Which ep shall I buy?

[milkyjoe]

I have decided to treat myself to a premium ep for use with my dob, but I can't decide which one to buy: I have made a list of the ep's I am interested in and so I would appreciate any advice.

Televue:

30mm plossl

24mm panoptic

17.3mm or 14mm delos

17mm nagler

Explorer Scientific:

18mm 82 deg water proofed nitrogen purged

24mm 68 deg ar purged

Baader:

17mm hyperion 68 deg

Vixen:

30mm LVW 2"

There we go, which will give me to best views, one of the above or something else?!

Thanks,

Rick.

[Moonshane]

I have decided to treat myself to a premium ep for use with my dob, but I can't decide which one to buy: I have made a list of the ep's I am interested in and so I would appreciate any advice.

Televue:

30mm plossl - if you mean 32mm plossl, this has the same field as the 24mm Panoptic. of the two the Panoptic is the one I'd choose.

24mm panoptic - superb eyepiece and would barlow well (2x)

17.3mm or 14mm delos - either would be great but I favour the Nagler.

17mm nagler - of all the eyepieces you mention, this is the one that I'd get.

Explorer Scientific:

18mm 82 deg water proofed nitrogen purged

24mm 68 deg ar purged

Baader:

17mm hyperion 68 deg

Vixen:

30mm LVW 2"

There we go, which will give me to best views, one of the above or something else?!

Thanks,

Rick.

Hi Rick

See my comments above.

I'd recommend you try to build an eyepiece set for the future, including any scopes you may buy. http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188794-eyepiece-groups/ might help you choose a set?

[Charic]

Which Dob? I don't see one in your Signature!

Edit* Found it in your profile. 8" revelation.

 Don't discount the BST's....you can return them if their not suitable for your needs? Try them out

[John]

What a wide range !

Not all premium in your scope though but the 17mm Nagler, as Shane indicates, is one that will stay with you for life

[milkyjoe]

Sorry Charic, I need to update my signature! lol

Moonshane: yes, I meant the 32mm tv plossl.   How do you afford all those eps!!?

John: the nagler you say... how do you rate the explorer scientifics?

Thanks,

Rick.

[Moonshane]

buying used and over time, birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries and my little bit of spends saved each month, soon get you there. I also sold some old hobby stuff that I don't use anymore. Baron Rothschild I am not.

[milkyjoe]

That is quite a collection!  Which one is your favourite?

I am thinking about getting the nagler from here: http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/TeleVue_Nagler_17mm_Eyepiece_2__.html (when it's back in stock )

[Charic]

Thats a quality eyepiece!   5 BST Starguiders cost me less than that? 

[Moonshane]

it depends what I am looking at! if I could literally only keep one it would be the 26mm Nagler I think but it's not a choice I ever want to make.

TH are very reputable. I'd try and get a used one though if I were you. I have a T2 16mm and 12mm Nagler and they are cheap used (£100 each approx.) and really excellent value for money. well worth seeking out. I have not missed the Ethos after I sold it to buy the 12mm and to put some funds towards a solar scope.

[milkyjoe]

Thanks for the tip

I see you have a few tv plossls, how do you rate them?  I used to have some of these and they were very good indeed, I also used to own a few of the older baader orthoscopic plossls and they were superb, I just about saw a few bands of jupiter through my 4" frac once!  Which eps do you mainly use for dso's and the moon and planets? (I will read your link )

Thanks,

Rick.

[John]

Like Shane, my set has taken quite a time to build up and all, bar one, were bought used. Unlike Shane I'd miss my Ethos eyepieces like anything if I had to part with them - they have consistenly delivered the finest and most impressive views I've ever had.

John: the nagler you say... how do you rate the explorer scientifics?

The only ES eyepiece I've owned was the 20mm / 100 degree which was very impressive indeed. I've not seen much difference since I switched to the 21mm Tele Vue Ethos to be honest.

The great thing about the used market is that you can buy something, try it, and then recoup most of your investment if it's not for you.

[milkyjoe]

Very true John, I used to do quite a bit of buying and selling on here and on Astrobuysell, but took a break for a few years when my little princess arrived. :-D

I will give the ES eps another look.

Many thanks.

Rick.

[Moonshane]

to my eyes, BGOs and TV plossls are as good as anything else ignoring field of view and eye relief. cheap too. if starting again and on a smallish budget I'd buy them without exception and then start thinking about more expensive options. even then I'd keep them for future. I prefer this type of eyepiece for moon and sun as well as planetary. I use my nagler zoom for doubles.

in terms of DSOs, mainly my 26mm Nagler and 16/12mm Naglers.

[milkyjoe]

I must admit I do like the TV plossls, I wonder how they would compare to the meade 3000 series plossls I currently own? :-/

[John]

I must admit I do like the TV plossls, I wonder how they would compare to the meade 3000 series plossls I currently own? :-/

For a while a few years ago I had a mixed set of TV plossls and Meade 3000's. The Meade's are rather good actually (mine were the Japanese ones). I think there were small improvements in light scatter with the TV plossls but there was not a lot in it to be honest with you. That is the challenge when you already have decent eyepieces, the next step up in performance is slight and will come at some cost

The Nagler or the ES 82 would give you a very different "experience" to the plossls though, which may be worth having

[milkyjoe]

I have been offered a 17mm nagler on asb for £200 and I have also just seen a 10mm delos for £179 for sale; which one or shall I get both? :-D I've read radians are good for planetary and moon viewing also? Will the weight of the TV's be an issue with my 8" dob? :-z

[Reeny]

I use a 6mm Delos in the Skywatcher 200p dob, and it is OK for weight and length - no problem 

(at 6-inches long, and around 500g)

In a Barlow, the Delos also seemed to be Ok, and did not strain the focusser too much.

It seemed to be a foot long with the additonal length of the Barlow.

Note; the view was useless at 400x mag, so I never tried it again.

Go for the Nagler first for the 82 degrees.

Then think about the Delos if your funds will allow.

You won't lose out at £179.

[John]

......Go for the Nagler first for the 82 degrees.

Then think about the Delos if your funds will allow.

You won't lose out at £179.

Yep, I think I'd go for that approach too. Both really top drawer eyepieces and decent prices

[Moonshane]

I agree. If you can afford both you cannot go wrong. You can always add a counterweight if balance suffers if one only I would get the nagler

[Michael11]

Since you have a Newtonian - I wouldn't invest in an expensive eyepiece for really low powers. Since the coma will ruin the image edges anyway. I'd get something in range of 17-18mm.

I have an ES 18mm 82° and it works excellent in my F/5 Newtonian (with a paracorr I get pin-point stars to the edge).

The only drawback is slightly tight eye relief. Once I compared it to 17mm Nagler - It was equally sharp, with less eye relief but without the annoying kidney bean effect which Nagler has.

Certainly I haven't noticed anything that would justify 2x price difference of the Nagler (better get another EP for that money).

Hyperions I would not recommend - they are inferior to ES 82, LVW, Nagler series (Never tested a 17mm, but a 31mm I have isn't really sharp, even compared to ES 68° series).

24mm Panoptic is a nice EP, however keep it mind it has some distortion, which can be annoying to some. I'd try one before bying.

ES 68° is sort of Panoptic clone (the same way 82 is a Nagler clone). It's quite good considering the price.

The Vixen LVW series are sharp and comfortable (got 2 of them) but I think they are overpriced, considering their narrow 65° FOV. Unless you find a used one for 150$ I'd go with other options.

[John]

Since you have a Newtonian - I wouldn't invest in an expensive eyepiece for really low powers. Since the coma will ruin the image edges anyway. I'd get something in range of 17-18mm....

The original posters dob is F/6. Coma should not be a noticable issue with well corrected 82 degree eyepieces such as the Naglers and ES 82's. I can barely see coma in my F/5.3 dob with 100 degree eyepieces.

[Moonshane]

I have a f11 newtonian and coma is not a problem with any eyepiece.

I also have f4 dobsonians and they certainly don't seem to have their edges ruined in my 26mm Nagler with or without paracorr

[milkyjoe]

Hmm... now I am a bit confused, should I get a nagler or something else equally as good, but for less money?! :-|

[Moonshane]

As far as I am concerned the Nagler no question

[Michael11]

I also have f4 dobsonians and they certainly don't seem to have their edges ruined in my 26mm Nagler

What I meant is that at these FOV you aren't really using all that corrected field in a premium & expensive 30mm eyepiece, and better spend the money in 20mm region, where the coma is less noticeable.

And I do notice coma in f/5 with 30mm 70° eyepieces. It's my opinion though.

Hmm... now I am a bit confused, should I get a nagler or something else equally as good, but for less money?!

You won't get a definite answer to that. I'm saying you should go for ES 82° series instead of Naglers. But there will be others who will say that Nagler is worth its price. it's a matter of opinion.

Ideally you should try the eyepieces yourself...