which planetary eye piece

[astroeddie]

Guys,

In August, I'm buying two new eye pieces for my 300mm Dob.

My query is, which is the best eye piece in the £100 range ?

I read in a S@N article that the Orion Epics, are best, in their view. Second place where the Baader Ortho's. I now have a 5mm Baader Ortho. But wondered if I where to get another e/p in the 6-8mm range.

Eddie

[Nexus 6]

Hi Ed, the Orthos do get some great feedback, I have the 7mm, its given some outstanding views on the Moon using the cpc 925, when I had a look at Saturn it was not quite as good although that was probably down to atmospherics rather than the quality of the ep.

Well worth a try.

[astroeddie]

I used the 5mm Ortho on my brothers old 200mm dob. Saturn was crystal and sharp.

Maybe hold on and see what my scope views are like then.

Cheers Eddie

[Nexus 6]

I used the 5mm Ortho on my brothers old 200mm dob. Saturn was crystal and sharp.

Maybe hold on and see what my scope views are like then.

Cheers Eddie

Ye, am wondering how Jupiter is going to appear with the 7mm.

had my best views of Saturn at 180x, cpc 925/ 13mm Nagler, stunning

[great_bear]

I read in a S@N article that the Orion Epics, are best, in their view.

[*COUGH* Splats coffee mouthful out in shock...]

Orion Epics? They are widely disliked due to their excessively long eye relief and tendency to kidney-bean.

In general, it's a bad idea to buy any Orion USA equipment here in the UK. We're wildly overcharged for it and in most cases, similar (or even identical) equipment can be bought under other brand names for much, much less.

With regard to the Baader Orthos, you'll not get a better planetary view without moving in to the realm of discontinued, expensive collectors eyepieces. The most widely-quoted review is Bill Paolini's <here> and few would disagree with its findings.

For simple, classic, non-widefield eyepieces for planetary use, the list of "best" contenders off-the-shelf is surprisingly small:

- Baader Othos

- TeleVue Plossls

- Circle-T Orthos

- Brandon Orthoscopics

- Pentax XOs

Sure there are other eyepieces around, such as the TMB derivitives, the Paradigm/BSTs etc. but nothing really in the class of those above, and only the first three in the list are in the sub-£100 category.

It's a bit off a toss-up between the TeleVue Plossls and Baader Orthos to be honest - both have their fans. In the end it's more likely to come down to which one feels nicest in your own hands - or a good match in focal length - rather than any specific optical quality difference.

In your scope, I'd go for a 7mm to add to your 5mm; it's not really a worthwhile jump to the 6mm, and the 7mm will be more on the safer side of good seeing with your scope.

[astroeddie]

It was a group test review in one of last winters S@N mags.

I already have a 5mm Baader Ortho, and a TV 11mm Plossl. Thanks for the above info, much appreciated. I'll get a 7mm Baader Ortho and 24mm Hyperion to complement my eye piece collection.

Then its a matter of DS filters, another head ache in itself.

Cheers Ed

[johninderby]

One other eyepiece that may surprise you is the new Celestron X-Cel LX series.

I've been testing one of the 25mm LXs for solar observing and in a head to head with a Circle T 25mm Ortho it showed more surface detail than the Ortho. Now that was just on solar, but still the initial impressions are very promising. Looking forward to further testing of the 25mm and also the 18mm on general all-round observing.

I'd like to try one of the higher powered LXs to see if they perform as well for planetary observing.

John

[Damo636]

Hi Ed, i have to agree with Greatbear that the Baader orthos are superb for planetary observation. I have just sold a 7mm to a mate to help fund a 9mm ep (going through a sort of widefield revolution at the minute). My 5 and 6mm will be going nowhere though because nothing i have looked through has equaled or bettered them. The Circle T orthos are also excellent. I had a 6 and 9mm University Optics branded versions and they can be snapped up used for around 30 quid a pop. Regarding the 24mm Hyperion i think you may end up disapointed with it. I upgraded from one a couple of weeks ago to a 24mm Panoptic. I found the 24mm to be the weakest in the Hyperion line up. I was using it at f5.9 and it was ok but only sharp for about 80-85% of the fov. I think in your 300p at f4.9 it would be a lot worse.

[DaveS]

Without wishing to threadjack, has anyone had experiance of the WO SPL eyepieces?

I'm half on the lookout for planetary EPs myself, and since I wear glasses (Astigmatism) was atracted to their long eye-relief at short FLs

Or am I barking up the wrong tree? Or just plain barking?

Dave

[rwilkey]

Dave, I have a couple of the WO SPL EP's and in my opinion they are extremely good, but reading the reviews of the BGO's, I am sure they may be better, though I have not had the opportunity to try them.

[spaceboy]

Another vote for the BGO's!

[DaveS]

Thanks guys

Dave

[great_bear]

Dave, I have a couple of the WO SPL EP's and in my opinion they are extremely good

Yes, the general concensus seems to be that - in terms of optical quality - they lie somewhere between the TMBs and BGOs, and beat both in terms of comfort during use.

William Optics sell them in 3, 6, and 12.5mm <here>, but if you're prepared to accept an alternative, unbranded "fit and finish" you can get optically identical eyepieces in 5mm and 9mm lengths as shown <here> (there are 14.5 and 18mm versions available too, but these are not so well-reviewed).

It's just a shame we can't get the alternative versions at the same knock-down price that they're available in the USA <here>... (less than half the price that we pay in the UK)