What should I buy?
Answer these honestly rather than aspirationally — particularly the two about weight and how many nights you will actually be outside. Those two decide more than the budget does.
€400 is a reasonable ceiling.
Ceiling
€400
For the instrument
€340
Keep back for the rest
€60
Eyepiece, red torch, something to sit on.
What fits
- Best fit
130 mm tabletop Dobsonian
- The Moon and the planets · 4/5 Sharp on the Moon, and Saturn's rings are unmistakable at 130×. Jupiter shows two belts and four moons.
Why it scored 46
- +40 Fit for what you want to look at: 4.0 out of 5.
- +6 Ready in five minutes or less. This is the single strongest predictor of how often an instrument actually gets used.
Products in this class within budget Model Optics Weight Price Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P FlexTubeThe most-recommended first telescope of the last decade. The open tube needs a light shield in a garden with a street lamp. 130 mm f/5.0 6.2 kg €215seen 2026-08-17 - Also consider
70–90 mm refractor on an alt-az mount
- The Moon and the planets · 3/5 Good on the Moon and adequate on Saturn. A long focal ratio keeps the colour fringing down.
Why it scored 36
- +30 Fit for what you want to look at: 3.0 out of 5.
- +6 Ready in five minutes or less. This is the single strongest predictor of how often an instrument actually gets used.
Products in this class within budget Model Optics Weight Price Celestron AstroMaster 70AZListed because it is what most high-street searches return. The optics are fine for the Moon; the tripod is light enough that the image shakes for several seconds after each touch. A tabletop Dobsonian at the same price gives roughly three times the light and a steadier view. 70 mm f/12.9 4.5 kg €175seen 2026-08-17 - Also consider
10×50 binoculars
- The Moon and the planets · 1/5 The Moon is genuinely lovely at 10×. The planets are points of light.
Why it scored 16
- +10 Fit for what you want to look at: 1.0 out of 5.
- +6 Ready in five minutes or less. This is the single strongest predictor of how often an instrument actually gets used.
Products in this class within budget Model Optics Weight Price Olympus 10×50 DPS-IThe long-standing budget benchmark. Nothing clever, nothing wrong. 50 mm f/4.0 0.85 kg €95seen 2026-08-17 Nikon Aculon A211 10×50Porro prism, comfortable eye relief. Heavy enough after ten minutes that a tripod adapter is worth the €15. 50 mm f/4.0 0.9 kg €120seen 2026-08-17
What not to buy
Most of the money wasted on a first telescope is not wasted on the telescope.
A set of eyepieces.
Eyepiece preference is personal and depends on your eyes, your sky and what you look at. Buying a set before your first night means five compromises rather than one good choice.
Use what comes in the box for a month. Then buy one eyepiece, at the magnification you found yourself wanting.
A Barlow lens, on day one.
A Barlow doubles magnification and halves exit pupil, and beginners reach for it long before their sky or their instrument can support the power.
Learn where your instrument stops being sharp first. On most nights that is around 150–200×, whatever the aperture allows.
An equatorial mount, or a camera adapter.
You have not asked for photography. An equatorial mount adds weight, setup time and a polar-alignment routine, and buys a visual observer almost nothing.
If photography becomes the interest later, it will want a different mount than the one bundled with a visual telescope anyway.
Nebula and light-pollution filters.
Filters work by subtracting light you don't want. Below about 150 mm — and this is 125 mm — there is not enough spare light to subtract, and the view mostly gets dimmer.
A drive to a darker site does more for the same targets and costs a tank of fuel.
The rest of the kit
Buy with the telescope
- Collimation cap €8–20For any Newtonian or Dobsonian. Five minutes, twice a season, and the difference between a sharp image and a soft one.
- Red LED torch €8–25Dark adaptation takes twenty minutes to build and one white light to destroy. This is the cheapest thing on the list and the one that changes the most.
- Planisphere €10–20Tells you what is actually up tonight. Every wasted first session is somebody hunting for something below the horizon.
After the first month
- A printed star atlas €20–50A phone screen ruins dark adaptation even in night mode. Paper does not run out of battery at 2 a.m.
- Red-dot or Telrad finder €30–60If the supplied finder is a small straight-through optical one, replacing it does more for your success rate than any eyepiece.
- Adjustable observing chair €60–200Seated observers see more detail than standing ones — you stop bracing and start looking. Underrated to the point of being ignored.
- One wide-field eyepiece €90–200One, after a month, at the magnification you found yourself reaching for. Not a set, and not before you know.
Only if it applies to you
- Dew shield or heater €25–90Only for refractors, Maksutovs and SCTs, whose front glass dews over. Open-tube Newtonians rarely need one.
- Barlow lens €40–130Only once you know where your instrument stops being sharp. Bought on day one it mostly produces large dim images.
- 12 V power bank €50–120Only for a GoTo mount. AA cells die in the cold, usually halfway through an alignment.
- UHC nebula filter €80–200Only above roughly 150 mm of aperture, and only for emission nebulae. It subtracts light; below that aperture there is not enough spare to subtract.
Ruled out, and why
Shown rather than hidden, because a constraint you disagree with is one you can change on the form above.
- 102–127 mm Maksutov on a GoTo alt-az — The cheapest example is about €450, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.
- 150–200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain on a GoTo alt-az — The cheapest example is about €900, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.
- 150–200 mm Dobsonian — About 20 kg, more than the 12 kg you said you can carry in one trip.
- 250–300 mm Dobsonian — The cheapest example is about €800, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.
- 72–80 mm ED refractor — The cheapest example is about €400, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.
- Smart telescope (50–80 mm, integrated camera) — The cheapest example is about €450, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.
- Equatorial GoTo mount with a small imaging refractor — The cheapest example is about €1800, above the €340 left for the instrument itself.