Refractor Telescopes

Refractor telescopes use an optical design that relies on a series of lenses to focus light on a single point. Refractor telescopes can be generally divided into two major types: ED and APO optical designs.   Both offer excellent color and contrast, but APO or apochromatic telescopes boast perfectly refined color and superior contrast.    Refractor designs can be either doublet, triplet, or quadruplet optical systems which refers to the number of lens groupings, not necessarily the number of lenses, and will use a variety of specialty optical glass-like FPL53, Hoya, or Fluorite to achieve the high contrast and perfection in the color that refractor users are looking for.   Focal lengths are also relatively short when compared to reflector designs making refractors an ideal choice for astrophotographers in search of a wide-field imaging telescope with shorter exposure times. Browse our selection of ED and APO refractor telescopes for sale below.