It is a nicely designed scope. Nice to look at, even nicer to look through! Optics: Awesome! Never saw an optical quality like this in a non-refractor scope. Its like looking through a big apo. Contrast (on Saturn) is fabulous. Star test estimates wavefront error about 1/12 lambda or even better. Resolving power is fine as well: during very short moments of perfect seeing Gamma Vir (0.5 in april 2006) looks like a peanut at 636x. Spikes are somewhat visible in the image at bright objects, for who is not used to it. It is not disturbing at all though. Collimation: I was warned about difficulties. Though, the only point is the level of precision required. The collimation screws must be turned by just a tiny bit. Much less than at SCTs. Thats all. I had no difficulties collimating my Mewlon. Moreover: it holds collimation very well. Used the scope 4x since then and recollimation was not required at all. Ease of use: Focusing runs nice and smoothly. Mirror shift only 20 or so. Never saw as little as that in any SCT or Mak. Cooling down runs much faster as in SCTs and Maks, because of the open design. The finder must be mentioned as well. Its a miracle. Put the object in the crosshairs and it appears in the field of a 322x magnification. It is a carrying handle as well, without harming the alignment ever. Mount wedge is included. The scope is compact, lightweight (8kg) and sturdy, because of the rounded frond end of the tube (its a baffle as well!). It is a suberb planetary scope for both observation and imaging, and for deep sky observation as well. Though for deep sky imaging Mewlon 210 is not my first choice as result of slow optics and small flat field. Optional Focal reducer reduces f/11.5 to f/9.3, which is no serious improvement.

Views through this scope are very nice. Unfortunatly this scope does not hold collimation well. Something is wrong in the design. This is unlike it bigger brothers, yet just like the 180. when you can get it to hold collimation though the views are very nice

The Mewlon 210 has excellent contrast and pinpoint star images IF collimation is right on the money. Its very sensitive to poor collimation, more so than commercial SCTs. That said, its not hard to collimate. And unlike SCTs it doesnt dew up (no corrector plate) and cooldown is faster. The dark background in the Mewlon is lovely; and the great Tak construction quality and wonderful 7x50 finder a bonus.

I have owned a Mewlon 210 for just over one month and have had several opportunities to use it. Overall, I am pleased with the scopes very sharp optical performance, quick cool down relative to SCTs and light weight. Planetary images have been excellent and stars are crisp and pinpoint against a dark background. My only minor complaint is the approx. 30 image shift my OTA exhibits when changing the direction of the focus knob. As far as collimation goes, I have adjusted mine once and it has held collimation well even after being transported. I have the OTA mounted on an EM10 Temma and the combination is solid and fairly lightweight especially for an aperture of 210mm.

Pure Takahashi quality! Yes, it has to be properly collimated, but Ive found it holds collimation well. Stunning deep sky views with superb constrast! Works great with my EM-10 Temma 2 Jr. for visual use and DSLR imaging. If you have an ST-10 or larger, however, go with the EM-200 or NJP.

My observatory scope is the Mewlon 250 and the M210 is my portable scope. The Mewlon 210 is about $2000 more than a comparable size Celestron or Meade SCT OTA. Is it worth it? Yes! The M210 provides views equivalent to a 6 APO refractor costing $6-8000. I own an FS-152 for comparison. The Mewlon holds collimation very well. Focus shift on my 210 is about 20.

This scope without question is a 10 point rating at the least. Having owned an incredible CN212 and 2 Mewlon 250s, this Lil baby is right on par with each scope type Iv e mentioned. For anyone looking for a solid, well made, optically exceptional 8 telescope, Buy a Mewlon 210, Takahashis Jr Version is a 10!!! Clear skies, James Edwards Elk Grove CA