Eye pieces for Nexstar 4SE

[starfish_001]

I am interested in better views of the planets. The 4Se comes with a 25 mm eye piece.

Reading around

Nexstar 4SE: Buying Eyepieces, but do I need filters?

Zoom Eyepieces - A direct comparison. - Astronomy Forums | Telescope Forums & Reviews | Astronomy Community

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/161590-celestron-nexstar-4-xlt-se-eye-piece.html

I like th idea of a zoom as it is easy to flip betweens mag levels, from my research the best options appear to be at reasonable prices, ideally I'd like to spend less than £100:

SkyWatcher 8-24mm

Price - £60

Optics - 88%

AFOV - 40°-60°

Positive - No internal reflections

Negative - Colours muted

Celestron 8-24mm

Price - £76

Optics - 85%

AFOV - 40°-60°

Positive - Good Colour rendition

Negative - Prominent internal reflections

Meade series 4000 8-24mm

Price - £126

Optics - 93%

AFOV - 40°-55°

Positive - Excellent Deep Sky views

Negative - Some internal reflections

So the option combinations I have come up with after a fair bit of reading

Opt1

Celestron 8-24 mm Zoom (£85)

6mm TMB Designed Planetary (£36) - people have reported success at this high mag

Opt2

SkyWatcher 8-24mm (£59)

6mm TMB Designed Planetary (£36)

Opt3

Meade Series 4000 8-24 mm Zoom Eyepiece

Opt4

A combination of fixed - not so keen because of the change overs - is the qaulity ging to be that much better

• 8mm TMB Designed Planetary (£36),
  
• 18mm BST Explorer (£38),
  
• 32mm Meade Plossl (£42)
  

I can see that I am thinking about this too much but what would you recommend remembering I am a beginner with a F/13, zooms are very appealing?

Any advice appreciated

[Ags]

I'm sure I've seen this thread before... As skyWatcher and Celestron are the same company I expect the zooms should be the same optically.

[damnut]

Hi Starfish_001,

You just might get a second hand Hyperion zoom for your budget. They have a great reputation.

Cheers

[starfish_001]

I'm sure I've seen this thread before... As skyWatcher and Celestron are the same company I expect the zooms should be the same optically.

Sorry you have kinda - I rewrote my earlier post - linked in the first post here intending to add to the end but created a new post instead - if a mod can combine that would be great

[Ags]

I started with a 9mm TMB and then got the 6mm after confirming the view was sharp at 9mm. But everyone's eyes are different.

[ronin]

My thoughts match AGS. Celestron and Skywatcher being the same. Yet the positive and negitive are "flipped".

Seems a bit strange.

As said elsewhere an eyepiece can be good to one person and wanting to another. The 4SE should accept most reasonable eyepieces and give good views.

A zoom will, all things considered, not be as good as individual eyepieces. It has to do the work of several eyepieces and the manufacturers have the mechanics of making it a zoom. These costs come out of somewhere or you have to pay a lot.

You say you like the ease of flipping between magnification.

OK, first question, do you have to grip the eyepiece to change magnification? If so then the zoom has to come out of the scope. Grip and change when in the scope and the scope will be moved from the object and the goto is then useless as wherever you have moved it to is where the scope thinks the object is. You will have to manually locate, center and press PAE or its equivilent. Next when changing magnification I presume that the focus will alter so you would then need to refocus.

Not I suspect as simple as first expected.

The advantage of a zoom is that you only have to carry one eyepiece. I think that is the only advantage. However I can see the usefulness of this, just don't expect one to be the answer to everything. If a zoom was as good as 4 single eyepieces and had no disadvantage compared to them then we would all have a selection of 2 or 3 zooms only. Economics would make it the sensible choice.

[Herbig]

Like a lot of things there is no one size fits all, there are always compromises and zooms are no exception. Anyway, what's the problem with changing ep's?

[anuvid]

Brantuk speaks highly of the Hyperion Zoom.

[starfish_001]

at the moment I am leaning towards the Meade Series 4000 8-24 mm Zoom Eyepiece.

[Ags]

The zooms I have seen recommended are the baader, pentax, speer-WALER and televue zooms. The baader is by far the most affordable of these. The speer and TV zooms only cover short focal lengths, while the pentax and baader cover a wider range.