Narrowed it down...now which EP to buy?

[Alphecca]

I do hate asking questions which have undoubtedly been asked many times before...but I researched this quite a bit to get to this point, and felt I couldn't get any further without some direct advice.

I have an 8" Orion XT8...the original one with the 1.25" focuser.  I want to get a better EP for DSOs (currently using the supplied Orion 25mm Plossl).  Of course, I'd like something with a fairly large FOV, but my budget is about $100, so I'm pretty limited.   I'm 50, but I've measured my pupil size at about 6mm after dark adaptation.

I feel like I've got it down to these 4...I've listed the TFOV and exit pupil in my scope as well (if I've got my math wrong, please feel free to let me know):

Meade 5000 HD-60 25mm (1.25 degree TFOV, 4.2mm exit pupil)

BST Flat Field 27mm (1.205 degree TFOV, 4.62mm exit pupil)

Vixen NPL 30mm (1.25 degree TFOV, 5.08 exit pupil) 

Any good-quality 32mm plossl (1.316 TFOV, 5.35mm exit pupil)

If the 32mm Plossl is the way to go, feel free to recommend a specific model in my budget....or, if you have some suggestion aside from what's listed here, by all means, I'd love to hear it.

Many thanx in advance to all.

Michael

[nightfisher]

Not a problem about asking questions, i would go for a 32mm plossl,  a televue is considered the best, but a good second choice is the Revelation/GSO 32mm

[nicoscy]

+1 for the Televue Plossl. But get the eyeguard extender as any 32mm Plossl has very long eye relief and eye placement can be a bit touchy. At least Televue came up with the eyeguard extender solution for this and I use it on mine with excellent results.

[Mr Spock]

I have a Meade 4000 series Plössl. It's very sharp and contrasty.

[miguel87]

I love the vixen npl series, very well priced and quality optics.

[AndyWB]

I've no doubt a Televue plossl is better, but a Vixen NPL 30mm is probably my most used eyepiece. 

[bomberbaz]

If your budget is tight the vixen is easily the best option. I have read a review that said it was as good as, if not better that a tekevue plossl. I have the 25mm and it does give really sweet views accross the full fov.

[Dark Knight Gazer]

+1 for the Vixen, great value, great results.

Really clear, bright images. With that FOV and exit pupil, you can't go wrong!

[John]

I have both the Tele Vue 32mm and the Vixen NPL 30mm plossls at the moment. The overall build quality of the Tele Vue is better but optically there is really not a lot of difference between them. The Tele Vue maintains slightly sharper stars across the field of view in faster scopes but that is a Tele Vue speciality. I prefer the ergonomics of the Vixen's twist up rubber eye cup to the Tele Vue's soft fold down one.

[SpaceWalker]

I also have a 8” f/6 Dob like you. Of course, all what I’m saying is just my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

If you want to get the best from faster scope like yours you definitely need quality wide angle eyepieces for DSOs rather than plossls. IMO, your best choice would be the 25mm Meade HD-60. If you want cheaper, get the 25mm Agena Starguider/AT Paradigm and save money on a decent 2x Barlow. Optically, the Agena Starguider is pretty much similar to the Meade HD-60, but the mechanics are no doubt better in the Meade.

Which eyepiece to choose also depends greatly on your local observing conditions.  For a dark sky spot an eye pupil of 6mm or so would be of course excellent. Although, if you like me observe mostly in light polluted skies (red zone) than you shouldn’t exceed an eye pupil of ~3.5-4mm otherwise the background looks washed out due to sky glow and you are missing fainter DSOs because of insufficient contrast. In fact, you need just a couple of eyepieces and something like 1.5/2x Barlow to cover most of both your DSO and planetary needs for the first time.  If you get the 25mm and the 9mm Agena Starguider or Meade HD-60 plus the 1.5x/2x GSO Barlow (with removable optical element)  you will have six eyepieces, 25mm, 16.6mm, 12.5mm, 9mm, 6mm and 4.5mm with a decent 60*AFOV and  overall excellent optical performance.

As for the TV Plossl, it wins (insignificantly) in off-axis performance over “lesser” plossls in faster Newtonians and that’s it. I have the 32mm TV Plossl and 3x cheaper Celestron Plossl and the difference doesn’t worth the money.  I addition, the TV plossls are inferior in light transmission than some cheaper modern eyepieces, that’s what I see with my own eyes.  Probably, twenty years ago the difference was day and night in favor of the TVs, but things really changed.  IMO and IME plossls work  good in my smaller and slower achromat where one of important concerns is a balance. As for my Dob EP collection, the only plossl brand I would keep is Sterling/AT High Grade. They are really champions in light transmission beating many other Eps including the TVs.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Vixen gets my vote also. Great EP's and they dont cost the sun,moon and stars. The 30mm is fantastic for scanning the skies when hunting down faint fuzzies and then kick up the magnification using other EP's that you own. My favourite thing about the Vixen's is just how contrasty they are. It really helps when spotting faint fuzzies (Galaxies,Nebulae,comets) etc.

Another great EP is the 32mm GSO. Cost is about the same as Vixen. In my opinion though, the Vixen is better.

[completenovice]

Another NPL fan here. For the price I feel nothing comes close in the quality/price ratio. 30mm is a peach of an eyepiece.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Another NPL fan here. For the price I feel nothing comes close in the quality/price ratio. 30mm is a peach of an eyepiece.

I love the NPL's. I have an NLV and i dont like it as much and it costs about 3 times as much.

[Alphecca]

Many thanx to everyone for the replies...I really appreciate it! It certainly seems that Vixen is the favorite.  I'm surprised that the Meade didn't garner more votes due to it's 10 degree wider AFOV.  It seems to me that this offsets the shorter focal length, so that I the same actual FOV at a higher magnification and contrast...right??  Or is it that the NPL just has better optics?

Thanx once more.