Explore scientific eyepieces

[Markus531]

I'm kind of new to astronomy. I just bought my first scope not that long ago, and with it I bought a relatively cheap set of plossl eyepieces. I'm now looking to upgrade to a better quality set of eyepieces and I was wondering if anyone had anything good our bad to say about the explore scientific 82 deg. F.O.V. eyepieces.

[gooseholla]

Something like this would be a good set

Revelation-Plossl 1.25" Telescope Barlow & Eyepiece set 32, 20, 15, 12., 9mm | eBay

However, you can get a similar one for £125 with coloured filters instead of a couple of the items, from what I remember.

I've never heard anything bad about that eyepiece.

[John]

I've read lots of reports on the ES eyepieces on the "Cloudynights" forum. The concensus seems to be that the 82 and 100 degree ones are really good - very nearly as good as the more expensive Tele Vue equivalents. The 70 degree ones seem to get more variable reports.

[Markus531]

The set of eyepieces that I bought is actually very similar to the one you described but it is from Orion and its not a bad set but I'd like something with a bigger fov. The higher magnification eyepieces in the set that I bought is like looking through a straw. The explore scientific ep's are affordable. Of course I'm open to and appreciate any advice.

[gooseholla]

Oh, sorry I mis-read. I thought you said you wanted to buy a cheap set!

[Damo636]

Although the ES 82* are mostly getting positive reviews i think the 8.8mm might be one to be wary of.

Telescope Reviews: ES 82 8.8mm Need your observation reports please!

These might also be worthy of consideration although reviews are very thin on the ground.

http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Celestron_Luminos_Eyepieces.html

[Markus531]

Thanks for the heads up. I definitely wouldn't have known that. From what I have been reading it seems like the televue eyepieces are one of the best out there. Would my money be better spent with the televue wide fov eyepieces or are they just a over priced name brand.

[Doug]

Hi Mark

The Tele vue are the bench mark for most eyepieces .it would help if we knew what scope you are using ?

Doug

[Bart]

Mark

I have an F5 Dob. I have the 11mm and the 14mm ES eyepieces. They are very good. Nice contrast and practically no distortion of the image at the outer edges. I love them. Never used a Tele Vue, but these are very good

Bart

[Markus531]

Cool. I have an Orion xt8. It is a 8 in. f/5.9 dob.

Thanks Bart, 11 and 14 mm were two that I was looking at too.

[cs1cjc]

I have the 4.7mm, 8.8mm and 14mm 82* and the 24mm 68*. I love the 24mm! The 4.7mm and 8.8mm are short of eye relief and the image is vignetted with spectacles, but they give a small enough exit pupil that, despite my astigmatism, I can dispense with glasses when viewing on my own. See:

Tele Vue Optics: DIOPTRX™

They appear to give a very clear white image with a little more detail and less haze and no phantom object reflections than my TMB clones (but I have not yet compared with orthos). The 4.7mm barlows well on Jupiter and indeed on Venus, using the GSO 2x in 1.5x, screw-in mode. The 82* field of view is very nice, but I do find 68* with decent eye relief preferable.

The 14mm is also short of usable eye relief (despite the published specification) but gives too large an exit pupil for me to use properly without glasses. In addition the field is too curved (at least in my refractor) for my 60 year old eyes. I can find no focus point which gives me sharp stars over enough of the field.

I do not have this problem with a 17mm Hyperion (tuned down to about 15mm with an empty filter ring). I still have further testing to do but I think the 14mm will be going. In passing, I find the Hyperion to be a clunky thing, too large and ugly for for its purpose - though the fine tuning feature is wonderful.

[A McEwan]

Hi,

I have the 9mm 100-degree, the 4.7mm 84-degree, and for a while I had the 18mm 2" 84-degree.

I bought the 18mm on trial to test against a loaned TeleVue 17mm Nagler T4. I spent a very clear night comparing the two and was left in no doubt whatsoever that the Nagler was far superior in terms of edge correction and viewing comfort. The ES 18mm had too short eye relief and quite bad edge softening (in comparison with the Nagler 17).

The Nagler is a lot heavier and I have to be more "careful" when handling it though. A few days later I returned the eyepieces and ordered a Nagler 17 T4 of my own - one of my best eyepieces.

Another of my best eyepieces is the 9mm 100-degree ES. It has excellent correction to the edge and "just enough" eye relief to be comfortable to view through. Another mm or three would hve been better, but not worth the difference in price between it and the 8mm TeleVue Ethos - for me at least. It is a very useful eyepiece - in a 900mm focal length scope (like the ED100s out there and the ED120s etc) it yields 100x magnification and a 1-degree true field of view. Very nice.

The 4.7mm 84-degree is a superb performer too. Easily one of the best high power widefields I've used. I routinely go from the Meade S4000 6.7mm UWA to the 4.7mm ES and find no drop in image quality. Great on the planets in refractors on alt-az mounts. I haven't tried it yet in my Dob, but I'd expect it to be just as good, though giving 255x magnification it might be best reserved for the nights of best seeing in that scope.

As always, the better part of any eyepiece performance comparison will vary from observer to observer, as all of our eyes are different, but in terms of value, general image quality and performance, I'd say it's a good brand with some stand-out models and some best avoided.

Ant

[Jinx]

I've got the ES 100* 9mm and 20mm, the 9mm is exceptional, but I have not yet had a chance to use my 20mm.

What i can say is that a waterproof eyepiece seems a very good idea for our climate, and that if there is little to no visible difference in viewing quality throughout the majority of the reviews between TV and ES, it seems odd to spend the extra money on a TV. Some people have brand loyalty, I prefer quality and value loyalty.

Oh and the whole resale argument seems very odd. Why buy an eyepiece with the idea of selling it again later on. Far better to pick an EP that you are comfortable with and keep it - that way you will lose no money at all rather than "just" the 10% or so which on TVs could really add up.

No brainer for me.

[angusb1]

I have the 11mm ES 82 degree and like it a lot. I also have Meade 4000 plossls and BST Explorers which are good EPs and superb value for the money but the ES is marvellous. A lot more expensive, but marvellous.

[rwilkey]

The Luminos (Axiom LX's as was) are extremely good and I can recommend them, very sharp and comfortable to use, though quite heavy.