Eyepiece Choices

[Hawkeye]

Hi Everyone, I know this has been asked many times before, but I just can't decide what to do..

I have a Skywatcher 200P on an EQ5 mount and the standard eyepieces (10mm & 25mm)

The 25mm is OK and gives me quite good images, but the 10mm is next to useless, so I wish to buy 2 or 3 new eyepieces.

I am leaning towards the Baader Hyperion range, mainly because I like the look of them, they have some really good reviews and I can connect my DLSR to them.. But is there another option I should be looking at?

Also what do people think of the Baader Hyperion Zoom Eyepiece (8 - 24 mm Clickstop) Will this be as good as the indiviual eyepieces?

My budget is up to £300 and would like 2 or 3 eyepices..

Cheers

Paul

[Groucho Ben]

Hi, I'm a big old noob myself, but I have two BST Explorer eyepieces, 8mm and my new (well, second hand) 18mm, and they have been a massive upgrade from the duff eps I received with my first astromaster scope... search the forum, I'm sure you'll find lots of good things said about them - that's how I chose them

At £47 each you'd have enough for three plus a nice barlow and some good filters, which would give you six mags and lots of option, which sounds plenty to me... Have you read this sticky yet? It really helped me...

All the best and enjoy your new eps, whatever you plump for...

[E621Keith]

Hyperions are good eyepiece.

Also consider Celestron X-cel LX which are said to be better corrected for faster scope than the Hyperion. The trade off is a slightly narrower AFOV.

I'd suggest the 25, 12 and 9mm, and a good barlow. It should give you 40x, 83x, and 111x native, and 167x, 222x when the 12 and 9 mm is barlowed.

The Baader click stop zoom is a good eyepiece, but the Mk3 version seems to have some mechanical problem. A zoom it will not be as good a fixed focal length eyepiece of equivalent quality, but it will be better than many budget eyepiece. My Pentax zoom performance is much better than my old X-cel and quite close to my LVWs. Baader zoom is also one of those prime killer and definitely worth considering if you can get your hand on an older Mk2.

[damnut]

Hi Nebula,

Good advice above, there is a sticky by Warthog which gives good advice on the selection of ep's everyone shoould have.

The BST explorers are great ep's for the money and can be found here :--- http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/telescope%20eyepieces.html

Alan is a great guy too and you can try several and return the unwanted. If you are considering a barlow the Tal has a good rep and is about £40.

So you will get your ep's and a barlow for around £140. Leaving some budget for another ep and a star atlas (Pocket Star Atlas is good!!) also if you have not done so already, download a copy of stellarium, its a free planetarium program and can be found here :---

http://www.stellarium.org/

Best Regards

[rwilkey]

The Baader Hyperions don't gel very well with the 200P, better going for the BST Exporers/StarGuiders, superb ep's and better than the Baader's at half the price, highly recommended as above posts indicate.

[knobby]

The Baader Hyperions don't gel very well with the 200P, better going for the BST Exporers/StarGuiders, superb ep's and better than the Baader's at half the price, highly recommended as above posts indicate.

Like I said earlier ... EP choices are very subjective!

I have the BST 15MM and have had the Baader zoom, which I would say was better than the BST at 15 mm.

I also have the Baader 5 mm which has given me my best view of Saturn to date and is a great EP.

It really is a minefield you've entered

Oops edit ... posting in 2 similar threads at the moment, the earlier bit refers to this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/153054-Which-eyepiece-for-closer-views-of-Saturn/Jupiter#entry1542602

Maybe worth a read through

[Hawkeye]

So another silly question, What do you gain (if anything) by using a 2" eyepiece over a 1.25" eyepiece?

[knobby]

So another silly question, What do you gain (if anything) by using a 2" eyepiece over a 1.25" eyepiece?

A larger hole in your wallet! Wider field of view mainly, less spending money

[Naemeth]

So another silly question, What do you gain (if anything) by using a 2" eyepiece over a 1.25" eyepiece?

A larger hole in your wallet! Wider field of view mainly, less spending money

A need for a 2" focuser, also burning a hole in your pocket if you don't have one.

Bigger eyepieces may mean it unbalances the scope, so you need counterweights..... the hole gets bigger.

There are many advantages of 2" EPs, they're just expensive.

[Hawkeye]

oh... a hole in the pocket doesn't sound so good....

So the last question....

Would it be better to get a 7 or 8mm or a 15mm and a decent barlow?

[Naemeth]

It really depends on what you want to look at.

For Planets, you may be better off getting an 8mm.

[knobby]

oh... a hole in the pocket doesn't sound so good....

So the last question....

Would it be better to get a 7 or 8mm or a 15mm and a decent barlow?

The Barlow route gives you more options ... but single EP probably better quality!

Barlow's increase eye relief but lose viewing quality.

Very difficult question, and you will get differing answer's

Good luck