About WhichScope

WhichScope started because I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I got into astrophotography a few years ago the way most people do: I saw someone's photo of the Orion Nebula online and thought "I could do that." I could not, in fact, do that. Not with my first setup, anyway.

What followed was months of research across Reddit threads, Cloudy Nights forums, YouTube reviews, and manufacturer spec sheets trying to figure out which telescope, mount, and camera would actually work together for what I wanted to do. The information was out there, but it was scattered across dozens of sources, buried in forum threads from 2014, and almost never presented in a way that let you actually compare products side by side on the specs that matter.

So I built the tool I wished existed.

What this site is

WhichScope is a structured database of telescopes and astronomy gear, scored across multiple dimensions using publicly available specifications, community consensus, and pricing data. Every telescope on this site is evaluated on the same criteria (aperture, focal ratio, portability, value, beginner-friendliness, astrophotography capability, and more) using a transparent scoring methodology you can read about on our methodology page.

I pull specs from manufacturer data, verify against retailers like High Point Scientific and Agena Astro, synthesize community opinions from Cloudy Nights and Reddit, and run everything through a scoring system designed to surface the best options for your specific needs and budget.

What this site is not

I haven't personally tested every telescope in the database. I'm transparent about that. Where I have hands-on experience (primarily smart telescopes and mid-range astrophotography setups) I say so. Where I'm relying on spec analysis and community synthesis, I say that too. The methodology page explains exactly how every score is calculated and what data sources inform each recommendation.

Why trust this approach?

The same reason you'd trust a site like RTINGS for TVs or PCPartPicker for computer builds. Structured data, transparent methodology, and a system that lets you compare apples to apples instead of reading five different reviewers who each tested three different scopes under three different conditions and reached three different conclusions.

If you want to know which telescope is best for your specific situation (your budget, your light pollution, your experience level, whether you want to observe visually or photograph deep sky objects), that's what WhichScope is built to answer.

Clear skies.

- Alex Lindgren