However, a budget refractor’s poor tripod can often be replaced with a good photographic tripod and the refractor tube mounted on that. Small “tabletop” tripods are particularly useless, and telescopes that come with those are a little better than toys, to be honest. Many of the “budget” refractors available are actually of quite good quality optically, but are let down by the poor quality tripods they come supplied with. As with any telescope, it’s important to pick a refractor mounted on a stable, steady tripod or the image you see looking through it will jump around so much it will be useless. Modern refractors come on a wide variety of mounts, but it should be noted that all refractors are supported by tripods. Computerized go-to mounts can do the hard work for you.Alt-azimuth mounts can make aligning to a target easier.Not great for viewing galaxies and nebulas.The main disadvantages of a refractor telescope are: Unlike reflectors, refractors do not invert or reverse their views, which is less confusing for a beginner.Small refractors can be easy to assemble and use.Great for getting detailed views of the moon and planets.Small aperture, good optical quality refractors are available at very reasonable prices.The main advantages of a refractor telescope are: However, refractors do not perform as well as reflectors when turned towards the “faint fuzzies,” such as galaxies and nebulas, so if you are wanting to observe famous objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) and the Orion Nebula (Messier 42) then a refractor might not be your best choice. A refractor will also provide you with wonderful views of star clusters and double stars. It will provide much better views of those objects than a reflector of equal or even larger aperture. If you want to enjoy crisp, detailed views of Saturn’s rings, the cloud bands of Jupiter and the surface features of Mars, then a refractor is the telescope for you. Not good for viewing galaxies and nebulas.This is because they're an inexpensive way to spark that interest, and you can get them a more expensive, better-quality model when you know if they're sticking with it or not. We'd only really recommend cheap refractor telescopes for young kids who are just discovering the hobby. Refractors with the best quality lenses are very expensive compared to reflectors, but you really do get what you pay for. This results in images with distortion around the edges and colored fringes too.

The cheapest refractors have poor-quality lenses, which are often badly aligned.

When purchasing a refractor it’s important to buy the best you can afford.

Image of parts of a telescope