Sterling Eyepieces - High Quality on a Budget?

[F15Rules]

I'm interested to hear others' experience of the Sterling Line of Plossl Eyepieces.

They are sold by Smart Astronomy of the USA under this brand name. I bought a 25mm specimen via their ebay shop about 2 years ago and for around £30 shipped from the US as I recall I had limited expectations of it, but it had had some decent reviews on CN etc. Some even rated them up with the TV Plossl range. You can find quite a few reviews of them on the net, just google Sterling Plossls..

Well, I was MOST pleasantly surprised with the quality. Some say they look bland. In the flesh I actually found mine to look "sleek" and "different" from the many GSO Plossl clones..but of course the performance is what really counts, and I have to say that I was knocked out by the visual quality of the one I bought..it was as good or better than ANY comparable FL plossl I have owned (including TVs) and I found it hard to say anything bad about it. And, at 55 degrees, the field of view is noticeably wider than tradition plossls which tend to be around the 50-52deg fov.

About a year later I sold it (how many of us do that, then wish we hadn't!) as I was standardising my range and using 2" ones more. Interestingly, they do offer a 30mm in 2" format..I'd love to hear anyone's experience with that one.

It seems I'm not the only one to have discovered Sterling and like them...here's a fellow SGLer's view of the 20mm version he bought a couple of years back...http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/38499-smart-astronomy-20mm-sterling-ep/

I know TS sell a version that looks very like the Sterling range (in fact I'd bet my mortgage that they are the same), but at 61Euro shipped they are quite a bit more expensive than the Smart astronomy Sterlings..

In summary, if you are looking at acquiring a nice, quality optics range of eps without breaking the bank, you could do much worse than get some of these little beauties..the Smart astronomy website advertises a full set of all 8 sizes, including the 2" 30mm beast, on sale at $199 plus shipping - that's about £16.45 per eyepiece!!..no wonder they are showing Out of Stock on the full set at the moment!

I'd be interested to hear other members experiences of these?

Cheers

Dave

[John]

I've read lots about these on "Cloudynights" Dave but I've never actually seen or tried one. Telescope Services sell something that looks very much like a clone of the 25mm Sterling but it costs more than you paid for yours.

The certainly seem to have the potential to be a premium plossl at a budget price

[Naemeth]

Hmm... I'm thinking of getting a TeleVue Plössl as a present to myself next month or so. Would these be something to consider as well?

[F15Rules]

I wouldn't want to claim that the Sterlings match every aspect of the Tele Vue plossls in terms of build quality. And TV will hold their resale value pretty well. But optically, the one I owned (and it was only one) gave views that were extremely pleasing. And for around £33 or so shipped from the USA, they are only about a 35% or so of the new price of a TV equivalent, so you haven't got much to lose?

HTH

Dave

[Naemeth]

Tough call I think. I wonder how well these perform at F/4, the TeleVue standard F/Ratio .

Thanks for the help Dave .

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have heard about them but never had a look through one myself. Given the larger FOV, I it does look like they are a different design internally from the run-of-the-mill type rebranded ones.

[RME1]

Well, I've got the 25, 17 and 12.5mm and they perform extremely well. I can't comment on how they compare to a TV plossl, but they were close to my BGO's (well, to my eyes and small scopes). I actually prefer the Sterling to my 12.5mm BGO . I mainly bought them as a set for my c90 mak, but they are now also part of a travel set for an 80mm refractor for day/night time use. Just checked their ebay shop and they're still 15% off at the moment. Maybe I'll have get the 20mm to complete my little set. It's a shame they didn't have any focal lengths between the 12.5 and the 6mm.

@john - If you want to give them a test drive, drop me a PM.

Richard.

[fredster]

Superb eyepieces. I keep meaning to add another to my set while the prices are silly low. I agree with above that their optical quality seems on a par with the BGO and TV Plossl. The 12.5mm and 17mm are real crackers. I once had the 25mm too but sold it when i bought the ES set. Which i regret. The ES 82 24mm is a beast of an eyepiece and i could do with a lightweight eyepiece to compliment it. But tempted to buy the 30mm. Even though its 2" its pretty lightweight.

Definitely one of the eyepiece bargains at the moment, along with the ES 82 Series for $99.

[Ohmless]

very modestly priced quality eyepieces. I own the 25mm and love the views. Has good snap when focusing.

The only possible negatives are the print on the eyepiece is not recessed and will rub off eventually, there is some pincushion distortion that might make you dizzy when panning, and that the moon when at the edge looks like an oval(due to pincushion.)

I highly recommend