In search of contrast and detail

[jkwhinfrey]

Hi,

I've got an f5 130P with 26mm and 9mm Meade 5000 EPs. I'm primarily interested in planetary and double star observation, but some clean view of the Orion nebula would be good

I can get a nice sharp 72x from my 9mm with a bit of coma around the edges, and I've barlowed it up to 144x which seems to be a bit of a push. The image lacks sharpness and contrast, but I'm not sure whether it's the Scope or the Skywatcher deluxe Barlow that came with it.

At any rate I'd like to fill in this large gap with a 6mm EP to give me ~108x, and I've got my eye on a couple of potential candidates

6mm Baader Genuine Ortho

6mm Williams Optics SPL

I'm hoping these would provide sharp contrasty images - conditions allowing of course - with Saturn in prospect and for splitting some trickier doubles.

Does anyone have experience with either or both of these EPs? Any advice/observations would be gratefully received

[Geys1987]

I'm probably going to buy the 6mm BGO. I have already the longer focal lengths and from there performance I think the 6mm will be a nice eyepiece, especially for getting the last photon out of my telescope into my eye. Keep in mind that the FOV will be small (around 40°) and eye relief will be short.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The BGO 6mm has only 4-5mm eye relief (70-80% of focal length). With glasses this is a real issue (I loved my 25mm ortho, and hated my 5mm).

Planetary EPs (TMB and clones), Vixen NLVs, and TV Radians have more eye relief.

[Damo636]

Hi James. The 6mm BGO is a cracking eyepiece and will deliver unrivaled sharpness and contrast. The trade off is a narrow 40 degree fov and rather tight eye relief. In saying that though i found the 6mm easy enough to use. Another to consider would be the Celestron X CEL-LX. I haven't used them but they are getting rave reviews on here. The 5mm would be a useful f/l for planetary and double star work with your scope i reckon.

[rwilkey]

Hi, I have the William Optics 6mm and it is a great ep, good eye relief and FoV of 55 degrees, much bettter than the BGO's, which I have never taken to, good contrasty image in my scopes (see below), better in the C100ED, of course, but I can't fault the ep, fantastic build quality and a nice ep to handle in the dark.

[spaceboy]

Another vote for the BGO. By far my favorite EP's but be aware they have a very short FOV, can eat up a lot of focus travel and have tight eye relief. If you can live with the above the sharpness and contrast of these EP's are superb and for how much they cost S/H I doubt there is another EP out there that can compete.

[John]

The Baader Genuine Ortho's are up there with the very best optically and that means minimum light scatter and maximum contrast and sharpness. The trade off is their tight eye relief and a slightly narrower field of veiw in common with other orthoscopics.

In terms of outright performance I believe they are as good as it gets for £50 or a bit less, used.

Having said that, many people are quite happy to trade just a bit of ultimate performance for a wide field of view and the comfort of more generous eye relief and something like the Celestron X-Cel LX or the William Optics SPL are excellent choices too.

Personally I find that I can be in either "camp" so I've some Orthos as well as my widefield / longer eye relief eyepieces

As is said so many times, choosing eyepieces is a very personal thing

[jkwhinfrey]

Thanks for all the comments and recommendations. It seems things are divided, as expected if I'm honest. As noted above, EPs are a very personal choice.

I'm not a wearer of glasses, and FOV isn't of prime importance to me for this EP at least. On the other hand tight eye relief can make prolonged viewing quite tiring... or is that just me?

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether manual EQ mount tracking has any impact on eye relief? Weird question, I know, but getting close to the EP leaves you right on top of the mount.

[rwilkey]

Hi James, no impact at all, I am very patient when tracking on my EQ mount, at least you only have to track in one direction (RA) instead of two as with an AZ mount. The SW mount has slow-motion controls, as do many mounts and this makes life easy in my view. You are quite right, ep's are a very personal thing/choice, and you'll have to go with your heart, also some experimentation goes with the territory, as I have always found.

[great_bear]

I'm not sure whether it's the Scope or the Skywatcher deluxe Barlow that came with it.

Are you sure it's the "Deluxe" Barlow?

My 130P came with the "standard" Barlow - which is of almost criminally poor quality, and will destroy the quality of view of any eyepiece, regardless of price. Quite honestly - speaking as a 130P owner - I'd have thought that with the 9mm and 26mm Series 5000 eyepieces and a quality 2x Barlow, you're pretty much set.

P.S. I found the 6mm BGO - good though it is - just too uncomfortable for prolonged use.

[jkwhinfrey]

You know great_bear, having checked just now, I'm not sure. So a good barlow might be in order, thanks for pointing out the obvious... shame I didn't notice that before

The images with my barlow are bright, so light's not an issue, and unbarlowed the 130P feels like there's a lot more to give. It's a good little scope.

You're probably right about the range of EPs I've already got, but this is more a question of want rather than need. Still it's something to think about, thanks.