| Small Refractor |  | cheap, portable, easy to setup | often poor quality, dim fuzzy images |  |
| Large Refractor |  | superb quality, best image quality, the photographer's first choice | very expensive, large apertures not available, difficult to set up |
| Equatorial Newtonian |  | modest price, photography possible, good images | difficult to set up |  |
| Small Dobsonian |  | simple, cheap, rugged, easiest to setup | |
| Large Dobsonian |  | lots of aperture for the money, very large apertures affordable | bulky, heavy, sometimes must use a ladder |
| Schmidt-Cassegrain |  | photography possible, computer control available, relatively portable, a good compromise | complex, expensive, slightly poorer image quality than similar sized competitors |  |
