Celestron 8 - 24 zoom

[sctb78]

Hiya,

I'm after a zoom eyepiece for my new scope. Does anyone have any experience of the Celestron Zoom eyepiece, specifically in a Nexstar 6SE? I've read a few reviews on Amazon etc and it gets a good write up. Or am I better saving a bit longer for the Hyperion Zoom?

Scott

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[rwilkey]

Hi Scott, the Celestron zoom is quite good, I have used it in various scopes but not in a Mak or SCT, but the Hyperion zoom will be better.  One bit of advice, always buy your equipment from dedicated astronomy retailers, not places like Amazon, as you will get better support and advice.

[John]

E.Bay is awash with Celestron Zooms at the moment for some reason. They seem to be priced around £45-50 including delivery. They look very similar to the Skywatcher and Seben 8-24 zooms and could well be the same item with different branding. The same company that makes / owns the Skywatcher brand now owns Celestron.

I had the Seben version and it was quite good for the price. The Baader 8-24 zoom is quite a bit better but a lot more expensive.

[damnut]

I have the Seben zoom and its very good. The Celestron comes out of the same factory, the Baader is significantly more expensive at £189.....

[sctb78]

I've actually went for the Baader and got it for £167 from Amazon before seeing this advice. Ah well, hopefully I'll get on ok with it.

I did see a lot of the Celestron Zoom eyepiece on eBay and thought it was strange there were so many. A lot ship direct from a seller in China.

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[damnut]

@sctb78, You will not be disappointed by the Baader it is a great eyepiece and has a great reputation.

[sctb78]

Thanks @damnut. I'm looking forward to using it but unfortunately it looks as though clouds are forecast here for the next week at least. [emoji20]

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[Tonynexevo925]

I think you will be impressed. I have this with the accompanying Barlow - I was really impressed. This is a lot better than the standard EPs shipped with your scope. I'm considering the Baader EP set as I was so pleased.

[sctb78]

Yeah, I may get the Barlow at a later date. I got advice on another thread to stick with the zoom alone just now and perhaps get a 32mm EP for wide field stuff. I think that's my plan for now.

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[Tonynexevo925]

I jus t ordered the 36mm Baader aspheric. Hope you'll be happy with your choice.

I wish I'd brought my scope with me as I'm only 30 miles from the Galloway dark sky site!

Hoping to get a clear night to visit with binoculars though. Seems so much darker here in Dumfries countryside than at home even though I live in the countryside!

[jbjh]

I use my 8-24 zoom with a Barlow all the time. It works well until I push it too far, around 10mm. After that, I'm asking too much from what is essentially a compromise in optics. YMMV

Sent from 80ms in the future

Much peace

Jimmy

[damnut]

@sctb78,

8mm is getting close to the max mag comfortable for your scope. If you want more power consider a prime ep, in theory max mag =300x (2*150mm  or 2* dia in mm)..

Have a look at these, just plug your scope and eyepiece data in ;--

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm  (switch to visual view)

http://www.stargazing.net/naa/scopemath.htm