Should I bother with a 32mm?

[Shure]

My current eyepiece collection only goes as far as the 7/12 and 25mm Xcel LX eyepieces.

These tend to suit me well with my 250px but I can't tell if I'm missing out on some wide field goodness that the 32mm panaview can bring.

As I am happy with my 25mm would the 32mm be a worthwhile purchase or would it leave the 25mm redundant?

Thanks

[nightfisher]

I think it would be worth having, i find the 32mm very useful

[John]

I'm with Jules - I've always found the 32mm focal length very useful, especially in the 2" fitting.

[Starlight 1]

I like useing a 32mm as well.

[RikM]

I have a 30mm Vixen, which is very nice, but I seldom use it because my background sky is quite bright. I prefer slightly higher magnifications which darken the sky and give the object more contrast. Apart from on the darkest winter nights I don't use anything longer than my 70° 20mm eyepiece.

[Marki]

I use a 2" 30mm Teleskop-service wideangle which give nice views. Sometimes still use the 32mm plossl (1.25") that came in my celestron starter kit as well (probably the best ep in that set).

[alan potts]

I tend to use 32 or in my case 34mm a fair bit, it works very well in all my scopes. I do not believe that you would just stop useing the 25mm. 32mm is a great finder length in my books.

If you are a little unsure try to pick one up second hand, that way you will not loose your money.

Alan

[Moonshane]

assuming your scope is f5? then I'd say it depends on your light pollutions levels. in my skies with an f5 scope and my relatively high levels of LP, it was not really worth having anything more than 26mm. that said on the darkest nights I do use my 32mm Plossl in my 6" f5, although, I'd prefer a 24mm 68 degree eyepiece with the same field. thankfully I have a few scopes so a 32mm Plossl will always be useful.

assuming f5 and 60 degree eyepiece field your 25mm will give 1.2 degree of field which is more than adequate for all but the biggest targets which will be better in the finder scope most often anyway.

in your shoes in my garden I'd stick with the 25mm.

[Greg]

I use a 2" 32mm in my SN10 and again in my ED80 for lovely widefield views...

Cracking EP..

Greg..

[rwilkey]

My 32mm PanaView is an excellent ep and my most used, yes, it will make the 25mm redundant but you won't regret the change.

[Bart]

Shure,

I have a question, is that you want it and you want people to convince you its the right move ? Or do you really want to know. I ask becasue sometimes thats what I want to hear, especially when its not a yes or no answer, its one you can really only decide yourself.

[swamp thing]

What Shane has said about LP makes a great deal of sense.

I only use my 31mm eyepiece on huge objects at dark sky sites in my 10" Dob on everything else I don't bother.

IMO you are better off looking at a better quality wider field shorter flength eyepiece.

My 20mm (82deg) gives the same FOV as a 32mm 50deg plossl but the advantage of the darker sky background etc is huge.

[Damo636]

With your f4.7 scope I doubt very much the Panaview will be much benefit over your 25mm Xcel Lx. Granted the tfov will be bigger but at that focal ratio there will be a lot of astigmatism in the outer fov. A much better option would be a 28mm William Optics Uwan or Skywatcher Nirvana (same eyepiece). Not only will the tfov be even bigger, but the edge correction will be vastly improved.

[andrew63]

I like a low power lens - it's not all about maximising field of view field and darkening sky background - when conditions allow there is nothing better than trawling through the milky way in summer or winter with a low magnification...

andrew

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I use my 31mm Nagler a lot in my (slow) SCT, but also in my (moderately fast) 80mm F/6 apo. In an F/5 scope or faster, the exit pupil becomes 6.2mm or bigger, which is still OK for me, but might be a problem for some (also depending on the LP)

[paul schofield]

I use a Skywatcher Aero 30mm 2inch, and it gets used a lot. It gives a much better view than 25-26mm ep's I have used, so personally I think a 32mm would be a worthwhile purchase.

[Moonshane]

your scope is f6 Paul so your 30mm would give the same magnification and field in the OP's scope approx. as the 30mm does in yours. assume 70 degree field in both:

1200mm focal length f6 with 30mm eyepiece = 40x mag and field of view of 1.75 degrees

so a 30mm might be good actually thinking about it, although for me the exit pupil would be a little large at 6mm especially if LP is an issue as I mentioned above. depends on circumstances.