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Zoom Eyepieces


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Hi,

Finally getting back into observing with my scope after the bad weather and moving house. I am looking to extend my range of eyepieces, i currently have:

Skywatcher SP Plossl - 12.5mm and 32mm

Basic eyepiece that can with my scopes - 10mm and 25mm

I was wondering if it would be worth investing in a zoom eyepiece? and if so, which to go for:

Baader:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html

Skywatcher:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-hyperflex-9-27mm-zoom.html

I would guess that the Baader is the better option, but it is worth the price difference?

Also, would the zoom eyepiece be effective with both my scopes?

(Skywatcher Explorer 200P & Skywatcher Startravel 102)

Really appreciate any input, have found the feedback and information from this forum most helpful in picking up Astronomy as a hobby.

After this i plan to read up on Astrophotography, already bought 'Making every photon count', with an aim to trying my hand at it next winter. Need to save for the equipment.

kind regards,

David

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Hi David,

I have the Baadar zoom and I really like it.  I'm afraid I don't have a great deal of experience of different eyepieces, but I can confirm it is a world apart from the stock eye pieces that came with my Mak127, particularly under darker skies, where it really seems to excel.  Works well with a barlow for me too, increasing the range of views you can get from it.

I hear that the zooms do not match the quality of the individual eyepieces at a given length, e.g. 18mm or 12mm, but I have no means of comparison I'm afraid.  If it's true then you may want to consider whether you can get two or three specific length eye pieces at a cheaper cost.

Sorry I can't be much help, but I can tell you the Baadar zoom seems to good quality and for me at least, well worth the money.

Good luck with your choice!

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 - If you went with the full price one you could get the barlow deal - save £26 when you buy the 2.25 barlow as well.  Black flakes inside the eyepiece (I assume it's inside) could drive me nuts.- depends on how much there is though.

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I was looking at the bundle offer on flow,as the current barlow that i have is not very good, bought on the cheap and i can never get what i am looking at in focus with it.

The clearance eyepiece is tempting, but i am slightly put off by the black fleck. Don't really want to spend £120 and be disappointed with it.

Looking like i will go for the bundle offer of the eyepiece and barlow.

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yeah, it might not make any difference, but if you know it's there ... - though it probably is a very tiny speck.

btw, with those scopes, I don't know if you've done the sums but the Baader zoom will give (unless I've made a mistake)

for the 200P

x150-x50

and

x343-x112 (with the barlow), i.e. good range for planetary

and for the ST102

x63-x21

and

x143-x47 with the barlow.

sounds like a pretty useful range of magnifications to me. Eventually I'm going to get this myself as I mentioned above and combine it with a 32mm Panaview EP.  My 4mm ortho (technically redundant), this zoom and the Panaview should in theory be more than good enough for me for a long time anyway.

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I had an idea of what magnifications i wanted. That is what draws me to the zoom eyepeice, as buying 3 or 4 eyepieces and a better barlow to get the same range of magnification would cost more, or i go for lower quality individual eyepieces to keep the cost down.

Thanks for pointing out the mags though, i had not actually calculate what the baader would give me (just knew the range i wanted to get e.g 80x - 250x). This really helps and sways me even more to getting the baader bundle, probably should of done the calculations myself.

Thanks for the great advise, off to FLO to place my order now.

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Congrats on the Baader Hyperion Mark III Zoom & enjoy!

1st post here at the SGL Eyepiece Forum.

Have both BH II and Mark III 8-24mm Clickstop Zooms, they're good values for the money considering the performance, versatility and convinience of zooming in and out without swapping EP's, and a good barlow to combo with the zoom does take care of the shorter focal lenghts, like 3.5 - 10.5mm using the 2.25x barlow on the 8-24mm.

3ab2c1cee049a394942ae9bcaeb434ae.jpg

L-R: Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Clickstop Zoom II, BH Mark III Zoom, WO 7.5-22.5mm Zoom, Celestron 8-24mm Zoom

Best,

Hernando

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Yong, optically I can't tell the difference; on 1st light of the new Mark III on Jupiter, I thought it looked better on the Mark III than on the II but maybe it was just a mind suggestion because of the novelty of a new product, and touted by its manufacturer (Baader) to have been optically "optimized" to be ever so slightly better than its predecessor, the BH II. There are however notable differences, like the removable eyecup to make more "nose-room" when binoviewing, clickstops incorporated in the helical eyecup, supposed better seals for more water/dust-resistance, and solving some problems on the older zoom, like the loose grip ring. Hope this hels, thanks.

Best,

Hernando

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Thanks for the info, Hernando.

The ER for Mark zoom is said to be 12-15mm, I'm not sure it's the case for Mark III, my own experience is that it's more like 16-19mm as specified here:

http://www.alpineastro.com/Eyepieces_Accessories/Tabelle-ClickstopZoom-Okulare.pdf

Even though the AFOV should be reversed for the focal lengths.

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I've recently acquired a Hyperion Mk III zoom. I owned the Mk II a long time back so I can't recall too much about it although I do remember comparing it to fixed focal length Hyperions and feeling that the latter were just a little sharper and had less light scatter than the zoom equivalent.

I've just had some quick looks though the Mk III with my 12" dob tonight and I'm quite impressed with the views of the Moon and Jupiter and some double stars. I still don't like the 24mm setting of the zoom though as the field stop is ill defined and I don't feel it's the full claimed 50 degree AFoV. More like an ortho at 42 degrees I'd say. At 20mm though the field stop is sharp and the field has expended to at least 50 degrees. I think I'm going to treat it as a 20-8mm zoom  :smiley:

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I've recently acquired a Hyperion Mk III zoom. I owned the Mk II a long time back so I can't recall too much about it although I do remember comparing it to fixed focal length Hyperions and feeling that the latter were just a little sharper and had less light scatter than the zoom equivalent.

I've just had some quick looks though the Mk III with my 12" dob tonight and I'm quite impressed with the views of the Moon and Jupiter and some double stars. I still don't like the 24mm setting of the zoom though as the field stop is ill defined and I don't feel it's the full claimed 50 degree AFoV. More like an ortho at 42 degrees I'd say. At 20mm though the field stop is sharp and the field has expended to at least 50 degrees. I think I'm going to treat it as a 20-8mm zoom  :smiley:

Interesting as I was considering one of those.

Thanks

Ade

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 I think I'm going to treat it as a 20-8mm zoom  :smiley:

That's what I see mine too, 24mm is useful in alignment for me only, the astigmatism is too much for viewing.

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On the other side of the big pond is the view that the Hyperion Zoom is sharper than the fixed Hyperions, as reported by Jrbarnett in the thread "

Til I Saw Her Face, Now I'm a Believer! - Cloudy Nights (now unavailable)

Said it was unexpected but that the Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom delivered in spades and can stand up to upper-tier fixed focal length EP's, fantastic was a descriptive word used, and that it would be worth the bother to get a really good unit sample.

Best,

Hernando

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All zoom EP's have a focal length where the field stop is at its sharpest, and on the Baader Hyperion Zoom, it's the 20mm setting, very sharp. The other stops like 8mm is a little less sharp but not really fuzzy as some posts might suggest, although the 24mm, because of some vignetting, cannot be said to be sharp. 8-20mm zoom, still seems reasonable for the price. The 24mm can be used in finder mode like when an object is lost and trying to re-acquire, less mag makes for brighter image when seeking.

Best,

Hernando

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Not necessarily, the cheaper zooms can be a good introduction to different focal lengths, can be used to determine a favorite focal length and thereafter acquire a good widefield for that FL. Useful for grab & go setup or outreach. But there are compromises like better sharpness both in and off-axis on the better zoom and the Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom is also a widefield, 70 to 72-deg AFOV at 8mm setting (official is 50-68-deg) vs the 60-deg max on the budget zooms. In the end, it boils down to what one is willing to pay for the advantageous attributes on the better zoom.

See also blog post on comparison of Hyperion Zoom vs Celestron Zoom here - http://hyperionzoomlover.blogspot.com/2011/05/celestron-8-24mm-zoom-vs-baader.html

Best,

Hernando

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Not necessarily, the cheaper zooms can be a good introduction to different focal lengths, can be used to determine a favorite focal length and thereafter acquire a good widefield for that FL. Useful for grab & go setup or outreach. But there are compromises like better sharpness both in and off-axis on the better zoom and the Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom is also a widefield, 70 to 72-deg AFOV at 8mm setting (official is 50-68-deg) vs the 60-deg max on the budget zooms. In the end, it boils down to what one is willing to pay for the advantageous attributes on the better zoom.

See also blog post on comparison of Hyperion Zoom vs Celestron Zoom here - http://hyperionzoomlover.blogspot.com/2011/05/celestron-8-24mm-zoom-vs-baader.html

Best,

Hernando

Thanks Hernando,

The blog post was very useful

Ade

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I recently bought a MK III Hyperion Zoom. I have various fixed focal Hyperions, but decided to go for the zoom as it would be useful when lining up the scope and being able to centralise objects in the ep while going from wide angle to closer up without the need to physically change eyepieces over.

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Hi Toymaster<br />

<br />

<br />

I have a Baader Hyperion Zoom MK III and it is fantastic. <br />

<br />

However I upgraded from a Seben Zoom which is actually very good with my 102Mak and the C8. Narrower field of view than the Hyperion and not quite a sharp at the egdes, but for slower scopes it's ok. <br />

<br />

HTH<br />

<br />

<br />

Paul

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Thanks for the info, Hernando.

The ER for Mark zoom is said to be 12-15mm, I'm not sure it's the case for Mark III, my own experience is that it's more like 16-19mm as specified here:

http://www.alpineastro.com/Eyepieces_Accessories/Tabelle-ClickstopZoom-Okulare.pdf

Even though the AFOV should be reversed for the focal lengths.

Yong, you're right, the Mark III does feel like having a more generous ER than that of the other lower stated spec sheet, and 16-19mm is more like it. If there's one thing that I like about the Baader Hyperion Zoom, it's the comfortable ER which is just about right, not tight nor not too long, perfect.

Seems counter-intuitive, but the AFOV does widen to its max at the shortest focal length setting (8mm on the 8-24), but that's how it is with true zooms; exceptions are the short-range TV 3-6mm/2-4mm or the Antares Speers Waler zooms with constant AFOV's.

Best,

Hernando

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Hi Toymaster

I have a Baader Hyperion Zoom MK III and it is fantastic.

However I upgraded from a Seben Zoom which is actually very good with my 102Mak and the C8. Narrower field of view than the Hyperion and not quite a sharp at the egdes, but for slower scopes it's ok. 

Paul

Thanks Paul,

I'm using a SW 12" Dob (300P) and so it is around F4.9, so looking like I need to spend a bit more for the quality.

Ade

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