can i get ratings on these eps.

[chunky]

hi im looking at these eps and barlows. i was wondering if these are good ep and will be good in my scope,200p dob.

meade 4000 32 mm super plossel vs First Light Optics - Skywatcher SP Plossl eyepieces skywatcher 32mm sp plossel

and what is the ,meade wa 18mm ep like?

and is this a good barlow? meade 4000 140 barlow

thanks

chunky

[Capricorn]

Looking at the Meade EP's I have they are all 4000's and they all came with the Meade scopes. So they seem to be the standard ones that are issued as part of a kit. Notice that only the boxes say 4000, nothing on the eyepieces say it.

So don't think they are great neither are they fit only for the bin. Just decent middle ground plossl eyepieces.

Assume that the Skywatcher ones are similar. I would ignore the word Super. Unless like the Meade 5000 Plossl's thay are not actually plossl's.

I am guessing that the Meade WA is made by GSO and is very similar to the WO SWANs ??

Is it 68 degree? Think that is the WO FoV. 5 elements in 3 groups if I recall.

If WO equivilants then they are OK but are rated to f/6, is your scope f/5 ?

If so then the edges will probably be poor, in which case ypou may as well get something slightly narrower and at least have a sharp image across it all.

[John]

Capricorn has covered the plossls nicely but I'll add something on the Meade 18mm WA if I may. I bought one of these in the USA for what seemed a bargain price about 7 years ago. It turns out that it's specially made for Meades 60mm and 70mm ETX scopes and performs quite badly in most other scopes. It's focus position is also very odd compared to standard eyepieces which is an additional annoyance. I sold mine rather quickly I recall !.

As an alternative to the Meade and Skywatcher plossls it's worth looking at those made by GSO. Their cost is reasonable and their quality pretty good - they have been compared favorably with the Tele Vue plossls.

[great_bear]

Looking at the Meade EP's I have they are all 4000's and they all came with the Meade scopes. So they seem to be the standard ones that are issued as part of a kit. Notice that only the boxes say 4000, nothing on the eyepieces say it.

Confusingly, the 4000 Series eyepieces are not necessarily the same Series 4000 eyepieces that come with Meade scopes. It depends on the scope, but some of the scope-supplied 4000s fall somewhat short of the shop-bought Series 4000 eyepieces, which are good quality eyepieces, although not very exciting

[bish]

I used 3 meade 4000 eps for a couple years. I think they are very good value decent quality eps

[rwilkey]

The word 'super' when coined with a plossl, usually means an extra lens element between the two symetrical doublets inside the ep, which lends itself to the 5 elements, 3 groups description. Unless it has this extra element, which usually gives a better FOV and better eye relief, I don't think it can be correctly described as a 'super' plossl. I think some manufacturers use this as a sales ploy to be honest.