The Zhumell Z130 lets you experience the night sky according to your preferences, whether you're an amateur astronomer or a complete rookie. Whether you want to take a short glance at the sky in your garden or spend a whole night stargazing, this handy, portable telescope is always prepared to produce spectacular, detailed photos.
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Zhumell Z130 Portable Telescope Highlights:
I've found its quality and value unrivaled in the world of amateur astronomy, here is my highlights:
Its compact and portable design has made my spontaneous stargazing sessions or camping trips a breeze.
The 130mm parabolic primary mirror, which is rare in telescopes this size, enhances my viewing experiences significantly.
The high-reflectivity coatings on the primary mirror and other optical surfaces bring out brighter and clearer images, even of dim celestial bodies.
I've compared it with other telescopes of the same size and the Zhumell Z130 consistently outperforms them, a testament to its superior optical components.
The robust construction of the Z130 gives me the confidence to carry it around, knowing it'll withstand years of use and travel.
Assembly at any site is quick and easy, a feature I highly appreciate for my often impromptu stargazing sessions.
Regardless of whether you're a seasoned stargazer or just starting out, this telescope adapts to your level and provides you with satisfyingly detailed images of the night sky.
To sum it up, the Zhumell Z130 has consistently delivered impressive stargazing experiences, making every quick backyard peek or marathon night of stargazing worthwhile and unforgettable.
Zhumell Z130's Optical Tube: A Simple Yet Sophisticated Design
The Zhumell Z130 is a versatile 130mm f/5 Newtonian reflector featuring a 650mm focal length, a specification commonly available across various brands and mount types. What sets the Z130 apart is its simpler mirror cell, reminiscent of classic Japanese-made reflectors.
Collimating the Z130 involves a bit of manual effort: removing a cosmetic back plate and adjusting sets of push-pull screws with a screwdriver.
This design, while potentially requiring some initial fine-tuning, holds the collimation well, minimizing the frequency of adjustments.
The Z130 sports a 1.25” plastic rack-and-pinion focuser, a standard in many beginner telescopes. With a little maintenance - shimming and lubrication - it functions quite adequately.
One unique feature of the Zhumell Z130 is the way its optical tube connects to the mount, using tube rings and a Vixen-style dovetail. This design, although potentially over-the-top, allows the tube to rotate and slide for balance and eyepiece positioning. Additionally, it makes the telescope compatible with almost any other mount, eliminating the need for extra tools or hardware. This versatility is a substantial advantage if you decide to use your Z130 on different mount types, saving both effort and expenses.
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Top Reviews By Satisfied Customers
Helpful review: "This telescope is fantastic because it offers a beautiful balance between specs and price point. So I researched long enough to know that grossly put a telescope with less than 3" (76mm) isn't worth it. I purchased one and had fun looking at planets (Jupiter and Saturn) and the moon. I enjoyed star hopping to a point. But that was it. A 3" aperture telescope will not have the capacity to show deep space objects (DSOs) such as nebula and clusters. You may see some but they will be very dim if any. But when I searched for bigger telescopes the prices weren't right. A 100mm brand name one costs more than $200, let alone a 114mm. But low and behold, a Zhumell comes along, it claims it can offer me a 130mm one for kess than $200! Although my budget was tight I decided to go for it. I kept the 76mm to compare the two side by side. The score was a tie when it comes to observing planets, but the difference was clear when I went for the DSOs. A bigger aperture meant more light collected, thus better views of stars and nebulae. I still remember the first time I saw Capella with the Zhumell, fantastic color and sharpness. I went on observing Orion's Nebula, the Pleiades, etc. My favorite star so far is a Spectroscopic binary called Xi Cigni. Granted, this is not the Hubble as you may have read in many other reviews of telescopes of this scope if you'd allow the expression. This is still a beginner amateur telescope. Also keep in mind that it's a reflector telescope (Dobsonian at that) which means you may have to contend with the collimation exercise. I have done it once in about two months now. It's very tedious as a process and I don't want to be doing it often, so I handle the telescope very carefully, moving it slowly, never driving with it, confined to the backyard. It's a heavy piece of equipment (20 lbs) so you will need strong and steady arms to carry it around. I didn't have access to the sky from indoors, all my windows give very limited access to open skies. So I carry it to the yard and place it on a high table (it's a patio table with closed sides, I put up on one side which makes it look like a huge staple or a squared C shape). It's the ONLY viable way to use it in the backyard unless you build something to support it at reasonable hight for you to reach the eyepiece. Voilà ! I hope you enjoy it." - Badis G.
Trending review: "I've been saving up for a telescope I can use with the family. So when I saw Amazon's deal a couple weeks ago, I had to jump on it. The scope arrived without any faults, and was super easy to set up and use out the gate. I was able to get some nice pictures of the moon with my phone's camera. The optics are fantastic for a scope of this price. I've also seen Jupiter and its moons, Saturn, Pleiades cluster, and the Orion nebula. I'm looking forward to picking up a 2x Barlow and a 6mm gold line eyepiece to enhance my viewing. The thing I like most about this scope is that it takes so little effort to set up an use. I can go from my house to viewing planets in under 2 minutes. I keep the scope in my garage- which keeps me from having to wait for the scope to acclimate to the outside temperature. In my opinion, the best scope is one that you'll use. If I get the idea that I may want to stargaze, the Zhumell's simplicity makes it a no-brainer. If I could give one minor quibble about the scope, it would be that they didn't use thumb screws for the collimation screws- which means I'll have to use a screwdriver and a couple Allen keys when the scope needs to be collimated. Not a huge deal, but it would've been nice to make the collimation process tool-free. In summary, if you are looking for a great beginner scope that will still be fun to use as you learn more about astronomy, then I cannot recommend the Zhumell z130 enough. You won't find a better portable scope for the money." - Amazon Customer
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Reassuring review: "The scope itself is easy to focus and align. I put it on the AZ-GTI mount with tripod just to get it up to standing height. I didn't power up the mount I left the clutches loose and used the red dot finder for a few easy to find objects. I also only used the 2 eyepieces that came with it. They are marked KE10mm & KE25mm wide angle, so Kellners? I aligned the red dot finder using the street light on the corner 1/4 mile away with the field of view in this scope it's close enough. The tube rings and Vixen bar are a nice touch. I can easily rotate the scope for the best viewing angle. The first target was the moon. Big, bright (almost blinding!), very clear. I could see very good detail in the craters and nice sharp, crisp detail all over. Although I did see a significant shadow from the secondary mirror. Next I took a look at the Orion Nebula. The stars were nice sharp round points with just a bit of flare. Probably the local air with the clouds moving by so fast. And the central nebula 'cloud' was very easy to see. Next was Betelgeuse. It was big and dull red. The color was very obvious and seemed reasonably accurate. I didn't notice any color shifting or chromatic aberration on anything that I looked at. Sirius was big and bright but again, a nice round point with minimum flair. I looked around at a few other random stars and the color and sharpness holds true. Dim stars were easily visible and the field of view makes it easy to see the bigger objects. The moon for example had a nice amount of sky around it so that I didn't feel like it was too close, like it was framed nicely. Overall, I'm pleased with it. It's solid and well made. Fit and finish are good. The focuser moves smoothly with plenty of range and it's easy to find focus. I think this will be very good for a simple light 'grab & go' scope. It did have the shadow from the moon so very bright things may not be best but for the size and price it's a great scope." - Tom H.
Get it from Amazon now: $352.85 & FREE Returns