BST Explorer ed versus Vixen npl eyepiece

[Richardisgreat]

Hi, I have a Skywatcher 200p flextube goto dobsonian and i am looking to upgrade from the standered 10mm and 25mm plossl eps supplied with the scope. I have found the BST Explorer ed eyepieces on skies the limit for £41 and i have also found the Vixen NPL on FLO for £30 - £40. I am looking to get a 8mm ep and a tal X2 barlow for planetary viewing and perhaps a 30mm ep for wider views. I understand that the Vixen 30mm are not wide angle lenses but i was just wondering if one was better than the other. Lots of people on this forum like them both, but which is best for my scope? Thank you for any feedback in advance and clear skies to you all.

[nightfisher]

My money is on the BST, but nothing wrong with mix an match, get one of each and see what you prefer

[MorningMajor]

I've got a 30mm Vixen NPL which is a lovely little EP - I haven't tried a BST but have read great things about them, so doubt if you'll be disappointed with either

[cs1cjc]

NPL eyepieces are advertised as 50 degrees, but my measurements of the 20mm and 30mm suggest only about 46 degrees (so 50 to 1 significant figure). The BST eyepieces are, I understand, 60 degree. The NPLs that I have give a good sharp image.

[gary1968]

I have the 8 and 12 BST..... nice crisp high contrsty views. Great EP's for the dosh IMO.

Gary

[twotter]

If you want to stick with plossls then you could consider GSO Revelations or Meade 4000s. I have both and they're very good, though I now prefer using EPs with a wider field of view.

[Richardisgreat]

thanks everyone for the feed back maybe il get a 25mm BST (i dont think they do 30mm) and a 8mm NPL to replace my curret 10mm stock ep, then i can barlow the 8mm to get 300x mag for planetary, if seeing conditions allow. I talked myself out of the 6mm NPL because i doubt if i will have good enough seeing conditions to warrant barlowing it, also this pushes the 200p scope to its maximum 400x mag. Just got to find somewhere with the tal x2 barlow in stock clear skies.

[Richardisgreat]

I dont mind moving away from the plossl type eyepieces but its just about cost at the moment. Im looking for the best possible eps for around the £40 mark. I know this is a bit tight and you get what you pay for at the end of the day but it seemed like you could get a lot of bang for your buck with the BST and Vixen eps. I am still a newbie and have only owned my first scope for just over a week, but already i have been blown away by saturn and just want to upgrade a couple of eps to crisp up those views and get a little extra mag.

[nightfisher]

try the bst 12mm, these ep`s take to the barlow well, i have the 18mm and 15mm bst and really like them

[John]

The best possible eyepieces, optically speaking, in the £40 range would be used Baader Genuine Ortho's which you can get for around £45 each. There are others with more eye relief and wider fields of view but optically the Baader GO's are about as good as it gets, in my view, until you spend £hundreds per eyepiece.

[DOBBY]

30mm NPL will work well in your 'scope & is a handy low-mag. one to have as a 'finder' eyepiece as well as for DSO's...the 8mm BST would be better than an 8mm NPL

[Richardisgreat]

Thanks guys, Dobby why is the 8mm bst better than the 8mm npl? And thanks john i will have a search to see if i can find some used baader orthos

[gary1968]

I dont see good reviews for the 25mm BST (worst of the bunch) If you are after a 25mm EP then you'd be better with eith a Baader or (more expensive) a Celestron X-Cel 25mm.

Gary

[Richardisgreat]

Im thinking of 8mm BST and 30mm NPL if i cant find any used Baader Genuine Orthoscopics, thanks guys you have all been a great help, clear skies.

[gary1968]

You wont be disappointed with the 8mm BST... I was looking at M92 & the Catseye Neb. on Friday night with the 8mm BST through my 300P and the view was simply outstanding..... my 2 BST's are my best (favourite) EP's just now.

Gary

[Codmate]

I must say I'm really enjoying the 32mm Celestron Omni Plossl I received just before the cloud cleared here.

I've found quite a few otherwise elusive objects with it!

[cotterless45]

For deep sky I use the 12mm Bst.It gives clear sharp views right across the fov,nice.

Nick.

[nightfisher]

Just a thought, a 32mm GSO/revelation plossl is a right useful ep, perhaps my most used ep

[Richardisgreat]

Is the revelation ed 2xbarlow any good? seen one for £39 at telescope house

[John]

Is the revelation ed 2xbarlow any good? seen one for £39 at telescope house

If thats the 2" one I've heard they a quite good. I've recently picked up the 2.5x 3-element Revelation in the 1.25" size for a very low price and thats surprisingly good too.

Just make sure that the long barrel of the 2" can be inserted fully into your scopes drawtube - some Skywatcher focusers have an internal ridge someway down the drawtube which can get in the way of a long barreled barlow.

[4lefts]

Thanks guys, Dobby why is the 8mm bst better than the 8mm npl? And thanks john i will have a search to see if i can find some used baader orthos

the npls are plossls, and once you get below about 10mm, the eye relief gets uncomfortable for a lot of people

[Richardisgreat]

thanks 4lefts if the NPL is a plossl ep then what are the BST eps, i thought they were both plossls.

[nightfisher]

I think the bst`s are based on the old "erfle" design but might be slightly wrong on this

[4lefts]

the bst definitely aren't plossls. fwiw, i had the 8mm bst with a 200p, and it was great. then i got the 12mm and the 18mm. then i tried the celestron x-cels, and they were better, so i ended up getting those and getting rid of the bsts. i still have the 18mm bst - probably my favourite.

the bsts are great for the money. but they're not as good as what you can get for 70 quid or so.

[cs1cjc]

BST Explorer is, I understand, the same as the Astro-Tech Paradigm, for which a lens schematic and other details appear here:

http://www.astronomics.com/main/category.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/LXK7T6SSFUN88MPT03MFBFNAP3/Page/