Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED — image 1
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
Weight
2.0 kg
From$199.99

Out of stock at Amazon, its only retailer — this is the last price we saw. We keep checking daily.

Price tracked by PolarisObserved 60 timesTracking since Apr 2026

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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 →
01What it's good at

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

Apochromatic ED glass produces sharp, color-accurate images
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

72mm · f/5.8 · 420mm FL
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.
03The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

90/100 · #1 of 12 beginner astrophotography scopes
90/ 100
Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED
#1 of 12 beginner astrophotography scopes
Performance
85
Ease of use
85
Portability
95
Upgrade potential
90

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.

04Who it's for

An honest fit check.

Beginners starting astrophotography
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
05Build your rig

What to buy next — and where it leads.

10 pieces of gear, ordered by what changes the view most
Recommended upgrades
A sharper everyday view★ Top pickExplore Scientific 68deg 24mm

Wide, comfortable low-power views.

Make nebulae popOptolong UHC Filter 2″

Improves contrast on emission nebulae.

Double your magnificationGSO 2x ED Barlow 1.25-inch

Doubles magnification without buying another eyepiece.

Growth path
Better tracking & light imagingSky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan GoTo Mount✓ Compatible

Excellent match — plenty of payload headroom

Portable astrophotographyZWO AM5N Harmonic Equatorial Mount✓ Compatible

Perfect lightweight imaging pair

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

Overkill but rock-solid

Start imagingZWO ASI533MC Pro

Start capturing images of the Moon and planets

Show all compatible mounts (5) →
Lunar & planetary
Excellent contrast
Deep-sky imaging
Strong with a flattener
Deep-sky visual
Wide, low-power views
06The numbers

Full specifications.

6 measured and stated values
Optics
Optical DesignED Refractor
Aperture72mm
Focal Length420mm
Focal Ratiof/5.8
Mount & drive
Mount TypeNone (OTA only)
Physical
Weight2.0 kg
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.

— The Skynocular verdict
07Alternatives

For a different goal, start here.

3 alternatives, each mapped to the goal it wins at
sharper images

William Optics RedCat 51

Built-in field correction and premium optics, if you can spend more

→
visual + imaging

Celestron NexStar 8SE

Better for visual observing while still capable of basic astrophotography

→
longer focal length

Celestron EdgeHD 8

Higher magnification for galaxy and planetary imaging

→
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Community

Used in these setups.

Real builds from the community that include this product.

Portable Travel Rig

Featured

Grab-and-go refractor for casual observing and travel. The Evostar 72ED and the Twilight Nano together weigh less than a folding chair, and the mount is a simple alt-azimuth — up and down, left and right, no alignment. Set it on the ground, drop the tube on, and you are looking at something inside a minute. The Panoptic 24mm gives just under 4° of true field; add the 35mm when you want the widest view the little scope can produce.

08Learn more

Guides and trusted reviews.

2 links — our guides plus reviewers we rate
Guide
Best Telescopes Under $1000 (2026)
Serious performance without overcomplicating your setup
See picks →
Guide
Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Telescope
Three clear paths based on what you want to do
Read guide →