Bresser offers telescopes for beginners through to specialists and professionals, with many options for advanced amateurs in between. In other words, they know telescopes. With their cheapest telescope at priced at €50 and their highest at almost €10,000, this company offers telescopes of an astronomical range. We looked at two solid offerings that are priced at €799 and €849 - advanced telescopes for a dedicated hobbyist.

BRESSER MESSIER MCX-127 GOTO TELESCOPE EQ/AZ

This compact telescope is a fantastic all-rounder that covers everything you could need from an entry-level telescope. Instead of specialising in on certain functions, it has all bases covered, but does so at a high level of quality. The truly exciting feature is its GoTo computer control - a hand-held controller that allows you this higher-tech level of input without slowing you down with a cumbersome monitor. This computer-based navigation gives you the experience of being in a real observatory, allowing you to precisely select where in the sky you’re like to look, rather than trying to aim by eye and hand as you would have to with a simple telescope. You can even program the GoTo to remember stars and other celestial objects that you would like it to track and find in the future.

This telescope it sturdy on its feet, with a stainless-steel tripod keeping it safe and stable, and a solid fork mount made of die-cast aluminium. It easy to pack up and transport, too: compact and relatively light, this is a great kit for if you need to travel with your set-up. It can even be used without the tripod, instead sitting on a tabletop, which again aids how flexible it is when it comes to transport and use on the move.

As well as being accurate and easy to navigate, this telescope gives a brilliant delivery. Its movements benefit from careful engineering to make sure they are precise and smooth – instead of struggling against clunky equipment, you know that this telescope it going exactly where you want it to. Then, once you have a lock on the piece of sky you’d like to study, the company’s proven Maksutov-Cassegrain optics allow you to view it in a sharp, high-contract image that makes sure important details aren’t lost.

To further give you that observatory experience, you can even take high-resolution photographs of the night sky using the MESSIER MCX-127 – all by using your smartphone. Using an included smartphone holder, you can line up your phone’s camera lens directly behind the eyepiece (BRESSER Super Plössl eyepiece 26mm), to take a picture of exactly what you see.

If you’re already a serious stargazer and know exactly what you want, you might want to fork out more money for a higher-spec, more specialised telescope than this, but if you are starting out, this is a perfect piece of kit.

https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/Telescopes/
€849

Pros:
Helpful, accurate GoTo navigation
Sturdy, light frame
Smooth movement
Compact and transportable
Smartphone holder for photos

Cons:
Out of the box - Not suitable for daytime use or landscape observation but it can be purchased an optional available  BRESSER 45 degree Amici-Prism item No. 4930220. This turns the MCX telescope into a high performance spotting scope with an erect image without left-right reversal.

5/5