Sunnydays

Can I reasonably use a zoom and a Barlow with my scope? (6se) Or am i pushing the limits already just using standard magnification with the zoom?

Do you start with a lets say 32mm then switch out to the Barlow and zoom?

I have a 6se and used my new Celestron zoom last night; it was great? Now i know why people love them! My question is ,if the zoom lens does in theory what the Barlow would do when using a single EP, what is the benefit of using a Barlow with a zoom? I read people doing this? What magnification EP would you not use a Barlow with, and what would you use a Barlow to see?

So I have a Celestron 6se and am using the wifi module with the Celestrons skyportal app and was wondering if anyone is doing the same or has migrated over to Skysafari and has found it to be better to use?

I had a rep from a company tell me the 5-8% ? He said that for the approx 5-8% better view that one would get from getting very expensive eye pieces or single eye pieces rather then using a zoom, for most people if wouldn’t be worth it? As the difference would not amount to anything significant?

White Dwarf- thanks for the articles, great reviews. The Zoom review, basically said that really the Celestron zoom ( bargain) worked just as well as the higher cost zooms reviewed and that they were “a hair better”? I believe the click zooms are better at not having to focus again after changing magnifications?? For me I believe that if with a single eye piece i am only going to improve the view by lets say 5-8% over the use of a zoom its not that big of difference to justify $65.00 on average for each individual eye piece from 8mm on up? Now as I get more experience and want to see the finer points of a planet etc.. then yes. But starting out, it may be best focusing on getting the object in focus, learning to see which mag works best for you and practicing on skills??? am I wrong?

Isn’t 18mm eye relief pretty good? That’s what the zoom i was looking at listed it as? (Apertura 9mm - 27mm Zoom Eyepiece - ZOOM927), The Baader is 12-15mm which is still really good right?

Thanks so much for the input. I have reads many reviews on the zooms and have found that for the most part they have received no less then 4 out of 5 stars, with ease of use, being able to not have to refocus as much and the clarity has been praised as being on par or at times better then single eye pieces? It seems as though as i have quickly learned that most items come down to user preference and not so much that a single eye piece is going to give anyone 50% better viewing then a zoom. From what i have been told that for most eye pieces from mid to expensive, one might achieve Maybe 5-8% better viewing in general? Don’t expect a drastic change just because something is really expensive? When using my 25mm piece that i got with my 6se i was thrilled at the FOV, so if the zoom that i am looking at goes from 40*-60* which is in line with what the 25mm (60*)gives me, i would be happy? If i want to look at nebulae then I could just get a 32mm? Am I off base with my thinking???

I spoke with a very nice man with Highpoint scientific and asked about the zoom lens... Highpoint Scientific Apertura 9mm - 27mm Zoom Eyepiece - ZOOM927?? This may be a good starting point for me. It allows one to focus(no pun intended) on the basics of astronomy, the scope etc.. at first, without having to deal with removing eyepieces, and will do the job. Starting out this way may give me what i need and i can move to single eyepieces as I begin to learn the finer points??

Thanks so much!! Would going in 5-10mm increments , lets starting at 25mm, 15mm, 10mm be a good start, to get more clarity? I was trying to look at Saturn yesterday with the 25mm but, was not clear and focusing did not do much?

My first time on this forum and thanks to all who help many of us who are just starting out! Just got a Nexstar 6se and as many of you know it comes with a 25mm? If one wants to view the planets , would i start with the 25mm to get the planet in focus and then move to another EP to get greater detail of a planet? I find most people seem to comment on doing that? So if i wanted to view for example Saturn... what would be a good step by step method, with the eyepieces? So without getting into the very specifics of eyepieces, I would hope someone could as best as possible relay their viewing method in simple laymen’s terms? And if it a matter of switching out between two EP’s will they work for most scenarios when viewing planets? Thanks so much!