Sky-Watcher

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED

Forgiving 72mm ED refractor, the easiest entry point into deep-sky astrophotography.

90/ 100

Polaris Score

#1 of 12 beginner astrophotography scopes

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

72mm

Focal Length

420mm

Focal Ratio

f/5.8

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

ED Refractor

Typical range: $400–$600Estimated

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Where to buy

High Point ScientificCheck price→

What it's built forOpen these in the simulator →

This telescope was built for sweeping wide.

A short, fast refractor with a generous true field — the whole sword of Orion in one view, star fields that spill past the field stop. It rewards low power and dark skies far more than chasing magnification.

Widest true fieldsTack-sharp to the edge

The view people remember

The Pleiades, blue and blazing.

A knot of hot young stars wrapped in the faintest haze of reflected light — best at the lowest power, where the whole cluster drops into a single glittering field.

See The Pleiades through this telescope →

Where else it shines

Needs patience

Orion Nebula

Bright core visible, outer wisps need patience and dark adaptation

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Hercules Cluster

Soft round glow — looks more like a comet than a cluster

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Andromeda Galaxy

Faint elongated smudge — averted vision helps

Open view →

Also excellent on

Saturn

Small bright disk — featureless point at low magnification

Open view →

✦

Tight planetary detail belongs to a longer scope. This one trades reach for a breathtaking field.

01What it's good at

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

Best at

✓Apochromatic ED glass produces sharp, color-accurate images

✓Wide-field design is forgiving for beginners

✓Lightweight and easy to mount

✓Excellent image quality for its price

Trade-offs

!Too small for visual astronomy, designed primarily for imaging

!A separate equatorial mount (adds significant cost)

!Short focal length limits planetary imaging

!A field flattener for sharp corners

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

Aperture

72 mm

Small aperture, so faint galaxies and high magnification are not its strengths. What it does well is wide, clean star fields, the Moon at moderate power, and deep-sky imaging where exposure time substitutes for aperture.

Focal length

420 mm

Wide field. The Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades, the North America Nebula and the Veil all frame on an APS-C sensor, which is the standard starting target list for imaging.

Focal ratio

f/5.8

Fast enough for practical exposure times and short enough that small tracking errors stay invisible. That combination is why this size and speed is the classic first imaging telescope.

Optical design

ED doublet

Two elements with one ED glass, which removes most of the colour fringing a cheap achromat shows. A triplet would be cleaner on the brightest stars, but this design cools quickly and costs a fraction as much.

Weight

~2 kg tube

Around 4.5 lb. It rides on a star tracker with a camera attached and packs into a backpack, so it is the scope that actually goes to dark skies.

Mount

OTA only

No mount included, but very little is required. A tracker or small equatorial is enough at this focal length, which keeps the total cost of a complete imaging rig low.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

90/ 100

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED

#1 of 12 beginner astrophotography scopes

Performance

Ease of use

Portability

Upgrade potential

Polaris weighs optical capability, how easy the scope is to live with, how portable it is, and how far it takes you before you outgrow it — not list price or brand.

03Who it's for

An honest fit check.

Buy it if you

✓Beginners starting astrophotography

✓Users building portable imaging setups

✓Wide-field deep sky imaging

Look elsewhere if you

!Visual observers looking for bright views

!Planetary imaging specialists

!People without a proper mount

04Build your rig

What to buy next — and where it leads.

Recommended upgrades

A sharper everyday view★ Top pickExplore Scientific 68deg 24mm

Wide, comfortable low-power views.

$109View details →

Make nebulae popOptolong UHC Filter 2″

Improves contrast on emission nebulae.

$85View details →

Double your magnificationGSO 2x ED Barlow 1.25-inch

Doubles magnification without buying another eyepiece.

$79.95View details →

Growth path

Better tracking & light imagingCelestron Advanced VX (AVX) Equatorial Mount✓ Compatible

Great match for imaging

$1,099View details →

Portable astrophotographyZWO AM5N Harmonic Equatorial Mount✓ Compatible

Perfect lightweight imaging pair

$2,299View details →

Permanent-setup astrophotographySky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro✓ Compatible

Overkill but rock-solid

$1,899View details →

Start imagingZWO ASI533MC Pro

Start capturing images of the Moon and planets

$799View details →

Show all compatible mounts (5) →

Accessories

A sharper everyday viewEthos 13mm

Balanced magnification, great for general observing

$745View details →

Sharper planets & lunar detailDelos 8mm

High magnification, best for planets and lunar detail

$438View details →

Lunar & planetary

Excellent contrast

Deep-sky imaging

Strong with a flattener

Deep-sky visual

Wide, low-power views

05The numbers

Full specifications.

Optics

Optical DesignED Refractor

Aperture72mm

Focal Length420mm

Focal Ratiof/5.8

Mount & drive

Mount TypeNone (OTA only)

Editor’s Take

The Evostar 72ED is a small refractor built for astrophotography rather than looking through. "ED" is the low-dispersion glass that controls the false-colour fringing (blue/purple halos on bright stars) cheap refractors show, giving clean, tight stars across a wide field. It is short and "fast," which frames big nebulae and gathers light quickly, and it is light enough for a small tracker or GoTo mount. Sold as an OTA (tube only), it needs a mount and, for corner-sharp stars, a field flattener. Its real job is a forgiving, portable entry into deep-sky imaging.