Eyepieces

[joehay_yorkshire]

So i've got a starguider 18mm ep for my 130mm newt, just asking what the best low cost ep is around the 6mm mark? i'm thinking a vixen npl, a bst explorer or something similar?

Regards

Joe

[nmoushon]

I picked up a 6mm EP second hand for $20. 

[joehay_yorkshire]

what make? is it good?

[ronin]

For 6mm specifically it is a bit limited.

The only 2 I know off the top of my head are the WO SPL which is reported as good and there is a BST Wide Angle (this is not a Starguider/Explorer), which seems almost ignored possibly because the Starguider is very good and just a little more.

The is also the TMB planetary's but these seem to be out of favour and never get that good a report. They are not a bad eyepiece but do not stand out.

At 5mm is the BST Starguider and Celestron X-Cel. The X-Cel is also available at 7mm.

The Vixen NPL's being plossl could be difficult to use, you would have about 3-4mm of eye relief.

[John]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "best" and "low cost" 

Setting aside a wide field of view and comfortable eye relief, in optical performance terms probably the best 6mm eyepiece I have used (and goodness knows I have used many !) is the Baader Genuine Orthoscopic which can be picked up for around £50 on the used market. You can buy the new equivilent, now with the Astro Hutech branding on them, for around £80. 

While you can get wider field eyepieces and ones with longer eye relief (so a little easier to view though) in my opinion you would need to spend £hundreds to get any better actually optical performance quality than the Baader GO / Astro Hutech 6mm orthoscopics and even then the difference would be only very marginal at most.

So thats my definition of "best" and "low cost" 

[joehay_yorkshire]

i'm lucky in not having glasses eye relief isn't a huge issue. I was thinking around 6mm, so anything close that's good is worth considering.

Are the vixens good, other than eye relief, or would another bst or an x cel be a better way to go?

[joehay_yorkshire]

and thanks John, i'll possible get a baader ortho then

[Helite]

The 6 mm Vixen is nice but a little tight, I find I use my 5 mm BST starguider more often and it is much more comfortable to use with the eye-cup. 

[AlexB67]

In that same league that John mentions, at lower cost arguably very close to that, and it is in the same price bracket as the BST it would perhaps be worth throwing in the classic orthos into the pot,

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-ortho-bco-eyepiece.html

I say that with the caveat of never having used them but based on reviews.

Really in the end  besides the ease of use on the eye, it is a trade in to get that optical quality, but at the cost of narrower FOV and keeping price down.  I'd say if I had had fresh eyes no glasses starting out new in the hobby, this is probably the route I would take to go for the orhtos quality plossls second hand if you can get them. I am not a FOV junky mind you. I now have eyepices that do 60 and 68 degrees in the MVs, and have no issue going back to a BST or even an SW possl with 52 and feel the narrower FOV bugs me. The performance of the FOV edge to edge I rate higher over a wide FOV, but in my case I wear glasses, and my eyes are not getting any younger so I have to consider that comfort factor. 

Good luck

[joehay_yorkshire]

In that same league that John mentions, at lower cost arguably very close to that, and it is in the same price bracket as the BST it would perhaps be worth throwing in the classic orthos into the pot,

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-ortho-bco-eyepiece.html

I say that with the caveat of never having used them but based on reviews.

Really in the end  besides the ease of use on the eye, it is a trade in to get that optical quality, but at the cost of narrower FOV and keeping price down.  I'd say if I had had fresh eyes no glasses starting out new in the hobby, this is probably the route I would take to go for the orhtos quality plossls second hand if you can get them. I am not a FOV junky mind you. I now have eyepices that do 60 and 68 degrees in the MVs, and have no issue going back to a BST or even an SW possl with 52 and feel the narrower FOV bugs me. The performance of the FOV edge to edge I rate higher over a wide FOV, but in my case I wear glasses, and my eyes are not getting any younger so I have to consider that comfort factor. 

Good luck

I'm definitely looking at the classic ortho's would they be better than bst starguiders for planetary work? 

[YKSE]

To my eyes, BCO are noticeably better than BST for planetary work.