Eyepiece/ Filter Sets... opinions please!

[WhySoSirius]

Not long until my birthday so im trying to think of something to spend birthday money on... assuming i get any at all!

My scope is a Celestron nexstar 130 slt, bearing in mind i have the 9mm and 25mm eyepieces that came with the scope, plus a celestron omni 2x barlow i bought seperately, which of these 2 sets would be more worth it for me? First Light Optics - Eyepiece Sets

Would i have trouble focusing with anything less than a 9mm eyepiece?

As always, any advice would be much appreciated.

[jana]

I was looking at the celestron kit a little while back but after some advice from the wonderful guys on here ended up going for the baader zoom mk3, a bit more expensive but could not find the mk2 second hand at all. the zoom is an excellent ep and I am very pleased with it, just thought i'd throw that other option in there for you to ponder too.

[wrinkly]

Good advice in the sticky in this forum.

Needs a bit of maths but even I could manage that. Have a read, get the pencil out and see what do you really need.

Whatever, Happy Birthday, when it arrives.

p.s. When you reach my age, birthdays aren't celebrated.

[obscura]

I would have thought a 15mm eyepiece and maybe a 20mm to fill the gap. That'd give you a range from 5mm to 25mm and a few filters sold in sets. This assumes planetry use.

Hope this helps, but others know better than I

[haitch]

Put it to a bigger scope...go on you know you want to

[Donkeiller]

I bought the Celestron kit and have found it very good with my ED80 (f/7.5) and 6SE (f/10). I'm pretty sure the EPs are rebranded GSOs.

The 4 mm and 6mm are a little short on eye relief, but I find them perfectly useable- and alot better than a TMB 3.2mm "Planetary" I bought for high-power viewing.

The carry case is very convenient. You can kick out/sell the filters (they are not much use IMO) and use the space for a nice dielectric 1.25" diagonal, a couple of decent filters (Moon and UHC/OIII) and a small red light torch.

I don't reckon you can go wrong for the price. I got mine for £125

[jamespels]

One thing that was missing fron the sticky when I read it last (Jan / Feb) is that, if you need to wear spectacles, Plossls generally won't be suitable under about 12mm - the eye relief is proportinal to focal length and I ended up with my glasses lens touching the EP at 12mm. I have Plossls down to 25mm and a 6mm TMB Planetary II - so far, the TMB has been excellent for me.

If you don't wear specs, ignore this. If you do wear specs but only for power (i.e. you have no substantial astigmatism or other odd shape to your eye) the scope's focuser should be able to accommodate itand you can again ignore this comment.

Good luck & happy shopping!

J.

[jamespels]

Meant to say, when I was asking earlier this year, the general opinion seemed to be that the Revelation set was better value than the Celestron one, but I don't think there was much in it.

[WhySoSirius]

Thanks for all the advice people! I read the sticky on eye pieces as suggested. Helpful stuff. i always wondered what these f/numbers meant! I think im leaning towards the celestron set at the moment, though im sure i'll change my mind a few more times before i splash out!

[MorningMajor]

I wonder how much use you'll get out of the 4mma and 6mm - the 9mm with a Barlow will cover those options.

5 EP's + filters and a Barlow for that price means that they won't be off the highest quality - could be worth considering spending the money on a couple of higher quality lenses with a barlow - I'm not going to advise which as I haven't enough experience - but just a thought

[WhySoSirius]

I agree the 4mm may not be much use. having done some shopping around tho ive noticed that there seems to be 2 different types of celestron sets sets floating around. one set i.e the one from FLO includes 4,6,9,15 and 32mm ep's and the other set (from amazon) has 6,8,13,17 and 32mm ep's. the amazon one seems the better bet as the 4mm may be no good, and i already have a 9mm.

who knows! ah well, even if none of the ep's are any good, at least il have a nice box to keep my stuff in.

[brantuk]

I have the Celestron kit and wish I'd known about the Revelation one when I bought it. Imho the Rev set is more useable, slightly better quality, and more photo flexible. The Celestron one though isn't what it says on the box - there's actually only one multi element plossl in the set. But I'd never buy another kit in this price bracket - the best thing is usually the ally cases lol.

I'd advise you to get two or three better ep's than what you've got to fill out the range. Or get a Baader Hyperion Zoom second hand for around £100 to £120 (my preferred option). The zoom is 5 ep's in one, two or three times better quality than what you have, gives a decent range, and allows you to attach a dslr with the correct adaptor. And it's crystal clear. Avoid kits like the plague lol

[jamespels]

As you can see from my sig, I bought a few slightly higher quality ones rather than one set. The ones I have are fine for my 6" TAL newt. Admittedly I haven't been out nearly enough with it but I haven't noticed any gaps.

With the 32, 24, 6 and 2x barlow, I get 32 (37.5x mag), 24 (50x), 16 (75x), 12 (100x), 6 (200x), 3(400x). Obviously the 3mm is pretty much useless in all but the very best seeing but you can see there is a good spread there. With the ones you have already you are only missing one or two for a similar spread - I would recommend spending the money one one or two decent quality EPs than a set (or maybe the Hyperion Zoom but I have no experience of this).

[hawker]

really good thread.

I have got an ED80 and am thinking of getting some EPs....Is it really worth avoiding the sets and going for something different?

any thoughts much appreciated.

[Telrad]

I agree, stay clear of sets that come with a variety of filters and a red light torch.

[Donkeiller]

Hawker, I have an ED80 and the Celestron 1.25" EP set. I'm finding the latter very good.

I find I can use all the EPs, including the 4mm, without discomfort, but there again I don't wear specs. I intend to use the kit until I find EPs that are clearly better.

So far the TMB 3.2mm I bought has proved less good thanthe 4 or 6mm (with Barlow)