Eyepieces

[oldlancseng]

Hi

Getting great advice, all adds to the knowledge.

As I've said in previous posts, I started off by getting a EQ6 Pro Mount, I have posted a memo about what Telescope to get, then, I reads the post about eyepieces, it all get very confusing when you start out,

When you watch the television it sounds so easy, they make it sound as though you just get a telescope and that's it, off you go!

 My question about eyepieces is,

To me a newcomer it looks attractive to just go out and get one of the cases with what would seem to have one of everything in it, but is that just being a bit naïve and are you getting things that you never use and would have been better off being a bit more selective.

Thanks

Eddie t  

[faulksy]

spot on there eddie, the case full of e.p,s (eye pieces) looks great to your friends but you will probably only use 3 or 4 of them, you can get a case for £30 from maplins and then get indavidual eps to suit your interests. try what ever eps you have with your scope and go from there, also try and decide what your interests are dso,s(deep sky objects) planets star systems/doubles. just keep asking more questions, and what scope are you buying

[timetraveler3]

Agreed, don't buy the assortment kit.  The ones that come with basic scope are usually not very good but can still be used to get your interest. I just purchased a Zhumell 8x to 24x zoom lens and I think it works great and takes the place of having several different eyepieces. Some may argue that individual eyepieces will give you better quality, probably true but this one works great. There is a lot of newer wide FOV lenses out there, they would great but can be pricey.

After than then you can blow your mind by looking into filters! They can make a difference as well. So have some fun researching and go out and see the skies!

Gary

[ronin]

A kit of eyepieces may seem to be not the best but perhaps the reason is as much to do with the nature of the eyepieces and very much the people.

Concerning people that 5mm that will give 200x is attractive, the 4mm that will give 250x is even more so. See it all the time here. The majority of scopes are blazoned with the magnification they can potentially achieve

A big reason for not getting a kit is that being plossls the smaller ones have poor eye relief and are more or less unuseable. If a plossl had a constant 12mm or 15mm of eye relief we would I suspect suggest getting them a lot more often.

If there were a kit of BST Starguiders, say 5mm, 8mm, 18mm, 25mm, even all 6, I suspect we would suggest getting them as a kit a lot more, same for a kit of Celestron X-Cels. So buying a kit depends to a large extent on the actual eyepieces being purchased.

Even concerning plossl's, if TV were to offer the full kit of TV plossl at 25% off would we say they are a waste of time? Or would we form an orderly queue to get hands on them?

Not saying kits are the way to go, like many I will suggest individual eyepieces, but if the kit of (say) 5 eyepieces (plossl's) suited you and the scope then why not?

[rwilkey]

Hi Eddie, I would suggest using the ep's that come with the scope first and get some viewing experience in, contrary to the opinions of the advertisers, magnification is not what it is all about.  Most stargazing is done at lower powers, magnification is needed for the Moon and planets, but too much just destroys the image, its all about quality of view, which you will not get with the higher power plossl's found in sets, so it will be a waste of money, as are the colour filters which will be rarely used.

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi Lots of interesting comment above.  You could do worse than read this article (link) first then decide like I did.  As the chap above said most of boxed sets are rarely used.

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=79#.Uwyp3nmJAgJ

Me, I think a lot of people must have eyepieces sitting in cupboards.  I've never had to use more than 3 but then I'm tight.

[LukeSkywatcher]

When first starting out, an EP kit is an attractive option because for less then 200 quid you seem to get a LOT. As you gain experience over time, you quickly learn that most of the stuff that comes in these kits, you will either not use or you will want to upgrade. I speak from experience (as do most). Its best to use the EP's you got with your scope until such a time when you feel the need to spend more money.

Coloured filters and moon filters are a bit of a waste. So for a couple hundred quid you get maybe 2 nice EP's and a nice hard case.

[Pyrodave]

Eyepieces are very personal , What I mean is ,some folks will recommend a certain make of eyepiece and find them excellent while others find the same eyepiece doesn't suit them 

I would suggest you find an Astro group near you and go along on an observing night. They're usually a friendly bunch and will let you try out eyepieces etc It could save you some money if you can actually see the view  a particular eyepiece gives through your scope