Astronomy
The Good, Bad, and the Ugly Telescopes However, If you are already familiar with telescopes, and don't have the time to build one yourself, You can order a custom made one from an independant Telescope maker.  Such a telescope will usually exceed the quality of even the good commercial offerings from Celestron, Mead and the like.  The difference is not in the quality control, but in the superior standards most independent telescope makers demand in their own work.
Any reputable optician will be glad to have his work tested by totally independent labs to certify his workmanship. So you can get superior optics that are certified for their true quality.  The rest of the system is common sense. A precision crafted Equatorial mount such as the one described later in this section, is a fine instrument in its own right. A $100.00 photographic tripod with a pan head simply won't cut it.  The photographic tripod might be OK with a small refractor, if you don't mind chasing your target across the night sky as it drifts out of view.
The very best telescope you can purchase is one made by me.  I have already made an instrument of unsurpassable quality, which can be verified by the University of British Columbia.   After all, even though that was 40 years ago, - it isn't every day they get to test any kind or size of lens anywhere near that close to theoretical perfection.