Which budget eyepiece set?

[BWBlackett]

Has anyone any experience of either/both of these sets and able to provide any recommendations? Or am I better off buying a couple of single eyepieces for the same kind of price?

Revelation Eyepiece/Filter set £99

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

or

Sky-Watcher Eyepiece & Filter set £69

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=21&strPageHistory=cat

Any help appreciated,

Brian.

[Kai]

I havent used either bit the Revalation gets good reviews

[Andrew*]

tough call. I think the revelation set is rather good. However, you'll probably find yourself soon wanting an ortho to replace the 6mm, and a wide FOV 2" to replace the 32mm.

Which scope are you going to be using? I might suggest you offer this guy £35 for the 25mm and 10mm plossl EPs (I rather like them):

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=11551

and this top-notch barlow:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=11322

then wait around for an ortho for planets. should get one for well under £30.

That's around £100 for decent set of eyepieces.

Alternatively, get 15 for £270, keep the best 5, and sell the rest off individually!

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=11563

Andrew

[blinky]

The revelation gets a very good write up. Have a search round here I am sure somebody did a review a few months ago. I woukd go with Andrew's idea, a nice cheap Ortho for planets a decent 2nd hand Barlow a couple of decent mid power Plossl's and a nice 2" 30mm or thereabouts for widefield. If you shop around you should be able to put it together for around the same price.

But.... As said the revelation is a good set and you might prefer a set in a nice box etc and it gives you them all at once etc.

[BWBlackett]

It's for a Skyliner 200P

[FLO]

The Revelation eyepiece set (sourced from the Taiwanese GSO factory) is the better set, but then it is more expensive...

The thing that baffles me about the Skywatcher set is the 2mm (on your 200P it gives 600x magnification, more than the telescope or Earth's atmosphere can support!). If they were to change it for a 20 or 30mm, it'd be a much more useful selection.

[Kai]

2mm ........Why ???

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

2mm ? I've got a little SW EP, 5mm I think, and I can't find the hole to look down without a magnifying glass. What's a 2mm going to be like, or for?

Captain Chaos

[John]

2mm ........Why ???

To use with a 5x barlow of course - 5,000x in my C8 "for those rare evenings of really exceptional seeing ..." :)

John

[Kai]

2mm ........Why ???

To use with a 5x barlow of course - 5,000x in my C8 "for those rare evenings of really exceptional seeing ..." :)

John

:)

[dazza1639]

If its a set that you are after I would highly recommend the Revelation Eyepiece/Filter from Steve at FLO. I have just bought one of these sets and had first light last night and I can honestly say that they are great, a 1000% better than the eyepieces that came bundled with my skywatcher scope, the views where clear Saturn looked great. I would also recommend getting them from Steve at First Light Optics his customer service is second to none give him a call he will answer any of your questions and will advise you on what is best for your situation.

Darren

[Merlin]

Your telescope,Brian,deserves the best eyepieces you can afford. Avoid cheap eyepiece sets, as you only get what you pay for despite the retailing hype. Cheap eyepieces are plagued with outer-field coma,etc.

Start with a couple of premium eyepieces,say, 18mm and 9mm BAADER orthoscopics, and build around them.

[SteelRat]

A cheap set can be a great starting point - but the best eyepiece set you'll ever get is one you've taken time and consideration to build up yourself piece by piece, ie; an eyepiece 'collection'. This is something you'll end up with wether you buy a cheap set now or not, as you'll probably just end up replacing most of a set bit by bit anyhoo.

I still have four filters and the flight case from my old set - glad of it too.

Have fun!

[FLO]

I take your point Merlin but an orthoscopics narrow FOV (even the Baaders 47 degrees is narrow when compared to a Plossl) might prove frustrating when used with a Dobsonian or other undriven mount. The Plossls wider (52 degrees) FOV means less 'nudging' the tube across the sky. Also, at f6, the Skyliner 200P isn't especially fast so a good Plossl ought to work fine.

Most eyepiece sets around £100 are poor value for money, containing suspect designs and/or poorly selected focal-lengths. The Revelation eyepiece set, with its six four-element, multi-coated, 52 degree Plossls (from the GSO factory) is different

An alternative is to buy two or three premium quality designs such as Meade's Series 5000 60 degree Super Plossls but three of those would cost approx twice as much as the Revelation eyepiece set.

[Merlin]

I have a 20cm/f.6 Dob, Steve, and I use Plossls and orthos. I use TV Plossls down to 15mm and orthos below this because Plossls only have 75% of the eye-relief of orthos: as you know, an ortho's eye-relief is equal to its focal length.

My BAADER orthos give better definition than the TVs and right to the edge of the field. Personally, I think there's too much emphasis on field-of-view these days. Brightness and clarity are ,to my mind, more crucial in astronomy than FOV. I use an old,but good, gun-sight eyepiece for sweeping.

I find the field in my orthos perfectly satisfactory for: doubles, globulars and compact open clusters, planetary nebulae, galaxies and fine lunar and planetary detail. I wouldn't swop my BAADER orthos for Naglers.

[FLO]

I agree with your comments on the excellent Baader orthoscopics, I feel as though I haven't finished observing an object unless I have popped in an ortho'. I also agree with your comments on Field Of View - the eye can only take in about 70 degrees without tilting the head to see the edges anyway.

My experience with Dobsonians is different in that I prefer using eyepieces of about 60-70 degrees.

I used to have an eclectic mix of eyepieces: Kellners, Plossls, orthos', wide-fields and Super-wides, including Panoptics and Naglers!

I sold almost all of them when raising money for FLO. Recently, I celebrated her first six-months by buying the Meade Series 5000 eyepiece set. Thier 60 degree FOV and optical quality suits me fine and after my previous 'collection' I like it that they are set - they are all parfocal and each has its own space in the case.

Of course, if money were no object I'd have a set of Pentax XW eyepieces and a 5mm XO..... one day 8)

[Merlin]

My first post was to emphasise that it's better to build up an eyepiece collection starting with a couple of inexpensive but premium orthos than wasting money on cheap eyepiece sets.

The MEADE 5000 series eyepiece is a different animal from the Plossl. The former have five or six lens-elements, whereas the Plossol (also known as the Symmetrical) has just four,arranged as two cemented doublets.

[FLO]

The MEADE 5000 series eyepiece is a different animal from the Plossl. The former have five or six lens-elements, whereas the Plossol (also known as the Symmetrical) has just four,arranged as two cemented doublets.

And it shows

[Merlin]

I dare say that it "shows" in terms of field-of-view, Steve, but what about brightness and clarity? I don't see how adding extra lenses to an eyepiece can improve the latter conditions.

Assuming equal quality of construction, a "simple" eyepiece will always beat a "complex" eyepiece for brightness and sharpness.

[FLO]

With better glass, coatings, edge blackening and manufacturing tolerances, any one of the Meade series 5000 eyepieces will outperform a Revelation Plossl in brightness and clarity. At £75+ for a single eyepiece (compared to £99 for six Revelations) it ought to...

The simpler orthoscopic and Plossl designs offer better 'bang for buck' as the Americans say. With only four elements and modern manufacturing processes they are comparatively easy to produce which, coming full circle, is why the GSO manufactured Revelations represent such good value for money.

Other than my preference for wider FOV (for Dobsonians) and my liking the Revelation eyepiece set, I think we agree on everything said

<EDIT> http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,17977.0.html

[tom.yates]

Brian send me your address mate i have a 25mm plossl as new you can have it, Just pay the postage

In my experience you should buy the best eyepieces you can afford don't forget they are a important part in the chain so good mirror/ lens good eyepieces= good views

GOOD MIRROR/LENS + BAD EYEPIECES= BAD VIEWS Don't compromise on quality save the pennies and wait

[MartinB]

My impression is that the quality improvement you will get when forking out on eye pieces is very dependent on the scope you are using. A high F ratio scope such as a mak or SCT is going to be a lot less demanding than an F5 dob. This hobby is expensive enough without wasting money on luxuries which aren't going to deliver good bangs per buck. A moonfish 32mm UWA is a great EP with my NS8 but isn't good anywhere near as good with an F7.5 ED80.

[Andrew*]

Back to the topic in hand, I would suggest that Brian choose the Revelation set if he can see the advantages of 6 parfocal EPs, and a safe, smart case to go with. For £99 - 10% + postage, I can't see that being a regrettable investment at all.

After that, he might consider a decent barlow (the Ultima that I mentioned is apparently one of the best for it's price), a long F/L 2" eyepiece for wide field milky-way and DSO viewing, and a high power ortho or two for the planets.

with that selection, I can't see him needing another eyepiece until he wins the lottery and will accept nothing less than Naglers!

Andrew

[dazza1639]

I've used my revelation eyepiece kit a few times now and its great. I highly recommend it.

Darren

[BWBlackett]

Thanks everyone for all your responses.

It looks like I will go for the Revelation set and wait for the lottery win.

Brian.