BST Explorers

[Theninjagecko]

seen these going for £47. It states branded starguider.

Are they any good?

Thanks.

[nightfisher]

They are very good eyepiece`s, the starguider brand is a new name for explorers, well worth a try, and great value, in a couple of months i will be compiling a review of the whole set

[Theninjagecko]

They are very good eyepiece`s, the starguider brand is a new name for explorers, well worth a try, and great value, in a couple of months i will be compiling a review of the whole set

Fantastic this will save me a bit of money then, I was going to get the Celestron Xcels but these seem to be a good alternative.

5, 8, 12 , 25 and then a 32 panaview Should complete my set.

[nightfisher]

What scope will you use them in?

[Theninjagecko]

What scope will you use them in?

OO 250 SPX F4.8 1200mm

[Theninjagecko]

Ive read these are a bit mushy at the edges, would the celestron xcels be mushy too ?

[Foggymike]

For me they are a a bit sharper overall and stay sharp closer to the edge. They also have better contrast which I like.

My wife and I also found the 8 and 12mm BST's gave us kidney beaning issues which the X-cel LX's didn't though this doesn't seem to effect everyone. I thought the BST's were good (very well built) and seem to suit a lot of people very well but for me the Celestron's are a step or two better so if you are a more critical observer they may suit you and be worth the extra cost - they were for me. As always I suspect you'll have to try some and see what works for you and your 'scope.

[Theninjagecko]

For me they are a a bit sharper overall and stay sharp closer to the edge. They also have better contrast which I like.

My wife and I also found the 8 and 12mm BST's gave us kidney beaning issues which the X-cel LX's didn't though this doesn't seem to effect everyone. I thought the BST's were good (very well built) and seem to suit a lot of people very well but for me the Celestron's are a step or two better so if you are a more critical observer they may suit you and be worth the extra cost - they were for me. As always I suspect you'll have to try some and see what works for you and your 'scope.

Whats kidney bean issues ?

Thanks.

[Foggymike]

Black shadowy shapes in the field of view. I found it difficult to get my eye in just the right place to avoid this, especially looking at the moon and Saturn with them being brighter. See below grabbed from a quick google...

Kidney bean: a blacking out of parts of the field of view, caused by spherical aberration of the exit pupil. Rays with large exit angles intersect the optical axis nearer to the eye lens than those rays with small or moderate exit angle. This results in the kidney bean effect when the circle of least confusion of the exit pupil of the eyepiece exceeds the size of the observer's eye pupil - in other words, when the observer's eye gets too close to the eye lens. The effect is therefore more pronounced with a smaller pupil; i.e., kidney bean is more evident in daytime than during night. True kidney-beaning is not sensitive to what telescope is in use; it is the same for a given eyepiece no matter what telescope is used. This term is often, mistakenly, used to describe the ¡°black-outs¡± that naturally occur when the eye is positioned too close to the eyepiece and the pupil doesn't field the whole image from the eyepiece.

Maybe won't affect you though - I guess it depends on your eyes and what you look at.

[Theninjagecko]

Think im going to order the X-cel LX instead.

[Caldwell 14]

Think im going to order the X-cel LX instead.

I've had both, I now have 6 X-CEL LX ep's. BST's are good, great for the money (25mm a bit tight on field of view) but X-CEL are a better build, very comfortable and give IMHO sweeter views.