Takahashi

Takahashi Epsilon-160ED

A 160mm f/3.3 hyperbolic Newtonian astrograph, one of the fastest large imaging systems made, Takahashi optics that gather light at extraordinary speed for deep, wide exposures.

92/ 100

Polaris Score

#1 of 4 fast imaging astrograph

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

160mm

Focal Length

530mm

Focal Ratio

f/3.3

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

Hyperbolic Astrograph

Weight

9.5 kg

From$3,950

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Price tracked by PolarisObserved 43 timesTracking since Jul 2026

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Where to buy

Agena AstroProductsPartnerBest price$3,950→

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What it's built forOpen these in the simulator →

This telescope was built for the camera.

A fast f/3.3 astrograph designed to throw a wide, flat, well-corrected field onto a sensor. It is an optical tube first — give it a tracking mount and a camera and it rewards long exposures, not eyepieces.

f/3.3 — built to imageNeeds a tracking mount

The view people remember

The Whirlpool, and its companion.

A face-on spiral with a smaller galaxy caught at the end of one arm — on a dark night the spiral structure lifts off the sky in a way photographs almost prepare you for.

See Whirlpool Galaxy through this telescope →

Where else it shines

Within reach

Orion Nebula

Colorful nebula captured with live stacking — wings and filaments

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Andromeda Galaxy

Long-exposure capture revealing galaxy core and outer structure

Open view →

Easy first target

The Pleiades

Field rich with stars — long exposure pulls in fainter members

Open view →

Also excellent on

Saturn

Processed planetary capture with rings or bands clearly visible

Open view →

✦

There is no eyepiece experience here. Its reward shows up on a sensor, after the exposure — not in the moment.

01What it's good at

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

Best at

✓At f/3.3 it collects light roughly nine times faster than an f/10 system, revealing faint nebulosity in short exposures

✓160mm of aperture with a corrected hyperbolic mirror gives pinpoint stars across a large imaging field

✓530mm frames big nebulae and galaxy fields while the speed keeps total exposure times low

✓Takahashi build and figuring deliver the mechanical precision that a fast Newtonian demands

Trade-offs

!f/3.3 is extremely unforgiving of collimation, tilt and back-focus error

!At 9.5kg it needs a heavy, accurate mount

!As an OTA it needs a mount, camera, coma-free corrector and guiding to work

!The fast optics reward only careful, experienced technique

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

Aperture

160 mm

Six and a quarter inches of aperture feeding a camera at a very fast ratio. The combination is what allows faint nebulosity and galaxy outskirts to appear in short total integration times that a small refractor could not approach.

Focal length

530 mm

Wide field with large aperture behind it, an unusual pairing. It frames big emission nebulae and extended galaxies while still delivering enough resolution to hold up under close inspection.

Focal ratio

f/3.3

Extremely fast. It collects light roughly nine times faster per pixel than an f/10 system, so exposures are short and projects finish in nights rather than months. The tolerances are correspondingly brutal: focus, tilt and collimation all have to be right.

Optical design

Hyperbolic astrograph with corrector

A hyperbolic primary with a dedicated corrector produces a flat, coma-free field at f/3.3, which an ordinary fast Newtonian cannot. It is a pure imaging instrument: there is no practical visual use, and it rewards a careful, experienced operator.

Weight

9.5 kg tube

About 21 lb before camera and accessories. Manageable for one person, but the open tube and front corrector mean handling it deserves more care than the weight suggests.

Mount

OTA only

No mount included. At f/3.3 the optics will out-resolve a mediocre mount immediately, so pair it with a well tuned equatorial in the 20 kg class and reliable guiding.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

92/ 100

Takahashi Epsilon-160ED

#1 of 4 fast imaging astrograph

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