<https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/81571-purchasing-first-scope/#comment-795468>
<http://schema.org/text>
"I still find the aperture a tad small for looking at planets, at least if you can stomach something a bit larger (it can be perfectly sane to want something compact, and then this type of scope does make a lot of sense). I can find no inherent reason why Maks would give \"more  contrast\" for  planetary work (which is different from \"more contrast\"  for deep-sky  extended objects), but I won't pollute the thread with a  discussion about  that point here, it's a much too complex tangent to  discuss here  (involving baffling, the central obstruction, contrast  trasfer  functions, exit pupils commonly used, etc.) --feel free to open  another  thread where I'll be happy to discuss it. The gist is: every scope with enough aperture can be a good planetary scope, ad debating which scope has more planetaryness  than another is usually rather sterile. Tracking does help a lot if you want to look at planets with high magnification without being distracted too much (so a trackig mount is a certain plus), that's for sure. Less so than on Maks - the mechanics are usually better at holding collimation, but to think they don't need to be collimated is sometimes unwarranted (I've been asked to collimate a few, so I should know). Collimation is actually more critical on a Mak, which is why the manufacturers spend more effort to make sure they hold collimation.Small reflectors can actually also need collimation badly (you should see what a small f/4 Starblast does when miscollimated!) It's the f/ratio that counts, and an Explorer 200p EQ5 (f/5) has tighter tolerances than a 200mm f/6 Dob. But we digress. I do't think that fear of collimation is any good criterion for selecting a scope, unless you are going to observe in very short sessions (collimation, at least the kind you do before a session, does take about 2 minutes). It;s confusing the first time you do it, but never after someone who knows it well has shown it to you. It does mean that one mandatory accessory to get with a Newtonian is a collimation combination tool, but they don't cost that much. \n"
<https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/81571-purchasing-first-scope/>