(Yet another) EP Discussion thread

[blinky]

OK I recieved my 26mm 2" from Steve yesterday, what a lovely piece of kit it is!

BUT i am in the market in the next 4-6weeks for another couple of EP's. I have got the 26mm Wide Angle 2" for the nice widefield shots.

I have also got a nice 7mm (or 5 or 9mm or something, too cold/wet to go check) Ortho for high mag views of Saturn and hopefuly Jupiter and Mars later this year.

I would now like something around the 30-60quid mark (nearer the 30 if you please ) that will give me an in between magnification as well as wide AFOV, I am thinking about a 15mm EP. I have spotted 2 potentials. One is a william optics one Blurb below:

WILLIAM OPTICS

How many comparable EPs at this price? This 5-element super-wide angle EP’s panoramic views at 72 deg. F.O.V. will leave you speechless. For day and night!

Comes in a just under £60

or this from Astronomica

This is a high quality, fully multi-coated, 5-element eyepiece, featuring a modern optical design.

It offers extremely well corrected 67 degree wide-field vistas, with pin-point sharp stars right across the field and excellent eye-relief. They can be used on "fast" telescopes - telescopes with a short focal ratio - while still retaining respectable field sharpness.

They come complete with fold-down rubber eye-shield. 1.25"/31.7mm fitting.

It comes in at £49

I have heard of william Optics 'Scopes as well as focusers but dont know anything about the EP's. Astronomica I know nowt about.

Whats the opinions folks?

BTW I am also thinking of a 2X barlow lens in the same price bracket, and am wondering about a 2" one, this would give me (obviously) 13MM on my 26mm 2" but I have a 2" to 1.25" adapter that I could use as well for the rest of my lenses.

[daz]

Astronomica will be a badged run-of-the-mill I guess.

You could look at

Antares Elite - 55.99, 52 degrees (I have the 10 - it's great!!!)

Meade Series 5000 - 75.00 14mm, 60 degree

Barlows

Celestron Ultima

Orion Shorty Plus (I have this - it's great!!!)

Meade APO Barlow

[blinky]

Hmm... Some options worth thinking about there. The Antares is a 52degrees fov is that regarded as wide angle? I know it is not the widest possible but I dont know the AFOV of my current plossls. What would you say is the average AFOV of a 'cheap' plossl? 30degrees maybe? If so then this would be better than my current ones. The Meade series 5000 look quite good although they are a bit more expensive but not too much so. Do you think the Meade EP's would be better than the William Optics one?

[blinky]

Just found a review of the Wiliiam Optics EP and it got a good review in longer F ratio's but in faster scopes (Like my F5 newt) it did not perform well.

The Meade is looking good!

[GazOC]

Plossls (even cheap ones) are usually ~52 deg (except the 32mm and 40mm in the 1.25" fitting due to the field stop), anything under 60 - 65 deg isn't considered 'wide' these days.

[FLO]

The Meade is looking good!

I have one - it is good.

Blinky, you are welcome to borrow it

[blinky]

Steve,

How much does it cost to buy from you? It looks like the choice is between this and the Antares W70 EP's.

I am swithering between the 2!

[FLO]

Following our tel conversation

[GazOC]

You love those FOV diagrams, eh Steve?

[FLO]

Those charts are worth their weight in gold

It's why I am still using StarryNight PRO V4.5! When I upgrade, I'll have to re-enter dozens of scopes/eyepieces in the FOV listing

[blinky]

Steve whats the SP4000 that is mentioned on the diagram? The second one out from the centre?

[FLO]

It's the Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl; it isn't wide-field but it is a good eyepiece.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ms4000sp

[GazOC]

When I upgrade, I'll have to re-enter dozens of scopes/eyepieces in the FOV listing

A 'cloudy night job' eh?

[blinky]

Well I am really not sure now :?

Looks like I need quite a high magnification EP. Maybe the 9mm Series 5000? I never thought it was this complicated!