Which eyepiece for planets?

[DaveGarland]

Ok people, I'd like some good advice. I have a skywatcher 200P and would like to know which would be the best eyepiece for viewing planets inside of £100. I am thinking Baadar Hyperion at the moment. At the moment I have the standard 2X barlow that came with the scope and I have a Tall 3X barlow on order (out of stock at present ). An 8mm would give me mags of 125x, 250x and 375 with this set up but the 5mm would only really give me a choice of 200x and 400x with the standard barlow. Clearly 600x with the 3x barlow would be just too much.

Anyway what are your thoughts?

[Damo636]

I personally would go with the Celestron XCEL-LX range rather than the Hyperion. The Hyperion are a nice well built eyepiece and with the added fine tuning rings give a range of magnifications but the Celestron will be better corrected at f5 and cheaper. The Meade 5000 HD-60 are the same eyepiece but more expensive. If you are set on the Hyperion i will say that the 8mm was my favourite when i had them and with the addition of the tuning rings covered all my high power needs.

[Stephen]

I think considering purchases based on magnifications above 250x is wishful thinking

I don't know what the skies are like round you, but both my f6 and f5 8" reflectors haven't been up to sustaining more than 200x/250x on the best of nights due to UK skies

5mm LX will give you 200x and you'll get far more use at that magnification than numbers over 300x.

[DaveGarland]

Thanks. Damo, I was a little put off by the Celestron as I have the 6mm plossl and don't find it very pleasant. It's got a very tiny lens. Does the XCEL-LX give a more enjoyable experience?

Dave.

[gooseholla]

They're meant to have tiny lenses at that kind of focal length. My 3.6mm has an hilariously small lens to look though - an ant would find it hard to use as a door...

[Damo636]

Dave, the Xcel-Lx will be a much more enjoyable experience. The shorter fl plossl's and orthos have a very small straw like eye lens but the Xcel-Lx is a completely different design with a decent sized eye lens and a lot more eye relief.

[rwilkey]

My vote is for the 8mm Baader Hyperion with FTR's, which is the set-up I currently use with my 200P.

[gooseholla]

My vote is for the 8mm Baader Hyperion with FTR's, which is the set-up I currently use with my 200P.

Do you find that the making of it into a c. 30mm 2inch works in an f/5 scope?

[rwilkey]

I haven't actually tried that, as I have a PanaView that I use, but in theory it should work.

[gooseholla]

I'm looking at the 8mm (with FTRs) as a more cost effective way of getting a 2 inch and all my high power needs. Hopefully it'll work... if not, I just have some good high power views, so I haven't lost anything really.

[DaveGarland]

Hmmm yes, I've only just read about the FTR's thanks to your advice. So am I right in thinking I could effectively have an 8mm and a 5mm Baader for just the extra price of a £7.99 ring? It looks like its back on for the Baaders

[gooseholla]

You can get two different size rings, so can end up with 3 or 4 different focal lengths.

[Viv]

I have one Baader Hyperion at the mo.

Lovely view through them & also connect to the camera !

[Mr Spock]

I use Vixen NLVs for planets. Very sharp and contrasty with 20mm eye relief. Mostly they are over £100 but you can get some on special offers.

[Moonshane]

my best planetary images come with Baader Genuine Orthos and closely followed by Televue Radians. Both come in under the budget albeit with the Radian it would be a used one. really though planetary observing is about other things too; seeing, collimation, optical quality of telescope and observer experience. I only use Newtonians of various size and focal ratio. I find seeing so variable that I need a wide range of eyepieces for the higher powers. My most used for planetary though are 12.5mm, 9mm, 8mm and 7mm but at focal lengths of 1600mm and 1840mm. You really have to try and match the most used magnifications with the eyepieces available in your budget and then plump for one of them. buying used is a good way to reduce losses and don't worry people often have changes in gear and there's a good market for good quality used eyepieces.

[Charon]

I have bought a second hand 8mm Radian off Astro B&S. (yet to use it though)