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ED F4 Super Reducer
Instruction Manual



Borg
Astrographic
Systems


 
One of the fundamental cornerstones of Borg's scope designs has been excellence in performance as astrographs - high-performance objectives combined with uniquely high-performance flattener/reducer elements, specially designed for imaging.
 
Reviews:
 • Sky & Telescope - March, 2008
 • Astronomy Technology Today - April, 2008
 
The latest in this line of astrographs are a family of five systems optimized for digital imaging:
 
  • 45EDII F4.7 (Mini Borg)
  • 60ED F3.8 (Mini Borg)
  • 77EDF4.3
  • 101EDF4.1
  • 125SDF3.9

 
The 77/101/125mm Borg astrographs utilize the new 4-element ED super reducer (components shown at left), which is optimized for full 35mm-sized digital imagers. These astrographs also include built-in filter holders as well as a camera rotator for flexible image composition. Borg helical focusers are standard, but motorizable Feather Touch focusers are an option.  
  The Mini Borg astrographs incorporate the 0.66x Triplet Super Reducer [7866], optimized for APS-sized sensors.

Focal reducers are optimized for specific distances between the optical components and the image plane. For the F4 focal reducer, these are accomplished through the use of calibrated spacers for specific focal lengths. Two 63mm diameter spacers are provided for the front (between focuser and front reducer lens assembly), and two 58mm diameter spacers for the rear (between the rear reducer lens assembly and the camera adapter):

Scope   Front Spacer   Rear Spacer
Borg 76ED/77ED/77EDII or equiv. 500mm FL scope   (None)   2mm thick
Borg 100ED/101ED or equiv. 640mm FL scope   (none)   1mm thick
Borg 125EDF6.4 or equiv. 800mm FL scope   2mm thick   (none)
Borg 150ED or equiv. 1000mm FL scope   4mm thick   (none)

Camera Configurations (attached to F4 reducer):

  • SLR cameras: [Borg camera adapter*] - [SLR camera body]
    * The following camera mounts are not compatible with the F4 reducer because of insufficient internal diameter: Pentax S (#5001), Minolta MD (#5006), Olympus OM (#5008) and Four Thirds (#5010)

  • SBIG STL Cameras: [M49.8-STL] - [STL Series Camera]

  • Starlight Express Cameras: [7920] - [7601]* - [7601]* - [7522] - [SX Series Camera]
    * Two 7601 parts are required to reach the required distance for Starlight Express cameras
Contact Hutech for configurations with other camera systems.

Filter Attachment

Provision for the attachment of filters is via a a 55mm diameter filter thread on the front reducer lens assembly (for semi-permanent filter installation) and via an easily removed filter holders which accomodate 52mm or 48mm filters. A camera shutter cable can be attached to the focal reducer assembly to make removal of the filter holder a simple operation which does not disturb the optical train. Additional filter holders [7518] are available for quick changes between filters.

Optical Performance Plots:

Click on images to enlarge
Mini Borg 45EDII F4.7 Borg 77EDF4.3 Borg 101EDF4.1 Borg 125SDF3.9

Physical Data:

45ED F4.7
60ED F3.8
77ED F4.3
101ED F4.1
125SD F3.9
F.L. (mm)
210
230
330
410
490
Weight (kg)
0.6
0.8
1.7
2.3
4.5
Length (mm)
230
270
350
520
680

Samples:

Click on images to enlarge
Borg 101EDF4.1: Veil Nebula shot with Canon 5D full-frame DSLR with LPS-V3-52 nebula filter - 8 x 10 minutes @ ISO 800 Full size (4368x2912) unprocessed Canon 5D frame of Veil shot [2.7MB jpeg]
 
Borg 77EDF4.3: IC1848 and IC1805 shot with Canon 5D full-frame DSLR with LPS-V3-52 nebula filter - 8 x 10 minutes @ ISO 800. Borg 101EDF4.1: Witch Head nebula shot with Canon 5D full-frame (cropped) DSLR with Type Ia fiter - 16 x 10 minutes @ ISO 800.   Borg 101EDF4.1: NGC1333 region photographed with SBIG ST11000 - 8 x 10 min. luminance and 5 x 6 min. for each color (RGB).