Which 17mm Eyepiece

[M4lcs67]

Hi folks,

Getting over my recent eye operations and within a few weeks I should be able to resume my astronomy.

Having bought my Celestron C9.25 a while ago now, i have only had the opportunity to use it once so far. I have been looking at the eyepieces I currently have and there is a gap around the 17mm mark. This is where I have a quandry. Being an avid fan of the Baader Hyperions, do I get a 17" one? I do love these eyepieces and have the fine tuning rings already which make them more flexible than a fixed focal legnth ep. Or do I get a fixed one? Should I go for a Celestron LX or Ultima LX??? The LX is cheaper than the Hyperion whereas the Ultima LX is around £30 more. It is a difficult one, so anyone who can give an opinion then please go ahead.

Failling that should I look at something completely different? Money isn't really an issue, although I cannot go mad and get a Televue or something of that type.

Thanks alot.

[nightfisher]

the 18mm BST starguider is a very good ep, and £20 cheaper than the x-cel lx

[wookie1965]

+1 For the BST 18mm ive got one and its a cracking eyepiece.

[John]

Personally I'd be thinking about a used 16mm Skywatcher Nirvana / William Optics UWAN. You can get them for around £100 or even a bit less and the performance is going to be pretty much as good as a Nagler in your scope so Tele Vue quality views at not much more than a Hyperion price

[faulksy]

unreal john just as i was about to put the 16mm nirvana beautiful e.p.you will hug it each night before bed, didnt mean to put that lol.the 16mm will give you 146x and half a degree trov. compared to the 17mm baader which will give you 138x but the views are owsome in the nirvana that good i hope to get the 28mm this week

[andrew63]

do you need a longer eye-relief? - you don't mention - as the hyperion has great relief - that could make a difference in your selection. If you like the hyperions - the 17mm is supposed to be the pick of the bunch.

andrew

[E621Keith]

If you want good eye relief and Hyperion's modularity then you should choose the Hyperion 17. Hyperion has weaker outer field correction in fast Newt than some other eyepieces mentioned, but it doesn't matter on a f10 SCT. Hyperion 17 has a wider field than BST/X-cel LX and better eye relief than most. Baader's anti-reflection coating is also said to be better than the average Chinese eyepiece coating.

[Capricorn]

Get the 17mm Hyperion, that is what you want.

It will fill in the gap you have. (Damn poor excuse really for buying one )

It is something to mark the hopeful end to problems with the eye - cause for celebration and mark it with the "missing" Hyperion

Anything else will look out of place and spoil the line up, only the Hyperion will fit in.

Overall it has to be the Hyperion.

You didn't actually want anyone to talk you out f it did you?

[John]

If you want a 17mm Hyperion by all means get one - it will work well in your scope. Buy it used though - I just don't feel the Hyperions are worth £98 given the alternatives that are around today.

[alan potts]

There are a couple of Meade or Ex Sc that would fit the bill S/H 16mm SWA and 18mm UWA Both do these F/Ls and you should be able to get aat least the Meades if you wait your chance.

Alan.

[cs1cjc]

Using a ES68 16mm (and I would guess the similar Meade SWA) is a *very* different experience to using the 17mm Hyperion. Eye relief on the ES68 is not generous, though I have no problem seeing the whole field without spectacles. With spectacles and a fully dilated pupil I can nearly see the full field but during the day I am limited to perhaps 40 degrees. The Hyperion on the other hand has generous eye relief, much more than any of the other (ES) eyepieces I use, which I find confusing in use. Further, the Hyperion requires a lot of in focus compared with my other (ES) eyepieces which makes swapping inconvenient particularly on faint objects. Other than the ergonomic factors, I do not think the view in either is dramatically better than the other, but eyepiece are often best used as a set.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I agree that the Hyperion 17 is a good option if you like them already. It would fit into your existing series nicely. On advantage of the SCT is that they are not just very tolerant of edge correction, but also their huge focusing range. Having said that, it is annoying to have to refocus a lot between EPs.

I went for the far more expensive option of the Nagler 17mm T4, because it has long eye relief (which I need because I have astigmatism, and therefore have to wear glasses), and I could get it secondhand for a decent price. I already had the 22T4, which I absolutely love, and find the entire T4 series comfortable (much better than e.g. the Meade UWA in terms of comfort, if not sharpness). One reason I went for the more expensive solution is that I also have an F/6 refractor, and I do have plans for a fast newt.

[M4lcs67]

Hi again peeps,

Further to my recent eye operation there is a strong likelihood that I will need to wear glases on a permanent basis once my eye heals whereas I don't need them at the moment.

With this in mind are the Hyperions still a good option to go for???? People talk of eye relief but I don't really know what it is all about. The little bit that I do know is that it is something to do with the space between your glasses and the eyepiece. I am still looking at something around the £100 mark if different to the Hyperion.

Hopefully someone can put me straight.

Thanks

[Mr Moff]

The one that stands out for me is the Baader ortho 18mm. I love this eyepiece.

I also have the X-cell LX 18mm which is also very good for the price.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Hi again peeps,

Further to my recent eye operation there is a strong likelihood that I will need to wear glases on a permanent basis once my eye heals whereas I don't need them at the moment.

With this in mind are the Hyperions still a good option to go for???? People talk of eye relief but I don't really know what it is all about. The little bit that I do know is that it is something to do with the space between your glasses and the eyepiece. I am still looking at something around the £100 mark if different to the Hyperion.

Hopefully someone can put me straight.

Thanks

Hyperions have long eye relief (20mm) so they are suitable (comfortable, even). In my experience, 16-17mm is the minimum you need with glasses. The Baader Ortho 18mm will have about 15mm eye relief, so it is slightly short. The X-Cel-LX 18mm has 16mm eye relief, so it is a borderline case.

[Dunkster]

Malc - what will you need glasses to correct for? If it's just focus, then your scope has one big focussing knob to help

I prefer not to use my glasses, although I need to stick 'em on to use the telrad