Eyepiece brands...comparisons.

[m12_shakes]

Is there a site, or can anyone tell me about which are "basic" brands, medium and higher end brands for eye pieces.

I know there are different popular brands (celestron, meade etc), with different level of eye pieces.

I'm after a list, which groups together the different pieces for comparison.

i.e. the Fords, VW's, Mercedes and Rolls-Royce's of brands...

Regards,

m12

[rowan46]

Televue are the rolls royce of brands with the ethos being the rolls royce. however they have other lines which may not be rolls but are best in their class. in other words if it's a televue it's good but some are better than others. It's difficult to say the same of other brands. many have excellent premium lines or mid range lines but not all have that consistant quality all the way through. Pentax xw are superb and are up there optically with Televue but some of the other Pentax lines are not so hot. I think to use your analogy , Televue is rolls Royce with some of the other carmakers having a few good models amongst their line up

[John]

I don't think such a list exists. It could not be kept up to date because of the frequency with which new eyepiece lines are released.

It's also complicated by some brands such as Skywatcher having eyepiece lines that go from the most basic to very good indeed so you can't really generalise by brand except perhaps with Tele Vue, Pentax and Zeiss who do seem to be kings of the hill pretty consistently - and the most expensive of course !

There is also a lot of cloning going on with one eyepiece type being marketed by several different brands sometimes at quite different price points !

I've learned what I know about eyepieces by i) reading as many reviews as I can find of all the different types / brands and ii) trying as many as I can myself. It's worth having a look through our eyepiece discussion section and the reviews section. Your will see trends in which types people prefer - some disagreement too of course !

In many ways choosing eyepieces is more confusing than choosing a scope - almost too much choice.

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

What car do you own m12? Maybe that helps, hehe

[russ.will]

Televue are the rolls royce of brands with the ethos being the rolls royce. however they have other lines which may not be rolls but are best in their class. in other words if it's a televue it's good but some are better than others. It's difficult to say the same of other brands. many have excellent premium lines or mid range lines but not all have that consistant quality all the way through. Pentax xw are superb and are up there optically with Televue but some of the other Pentax lines are not so hot. I think to use your analogy , Televue is rolls Royce with some of the other carmakers having a few good models amongst their line up

Then one must assume that Zeiss and Nikon are Bentley and Maybach, rendering TV mid market fodder...

Russell

[breezy]

Hmmm perhaps that makes my bst's the same as my ford focus -solid reliable does what it says on the tin

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Yes I was just about to recommend those I drive a ds3, so the BST suit me as well! hehe

[Mr Spock]

You might drive a Focus, but you know you want that Bentley...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

You might drive a Focus, but you know you want that Bentley...

Nah, I prefer my Renault Espace, because I can take ALL my kit with me on holidays

[rwilkey]

Hi m12, unfortunately there is no short cut to learning these things, I have settled on my preferences by trial and error, especially as I can't afford the most expensive brands, but it does mean that I have gained experience of a lot of different brands and their characteristics. Also I have found clubs and star parties very helpful as you can look though other peoples eyepieces and see what their preferences are. People choose eyepieces for a lot of different reasons and much of the chioce is down to personal and viewing preferences, for example, like John above I have grown to like the widefields owing to my preference for wide star filelds and viewing star clusters, but that's me, your viewing preferences will differ, as will everyone elses. By reading people's comments on forums like these and Cloudy Nights, you will soon get to know the popular brands and people's opinions on them. Best of luck, it is a minefield, as others have suggested!

[E621Keith]

This is a interesting comparison.

I'd say Televue is VW. They make decent small hatches like the TV plossl to big posh executive Audi saloon like Ethos.

Pentax is like Merc, they only make expensive eyepieces. XF is like an A class, XW is like their saloon, and the orthos are like SLR.

Rolls Royce will go to Leica. As for for Lambo, Ferrari, and other supercar goes to those ultimate 'planetaries' from the like of Zeiss, Brandon, and TMB (mono). They are expensive and not very practical, but does squeeze every last drop of details out of a telescope.

Televue is expensive, but not that expensive and they are not particularly rare. If you ignore the Chinese manufacturers then TV is mid range. Below them are a number of Japanese firm like Kasai and Vixen. Above them are Germans firm like Leica, Zeiss, and Docter Optik.

[Astro_Baby]

Like John I read a lot of reviews and have owned a fair few mid range EPs on my way to the set which I consider to be optimum for my needs. Some of best views dont come from the most expensive glass. Orthos for instance can be quite inexpensive but deliver a sharp, high contrast view. Some widefields can be deeply flawed but still present pleasing views.

As said its really hard to say that this or that manufacturer is low, medium or high range. Even amongst the top end stuff peoples experiences will differ widely. I had a Hyperion 5mm and hated it...it gave a good view but I found eye position was super critical so it blacked out badly for me. By comparison a TMB II at half the price gave a more comfortable and more pleasing view, I tried a TV radian as well and found I just didnt like it, uncomfy. Bought a Pentax XW in the end and I like it a lot so you may conclude Pentax is best (for me at least) but I read the 14mm XW has bad field curvature. So that could be a lemon OR it may be the tester is more critical than I am OR that the scope he was using was more demanding OR a whole bunch of other undefinable issues.

Everybody has different tolerances to eyepiece defects and in truth unless you are going to go for mega bucks with both the sxope and the eyepiece ( and maybe even a coma corrector if its a newtonian) there will always be some defect in the view. Sharp to the edge sounds good but it may be the eyepiece has severe pincushioning. That may not bother an observer whose doesnt star hop but it may induce nauseau in one who does ( or may not depending on the observer).

Tack sharp like an orthoscopis is bought at the coat of the field of view, and maybe eye relief too at a short focal length. Widefield is often bought at a different set of compromises like fuzzy edges, pincushion distortion or super critical eye position at shorter focal lengths.

Heres some eyepiece speed dating if its any help......

Celestron Omni 32mm ....comfy, pleasing views, well made, low power viewing on the cheap.

Skywatcher SP Plossls 32mm .......bout the same as the Celestron. Less cost and I could see little difference.

Vixen NPL 30mm Plossl....great contrast, lovely coatings, maybe the best Plossl I tried around this focal length but the plastic casing looks and feels cheap. Still a good buy for the views though, Vixen quality optics at a low price.

TAL 25mm Plossl.....Gen II is a keeper. Sharp and contrasty, rumoured to actually be a Konig rather than a Plossl. Some may say that I couldnt comment. Gen III not as attractive to TAL fans but still a good performer up there with the best of the mid range. Comes with any TAL telescope and a keeper.

Celestron Standarc Plossls, have owned a few in other sizes. Cant cope with eye relief below 10mm all much of a muchness with other medium quality Plossls.

Baader GO orthoscopics, now fading into history sadly. Well made ortho and like most orthos tack sharp, better eye relief (marginally) than an equivalent Plossl and sharper by far at the expense of field of view but you wont care when you see the sharpness.

Circle T Orthoscopic ( Various brands ) lower cost than Baader GO, damned if I can see any difference in view, some find them more comfortable ( me for instance) like the GOs now vanishing into mists of halcyon days.

Baader Hyperion........Baader quality, mid range widefield, 13mm was nice, 5mm less so. 7mm reputed to be on par with 13mm. Works quite well in scopes down to f5 but edge aberrations more pronounced the faster you go.

Skywatcher Panaview 26mm , 32mm and 38mm quality feeling widefield. Lots of glass for the cash. I liked mine a lot despite edge abberations which were mild at f5 and it never bothered me. Others may feel different. Comfortable and well made. I liked the 38mm the best.

TMB IIs...5, 6 and 7mm...comfy to use, views were a bit soft at F5, better at f9. The 6mm was the nicest by far. Reasonable high power eyepiece. Nowehere near as sharp as an ortho but a 5mm ortho is a lot less comfortable.

Explore Scientific 30mm 82' monster widefield, up there with the best at f5 for about half to one third the cost of the TV equivalent. Below f5 if it comes to bits then serves you right for having a fast scope....if the aberrtaions bother yo then you will have to sell your kids for a Televue. In fairness the TV may have more contrast but I have yet to really test the 30mm ES. So many cliuds got out the box when it was opened....it was acquired at the start of this bad weather period over 3months ago.

Explore Scientific 14mm 100' .........reputed to be the best of the ES 100' line. Its sharp, ortho like views on contrast butwith a massive field of view so wide it scares people) Tested this against an Ethos and found theres not a lot int if anything at all. Some prefer the Ethos some prefer the ES citing better comfort and eye relief. Astounding glass but its upmarket and not budget although significantly less dosh than TV equiavalent. I am not convinced on the 100' FOV lark and would sell it if I could but but domestic bliss woud be shattered.

Pentax XW in 5 and 10mm.......upmarket here, so rarified your nose could bleed. Expensive glass and no mistake. Supremely comfy to use. Sharp to the edge and I have found by experience 70' is all the field of view I want or need. Contrast like an orthoscopic ( which just goes to show how good an orthoscopic is because you have to spend like Croesus to get anything better ) it comes out the box and head butts in the face you leaving the word Q U A L I T Y impressed on your forhead. Sadly like the orthoscopics now fading into history. Those who see the light and buy XWs are truly enlightened and see the light truly because of it

10mm considered the very best of the range and usable in widest range of scopes. Opnions differ on 14mm, 30mm will be my next acquistion if someone is silly enough to sell me one (go on you mug...you know you dont really need it )

[crazyjedi]

Some good fun comparisons going on here. I did lots of reading, a little side by side comparison and some trial and error.

It's all about what suites you and your scope. A lens that may be a rather mediocre performer through my scope may give excellent views through a slower scope. Also I love my orthos but they wouldn't suite someone who wears spectacles (despite the good optical performance) as the ER is rather tight. So EP choices have many variables to consider and one persons Rolls Royce may be another persons Ford

[Astro_Baby]

Its amazing to think the Ethos only launched in the UK in Jan 2008 and with its price tag of £500 it was considered jaw droppingly expensive and there was no shortage of people saying it was so expensive and even for the performance surely people wouldnt part with their cash........

Now we have ES launching a 25mm 100' with a whopping $1200 price tag, tha will surely translate to£1200 making it maybe the worlds most expensive n production EP.

Amazing stuff has appeared in just 5 years, a profusion of kit for every pocket and requirement. It makes the choices tough for sure but you never had it so good.

[E621Keith]

...

Now we have ES launching a 25mm 100' with a whopping $1200 price tag, tha will surely translate to£1200 making it maybe the worlds most expensive n production EP.

...

I'm waiting to be shocked by the upcoming 3" 30mm ES100.

Actually £1200 isn't the most expensive eyepiece in Europe. That honour goes to the €1720 (£1.5k) Nikon HW sold by APM German.

http://www.apm-teles...kular-2635.html

It's mystery how an Ethos priced eyepiece in Japan can be sold for such an outrageous price in Europe.

[crazyjedi]

I'm waiting to be shocked by the upcoming 3" 30mm ES100.

Actually £1200 isn't the most expensive eyepiece in Europe. That honour goes to the €1720 (£1.5k) Nikon HW sold by APM German.

http://www.apm-teles...kular-2635.html

It's mystery how an Ethos priced eyepiece in Japan can be sold for such an outrageous price in Europe.

That Nikon is crazy money! You have to ask why?

On the subject of the 3 inch ES 100 deg EP, which will be more mad? The price of it or the wieght of it?

[John]

Baader Orthoscopics are an interesting one. Porsche performance for Vauxhall money ?. Provided you don't mind smaller windows and can "drive" with your face pressed close to the windscreen

[crazyjedi]

Baader Orthoscopics are an interesting one. Porsche performance for Vauxhall money ?. Provided you don't mind smaller windows and can "drive" with your face pressed close to the windscreen

That is priceless!! Some fabulous analogies

And - with regard to those orthos spot on too! They offer fantastic performance for a rather good price, provided you don't mind a few concessions with regard to comfort.

[E621Keith]

Baader Orthoscopics are an interesting one. Porsche performance for Vauxhall money ?. Provided you don't mind smaller windows and can "drive" with your face pressed close to the windscreen

It's a Vauxhall VXR though. At £75 each it's not exactly your average family hatch back plossl or circle T.

[breezy]

"You might drive a Focus, but you know you want that Bentley..."

Lol nah over priced anatomy extension , rather spend the dosh on a big scope

[AndyH]

A US centric list of available eyepieces. About 10 years old, so before the recent influx of chinese made eyepiece lines. Times sure have moved on. Interesting, none the less ! You'll need a freeware Excel reader/viewer program to be able to open the file up.

Andy.

198669-Eyepieces.xls

[m12_shakes]

Some cracking replies, very helpful indeed!

I've set a budget around the £100 mark, and I'll continue reading for a little while before I make the plunge. As a few suggested, I'll try and see a few ep's with my local astro club.

The skywatcher nirvana range seem to fit the bill quite well.

Regards,

m12

p.s. obi wan, it's an is220, hope that helps haha.

[crazyjedi]

The Nirvana's are good EP's but you may have to get lucky on the second hand market to find one within budget. I managed to get my TV Radian for a little over £100 second hand so keep your eyes peeled and you may get lucky. If you like the look of the Nirvana's keep an eye out for WO UWANs too. They are essentially the same EP with different brand names.

Happy hunting!