Meade 07080 Zero Image Shift-Electronic Micro-Focuser

I have a Meade LS8 and on the 1st night went out to get some nice shots of the moon and Jupiter. I was upgrading from the ETX-90EC. I was using a Canon T2i with the Magic Lantern firmware add-on. While the shots looked good on the camera's LCD display and good through the eyepiece, on the computer they were a tad out of focus. After a little research I found you really need to have this micro-focuser to get images that are clear and zoomed in with great detail. Once I put this baby on - WOW! It's a little expensive for an add-on for a $2000 scope just to fine focus but with the zero image shift it's really nice. I would highly recommend this for Meade owners who do astrophotography. Also this does not hook up to the focus knob but to the back of the scope itself so it does not shift or move the scope in any way!

Works as expected.

May be it was designed by engineers only without consulting any astronomers or stargazers.It works well, but I am giving only three stars for following reasons.1. If the focuser is more than $200, it should have compression ring instead of fastening screws. It is scratching diagonal nose tube. I would understand if it is less than $100 and they have to cut corners to keep the cost down. If the compression ring is really too much for the above $200 focuser, provide NON-SCRATCHING SCREWS with smooth end at least. Oh, c'mon Meade, you can do better than this.2. I wish I can install this focuser without using a thin hex key - using a set of thumb screws or rotate on thread install. It is very easy to loose the hex key in the observation site. Also, it is a bit more difficult to install when it's dark. I don't know about others, but I have very little time left for preparation when I reach my observation site. It would be much easier if it uses thumb screws or some sort of rotate on mechanism.3. This issue applies only to Lightswitch 8" (LS-8) with bigger diagonal users. When it is pointing straight up to Zenith with my Meade 2" diagonal or Orion Twist tight 1.25” diagonal installed, the bottom of the diagonal hits the mount base. Pointing straight up is not possible. The stock diagonal included with scope does not have this problem.

I did quite a bit of research and finally decided to go with the Meade 07080 Zero Image Shift-Electronic Micro-Focuser. Had my fingers crossed as I tested my new purchase and could not have been more pleased. Ease of use and clarity of focus ability was far better than I had expected. If it will fit your scope, you will not be disappointed.

I had great expectation for this focuser as I was pleased to find it worked great on my LX200 classic 12" at all speeds using the old classic hand controller. However my delight quickly turned sour when I saw the image shifting back and forth as I focused, with a 32mm eyepiece. I figured it would only get worse with a camera or at higher magnifications. The manual didn't offer any method for tightening up the draw tube, only that it was factory set. In examining the body for anything loose I noticed a missing screw. The screw was intentionally left off because the housing didn't line up with the threaded hole in the gear casing. You could see were the assembler tried to start a screw but couldn't as the screw well was marred. The other side of the housing had the same problem but the assembler was able to cross thread a machine screw in at an angle (pure crap). I don't believe either of the screws had any thing to do with image shift, however they did speak to the likelihood of more shoddy workmanship buried elsewhere in the assembly.