Eyepieces for 'fast' f5 frac

[Russko13]

From experience can anyone can suggest some eyepieces suitable for an 80mm f/5 refractor that won't break the bank, e.g not televue! The impression I've got from a lot of people is that there are many flaws in a lot of the eyepieces available on the market for a fast shorttube frac, have been looking at the baader hyperions, skywatcher panaviews and orion expanses

[nightfisher]

You could get  few BST starguiders, good ep`s at a good price

[baggywrinkle]

BST seem to get good reviews.

Can I suggest you get a copy of Choosing and Using Astronomical Eyepieces, published by Springer. Not cheap but it is a book that will stand the test of time and reviews all types of EP's

I have the 2'' 28mm supplied with my SW80ED and it is very good. I also have the Celstron Xcels which are good too. Yes to see first light are my Takahashi 5mm and 10mm long eye relief EP's.

[alan potts]

I have used Meade series 5000 SWA, UWA and S. Plossl in my F5.26 Mak/Newt and they perform very well indeed up to the last 2-3% near the edge. Now, yes, Televue are sharp all the way but as you say at a price.

There are some focal lengths being sold as Maxvision in some of these Meade ranges and they are said to be the same quality. These will not break the bank and will delight you I am sure.

The other thing that should also be know is unless the scope you have is a  very high quality one you could expect even Televues to show other abberations at the edges because this is an area that is difficult to correct well and F5 is in the very expensive area for refractors.

Alan. 

[itmo]

Maxvisions, which are apparently same as the meade 5000s. Work very well in my F/5-ish scope. BSTs work well also. And that omegon 9mm 100deg. 

[Naemeth]

You can get used TV plossls for about half the cost of a hyperion (£50) .

[Russko13]

Thanks for all the replies I will be checking out the meade and bst options, have looked at the tv plossls and am very interested due to the low price, thinkin of maybe an 8mm, 15mm and 25mm

[Donkeiller]

BSTs and XCel-LXs both work well in my f/6 refractor.

They don't break the bank either.

[Russko13]

Think I might go for the xcels and maybe some tv plossls are the xcels good for deep sky observing?

[John]

Think I might go for the xcels and maybe some tv plossls are the xcels good for deep sky observing?

The X-Cel LX's are pretty good, better than their predecessors, which are just called X-Cel's. In my opinion though, the Tele Vue plossls are a bit better again - if you can live with a 50 degree field of view and the limited eye relief  of the plossl design, they are as good as anything on the market really even at much higher prices. If you can get a few TV plossls you can be confident that you are seeing everything your scope and the viewing conditions will show and you will have eyepieces that will last a lifetime of observing with any scopes you care to put them in.

[rwilkey]

Hyperions do not work well at f/5, BST's or Celestron X-cel LX's are best for your type of scope.

[YKSE]

If you can live with short eye relief of 5mm, I would highly recommend this set

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-eyepiece-set-with-turret.html

you get a decent finder eyepeice (32mm), then all the needed focal length with the other BCOs in combination of the barlow, with optical quality in par with EPs cost many times more.

Here's the link where John reviewed the BCOs

http://stargazerslou...e-story-so-far/

and reviews on Cloudy night about the BCOs

http://www.cloudynig...ll/fpart/2/vc/1

[Russko13]

Thanks for the input I'm definitely going to go for a couple of televue plossls in the higher mag range as I don't feel I will need the wide fov or eye relief when it comes to the likes of planetary viewing ( correct me if I'm wrong). would like something with a bit more fov when it comes to observing objects such as galaxies and nebula, In particular the Orion Nebula and m31 which always get some time dedicated to when I'm out with my bins and are the objects I tend to enjoy showing friends and family so would love an eyepiece which will blow my socks off, also getting an xt8 dob in the summer so would be great if my eyepieces would preform well on that Aswell. very interested in the skywatcher panaview 32mm Aswell from what I've read about it, anyway thanks for the info guys my mind has been put at ease

[bingevader]

TV plossls are great, the eye relief shouldn't be a problem as TV stop at the 8mm FL. I'd have a serious look at the Maxvisions whilst they're still around. The 32mm Panaview is lovely in an f6 8" 'scope if you don't mind a bit of field curvature, but then it's at a very reasonable price!

Cheers

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The MaxVision EPs are absolutely top value for money. They are close to TV quality, work well at F/5 and cost FAR less than TV (or even Hyperions)