best budget zoom eyepiece

[nightfisher]

As in a previous post, i am considering a zoom EP, on paper i would have thought the Baader click zoom would be best but i seem to remember hearing they can "fall to bits", i i am sure i have read of people saying the Baader has started to "rattle" or some thing like this?

some people seem to like the Seben, i guess this is the £50 one (have seen one on ebay for £20)

I have spotted the Celestron 8-24 at a good price and it looks well made

Max budget around £150 but dont really want to go that high, i am mainly into planet and Luna so dont need super widefield and can cope with fairly tight eye relief and dont wear specs

[AndyH]

If the zoom were for general usage then I'm sure it would be a good buy, but knowing your targets are mainly solar system stuff, I'd say 'hang fire' on a zoom purchase, especially at the lower cost range.

Why?

I had a beautifully made William Optics zoom ep. This one here.... http://www.williamoptics.com/eyepiecesDCL/zoom2_features.php

As well made as with their UWAN's, a pleasure to use, with smooth zooming action. What opened my eyes was when viewing one of the previous Mars close 'fly-bys'. I remember viewing with the zoom on the Klev and getting a decent sized(for Mars) disk. Was a washed out orange ball, with a hint of white at the polar cap. I substituted the zoom for a similar FL ortho and booom, surface detail. Not a subtle difference but super obvious. Obvious polar cap and various shaded surface features.  I liken it to driving into a low morning sun with dirty windows, then skooshing the screen and applying the wipers. That night and others made me realise this ep wasn't cut out for high contrast stuff. Was a-ok for everything else, but that wasn't what I had intended for the 'piece. I had hoped for a jack of all trades. 

Sorry to be a debbie-downer, just my experience with a (not that cheap) zoom.

Andy.

[Pig]

Jules,

I once owned the Celestron 8-24mm zoom ( around £80 new) and the views it delivered were just as good as the Excel LX eyepieces I owned at the time.

The FOV was the only difference betwixt them but I didn't find that an issue. Hope that helps.

[rikroe666]

Hi Jules

I currently have a Vixen LV Zoom 8-24, i think its an excellent eyepiece, as above its as good as my Celestron X-Cel lx eyepieces i used to have apart from FOV.

If you are going away for the weekend it saves taking a box of eyepieces with you.

I think i payed £60 for in on Ebay and its worth every penny. 

Rick

[nightfisher]

Thanks for the replies so far, i am now thinking i might look out for something around £50-60 more for holiday and travel, rather than blowing a lot more on some thing i might not like

[Moonshane]

Hi Jules,

I have a Seben 8-24 zoom (30 used) a Pentax 6.5-19.5mm zoom (135 used) and a Nagler 6-3mm zoom (200 used ). The nagler is amazing if you can use the power. The seben is better in general use than the Pentax and the Pentax is better built and more comfortable to use and very good for solar. The only one that matches fixed focal length eyepieces to me is the nagler.

The Pentax has issues with CA and I would not recommend it for general use.

As always you are most welcome to try all three

[nightfisher]

Cheers Shane, at mo narrowed down to Seben, or the celestron but this is from hong kong and i guess i would end up paying duties when it eventually arrived

[rikroe666]

Sky's unlimited on ebay are selling starguider zoom eyepiece's for £54.99 or best offer (delivered) 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Starguider-8-24mm-1-25-Zoom-Telescope-Eyepiece-/161464501034?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item259808c32a

It says they are the same as the Celestrons in description

[Dave In Vermont]

I, too, have an Vixen 8 - 24mm Zoom EP. It appears to be the same animal as the Seben and Starguider. And was the same as the Celestron. Probably just brand-names tagged post-production. It works just fine as my grab & go EP to save space. I'd recommend one if you're not looking to throw a wad of money.

Clear Skies,

Dave

[Moonshane]

One thing to consider with all these zooms is the small afov at the wide end.I'd recommend retaining a 25mm fixed eyepiece.

[nightfisher]

Not really planning on getting rid of any ep`s Shane, (though nearly put everything up for sale in my add this morning) and im used to working with 43 degree field of view (circle T`s) any way i dont need any widefield up here, way to much LP for any DSO

[nightfisher]

Sky's unlimited on ebay are selling starguider zoom eyepiece's for £54.99 or best offer (delivered) 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Starguider-8-24mm-1-25-Zoom-Telescope-Eyepiece-/161464501034?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item259808c32a

It says they are the same as the Celestrons in description

I made a cheeky offer and and its been accepted, so i will be getting the BST 8-24 zoom, will post what my impressions are

[Moonshane]

Looks identical to the Seben

[rikroe666]

I made a cheeky offer and and its been accepted, so i will be getting the BST 8-24 zoom, will post what my impressions are

Nice one!

Let us know how it is.

[DRT]

I owned a Seben and a Baader Mk III at the same time and the Baader was significantly better in terms of the the zoom action and the optics. After comparing it side by side with the Baader I came to the view that the Seben was quite poor and not worth the money I paid for it.

The original post mentions something about Baader zooms falling apart, which I have not heard previously and is not my experience. I would recommend the Baader every time, especially second hand where they can be picked up in mint condition for little over £100.

[John]

Looks identical to the Seben

Lots of them do and I have the strong feeling that the same thing is sold under many brandings and many prices too !

I had a Seben zoom for some outreach stuff I did. It worked better than I thought it would and I could not complain for the <£30 price tag (mine was used).

With the exception of the Nagler 3-6mm zoom I've never owned a zoom that would quite match fixed focal length equivilents when I've compared them critically in all honesty. That includes the couple of Baader zooms I've owned, for short periods.

If I travelled a lot with scopes or did more outreach I'd be happier to accept the small performance compromise.

[nightfisher]

This is mainly for travel, so it should be fine

[nightfisher]

The BST 8-24 has arrived and looks very well made, and looks just like the celestron version, will post some pics when i get a chance

[F15Rules]

Glad you got sorted Jules:-).

My response to your original question would be that the limited exposure I've had to Seben stuff wasn't great and I personally wouldn't buy anything with that brand.

The Pentax I have already said elsewhere I found very disappointing with loads of CA...and I mean a LOT. I'd stress this was the cheaper one, not the 8-24mm premium version.

The Baader is excellent for the money and the two I had were of excellent build quality. Probably the best bang per buck performance.

The best zoom I ever looked through and owned was a Leica Vario which predated the newer aspheric version. Optically as good as any Nagler I've looked through and beautifully built..only second to the aspheric due to the aspheric's amazing minimum 60 degree/maximum 80 degree field!

But I believe the aspheric is around £600 new..even my Vario cost me £265 secondhand..

Good luck with yours Jules..pics and report please..:-)

Dave

[nightfisher]

As promised, a few pics of the BST zoom ep, yes i have put a sonic screw driver beside it for scale, i had a scope out very quickly last night and forgot to try the zoom out, so will have to wait till next time, but have to say it looks a well made unit and will be great for trips away rather than taking a huge ep case

[DRT]

Looks identical to the Seben

Sure does. The hard grey case with the black screw-top is identical to the one that came with my Seben. I wonder if the optics are also identical or if they use different optics for the different brands.

[Adrian]

My response to your original question would be that the limited exposure I've had to Seben stuff wasn't great and I personally wouldn't buy anything with that brand.

Dave

Whilst it pains me to defend Seben, from what I have read it is the Seben reflectors that are expensive doorstops; reviews of eyepieces have been much more positive - possibly because they are rebadged Synta (or similar) gear. 

Just to be clear, I would NOT advise anyone to even consider purchasing a Seben newtonian. Ever.

[nightfisher]

This unit is being returned, nothing wrong with it,its well made but i now know i dont like zoom ep`s