Most opticians worldwide will agree: The shorter the focal length of a Newtonian primary mirror at a given diameter, the more difficult it is to make. This is probably the main reason why there are not many f/4 Newtonians around despite their obvious advantages for astro-imaging!

GSO is famous for their excellent quality optics which are in our opinion much better than the Chinese standard. For us GSO is one of only two manufacturers in this price range (the other being Orion Optics) who we trust in when it comes to f/4 parabolical primary mirrors!

This makes the GSO 200/800mm Newtonian not only suited for photography and for observing deep sky objects (Galaxies, nebulae, ...), but also for observing the moon and the planets.

Visual Use

Because of this telescopes exceptional optical quality and the optimized secondary mirror holder (very thin spider vanes for minimal diffraction effects) image contrast is very high, even for planets and moon. In our opinion image sharpness is better than that of many other telescopes of equal aperture.

During the past couple of years - ever since prices for telescopes have considerably dropped due to production in the far east - the 200mm Newtonian with a focal length of 1000mm has become an increasingly popular choice for amateurs. We fully agree that a telescope of that aperture and focal length can be counted among the most versatile multi-purpose telescopes in existence.

The GSO Newtonian 200/1000mm is a new telescope in this range. It adds a package of extra features that are in our opinion unparalleled in this class: An ultra-smooth Crayford focuser for much smoother focusing motion and zero image shift. A cooling fan for quicker cool-down. A multi-coated finderscope.

Visual Use

The GSN2001 with its "classical" focal ratio of f/5 offers an excellent image sharpness for moon and planets.

At the same time its large aperture of 200mm (8") offer lots of light for serious deep sky observing. Thousands of gas nebulae, galaxies and star clusters are within reach of this telescope. Several galaxies will begin to show their spiral structure.