Eyepiece question

[Dolito]

I was looking at Orions website and they had a bunch of eyepieces on sale and I saw a zoomable eyepiece that can go from 8mm to 24mm. Why spend potentially more on a bunch of different EPs than buy this one that is essentially 5/6 in 1. what, if any would be downfalls of having an all in one?

[AstroJOE]

Positives - easy to use, no need to keep changing eyepieces in the dark, handy for aligning the scope

Negatives - narrower FOV at low power normally than the same focal length fixed eyepiece, generally not as good optically as the fixed FL ones

I don't have any experience of Orion eyepieces, zoom or fixed. Budget zoom's don't tend to have very good reviews although the Baader zoom is pretty decent

James

[Squagnut]

I've never used a zoom, but I agree with James - if zooms were the best option, they'd be more popular. If I were to get a zoom, it'd be as well as, rather than instead of, fixed FL EPs.

I find that with any precision apparatus, the more things it does, the less well it does each thing.

[brantuk]

Zooms are a useful stand in for a range of eyepieces whilst you learn about them and build a collection of fixed length ones that satisfy your requirements. After that you can either sell the zoom on to another beginner or hang on to it for polar alignment, star alignment, and refining pointing accuracy with the finder scope.

Useable budget zooms include the Celestron zoom and (so I've heard) the Seben zoom - bear in mind they will perform at a level consistent with the price (around £50'ish new). My preference is the Hyperion zoom which is several steps up in quality from the supplied eyepieces, and performs several times better than the budget zooms. But it's tremendous value for money at circa £165 new - or around £110 second hand.

Then as budget allows you can build a range of good eyepieces at 4mm or 5mm gaps. Aim to fill a range between 8mm and 30mm with 5 or 6 pieces. Eyepieces are a very personal choice - not everyone's eyes are same, some wear glasses, others don't, some get on better with one brand or type than another. Expect to take several months doing this and don't be in a rush learning all you can - meantime use the zoom.

Join a local observing group or astro soc and attend viewing sessions. You'll find most folks will be happy to let you try a couple of their eyepieces in your scope so you can discover what suits you before buying. Hope that helps.

[Dolito]

Thanks, that does help. I was looking for a 3rd or 4th eyepiece to supplement my 10 and 25mm that came with the scope and i noticed the zoom, but i figured that there was a reason that people still bought individual EPs, plus it seemed really on the expensive side, even with a sale from Orion, at over $250

[Dolito]

I was browsing amazon and i saw this kit for 60% off. It includes: 4mm, 6mm, 12.5mm, and 32mm Plossl EPs, 2x Achromatic Barlow Lens, Yellow, Orange, Light Red, Green, Light Blue Filters, polarizing filter and CrystalView Moon filter.

Its about $80, I have 3in 700mm EQ NEWT with mediocre stock 10 and 25mm EP.

Considering I was looking at single EPs for this price, do you guys think this would be a good investment? 

[Charic]

Similar to photography,  a prime focal length will generally always be, of  a better build and optical quality than  that of a zoom. I also thought of getting a zoom at some stage, for practical reasons, and they may work very well. In the end I went for prime lenses for my Nikon. The same  reasons apply to telescopes. But if your not photographing through the telescope, Your eyes would probably not worry too much about the jack of all trades sat in the finder scope. How much easier can it be to have just the one lens, that you can zoom. 

[jambouk]

While the zoom may not be as good as individual prime eye pieces by the same manufacturer, compared to the standard eye pieces you get supplied with most scopes, it will be a vast improvement.

Do you have any astro-friends who have some posh prime eye pieces and a zoom to try out on your kit before you part with a few hundred quid? These zoom EPs do often come up on the "astro buy sell" website as people upgrade.

Good luck.

Jd

[rwilkey]

I was browsing amazon and i saw this kit for 60% off. It includes: 4mm, 6mm, 12.5mm, and 32mm Plossl EPs, 2x Achromatic Barlow Lens, Yellow, Orange, Light Red, Green, Light Blue Filters, polarizing filter and CrystalView Moon filter.

Its about $80, I have 3in 700mm EQ NEWT with mediocre stock 10 and 25mm EP.

Considering I was looking at single EPs for this price, do you guys think this would be a good investment? 

Hi Delito, the 4mm and 6mm would hardly get used, plus very short eye-relief so uncomfortable to use, colour filters are not much help to be honest, and a Moon filter and a polarising filter are just duplications, of no real use including both.  Save your money and go for decent individual ep's, such as the Astro-Tech Paradigms or similar with good eye-relief.