Safe to say that a Zoom EP would be great for Lunar & Solar observation?

[Rogering1]

Safe to say that a Zoom EP would be great for Lunar & Solar observation? Great not have to change moon filters etc.

I want to find a SMOOTH zoom, many of the zooms are clunky, any tips?

[fredster]

The William Optics 7.5-22.5 is very smooth in operation and nice optics. I prefer it to the clickstop of Baader HYperion. The Baader has a wider afov at the low end but i wouldn't swap for my WO. The William Optics is identical to the Skywatcher Hyperflex 8E.

[Hugechris]

The Seben Zoom is also smooth no click stops, pretty decent quality and not expensive.

[John]

There are some decent zooms about these days - the Hyperion is one as is the William Optics mentioned by Fred above. They do give a little away in field of view, contrast and light scatter control to good fixed focal length eyepieces though, eg: I found the fixed focal length Hyperions were slightly better in these respects than the Hyperion zoom was. The flexibility of the zoom wins some points though but I'd hesitate to recommend a cheap one to be honest.

[jabberwocky]

I have the WO zoom and love it. Zooming in on the moon is amazing, same for planets, not having to swap filters etc saves a lot of faffing about, very comfortable to look through.

[gooseholla]

Astro Boot on SnS are doing one, made from a spotting scope, 8 - 24 for £20, if anyone wants to try one!

I am not from SnS nor do I get commission lol

[lex]

I have the Seben one and it is great for the price of £50 however,

Whilst i find it brilliant for the moon across it's whole 8-24mm range i struggle to get it below 17/18mm on solar, i just can't get a good focus.

It also kidney beans if your eye isn't just at the right distance.

Planetary, i preferred to use my hyperion 17mm on Jupiter better detail.

The smooth zoom is very nice though.

So, for £50 it is a really good cheap zoom, if you can afford it then definitely get something better.

[lex]

Can't seem to edit the above post,

Just wanted to acknowledge that the problem with Solar could well be down to my solar filter rather than just the Seben zoom.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have the Hyperion 8-24mm zoom and it gives amazing views of the Moon. The beauty is that you dont have to keep changing EP's. I like the clickstop of the hyperion. It lets you know what magnification you are at when outside in the dark.