10mm eyepiece

[Kedvenc]

I've heard many people say that the 10mm eyepiece that comes with the skywatchers scopes is quite bad. I'm working out what eyepieces to upgrade to and still in the process of learning what I really enjoy observing to make some good decisions. I'm interested to find out what people think is bad about this eyepiece and what would improve with a better quality EP of the same focal length. Cheers.

[GazK]

The approach I took was to buy 1 good quality midpower eyepiece - in my case a 19mm Panoptic - and a decent Barlow.

[miguel87]

To be honest, the only eyepieces I own are the original 25mm and 10mm SW pieces and the 3.6mm that completes the collection. I find them basic but by far a high enough quality for everything I need to see.

[RikM]

The kit 10mm is not as bad as people make it out to be. For me, it was uncomfortable to use because I wear glasses to observe and the short eyerelief of the super 10mm means I have to get too close to the lens.

Until I got my XW7, I used the standard 10mm with a barlow as a high power combo for planets and it was okay. Compared to the Pentax the image with the super 10 is dimmer, there is not as much contrast and it has a yellow cast to the view that I don't much like (but the yellow could come from the SW barlow).

[brantuk]

The approach I took was slightly nuttier - I started buying eyepieces till it became an addiction that I've only just managed to shake off with a period of cold turkey lol.

The eyepieces supplied with mass produced scopes tend to be not so bad as I used to think. However they're not the best - they're just enough to get you going with your new scope and keep the money spent in the actual scope.

They tend to be £15 or £20 plossls - the center is usually reasonably clear but they fade towards the edges with blurring and oddly shaped stars, and not as sharp as better products. Eyepices also magnify the effects of the atmosphere which is denser with lower objects near the horizon, which can be mistaken for a bad eyepieces to the inexperienced observer.

Also if you pop the 10mm in a barlow in your scope it will give you 240x magnification when most UK seeing on average only allows us around 150x to 200x max. To get better views you only need to spend around £40 to £50 (new) or £25 to £30 (s/h) per eyepiece for quite reasonable improvements.

TMB and BST ep's I've heard good things about, Meade 3000, 4000, or 5000 series are nice, and Celestron also do some nice medium priced ep's that will improve your scope. I would advise you to build a range of ep's giving magnifications from 40x to 180x - it won't cost an arm and a leg.

Also aim for a range of fov's - low power wide angle for larger dso's (galaxies, nebs, etc), and narrower higher powers for planetary viewing. Ultimately it's a personal thing cos everyone's eyes are different - so it's largely "what works for you" that's best. Join a local astro soc or obs group and folks will mostly be happy to let you try before you buy. Hope that helps

[Charon]

You wont go far wrong with the BST eyepieces, they are very popular.

[Kedvenc]

Thanks for the replies. Personally I've always found the views through the 10 ok. The views of Jupiter and mars have been pretty good but I've nothing to compare too. The first ep I'm getting is either the 26 or 32mm panaview but have come to realise that I will want a range of powers across the board.

[twotter]

There have been quite a few threads recently going on about how bad the supplied SW 10mm eyepiece is, but I too don't think it's that bad. Certainly good enough to start with so the first 'extra' eyepiece I bought was a 32mm plossl.

[Tribal-Wolf]

Are there benefits to using 2" EPs?

[brantuk]

2" eyepieces give wider fields of view for larger objects. Usually they are lower power from around 25mm to 40mm or even 50mm. Smashing on galaxies like andromeda or large nebulas.

Depends on the scope too - with dobs and refractors you can achieve nice wide fields but maks/sct's choose with care cos they have narrower fields and you may just be wasting light. You can get wide angle 1.25" ep's too.

2" eyepieces are also more solid and stable for mounting cameras and other heavier gear - so a few things to consider