (correct image) finders, straight-through finders, right-angle finders, and straight-through (correct image) finders.
Right-angle (correct image) finders yield an upright image and save the user the stress of intuition to know the exact location of objects. They are convenient to use but cannot find objects, and yield duller imaging. Straight-through finders yield inverted images but will be very clear and crisp. They are very easy to use and can guide the telescope orientation directly.
A right-angle finder yields a vertically upright image but reversed from left to right. Straight-through (correct image) finders yield upright, left-to-right correct images and are great for almost every type of telescope. They are, however, not very popular with many enthusiasts.
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