Photos of the MoonTonight I took out my small telescope and camera and took a few pictures of the Moon and also used a camera lens with the same focal length for comparison.
My small telescope is a Skywatcher 102 refractor, which I bought as a cheap and light alternative to lugging around my 200mm reflector. It has a 102mm diameter and 500mm focal length equating to a f/5 lens. I also have a Sigma 150-500mm lens, which is comparable but of higher quality. I wanted to see the difference between the cheap telescope and the expensive lens for astronomy, so I took out the two for an evening with the moon.
The first advantage of the Sigma lens is that the lens has autofocus, while the telescope does not. The first immediate disadvantage of the lens is the slower speed, and I cannot use any filters. Overall, I found the lens easier to use and got better results. However, the telescope is much more flexible because I can add filters, use the Barlow lens (for greater magnifications) and use it for eyepiece projection.
I'll stick to using telescopes for astronomy but look at investing in a higher-quality refractor.
Here are the two images for comparison.
