Telescope zoom eyepieces - jack of all trades?

[No-i-dear]

I've used zoom lenses on my SLR camera for many a year, and mighty useful they have been too. I see that zoom eyepieces are available for telescopes. Are they any good? Do they perform as well as a selection of 'fixed' eyepieces? Or is it a case of 'jack of all trades but master of none'?

On the plus side you only need one eyepiece, but there must be negatives otherwise every 'scope would only ever need one.

Really interested to see what you have to say.

[Steve_meg]

I found my celestron zoom good as a beginner on my old dob, as I could find things at 24mm then zoom in. If I changed fixed eyepieces I would risk losing the object.

However now I have tried a few fixed eyepieces I see the downsize. The 8 and 15 mm bst eyepieces may cost the same as my zoom, but gave noticeably better views.

[YKSE]

It depends what telescope you have (or going to have), few zooms are well corrected for fast scope (f5 or lower).

If your scope is f6 or slower (bigger number), I would recommend Baader MarkIII zoom, the 24mm is not very useful because of narrow field of view and not as sharp as other focal lengths, but 8-20mm is very good, better than fixed focal length BST starguider ED in my f7.5 and f10 scopes, to my eyes at least.

[Wyvern]

I have an "unbranded" 7-21mm zoom in my ep collection......... and it really doesn't get used!

I agree with YKSE in that for my 10" f4.2 dob, the zoom - although a nice idea - really did not give a clean crisp image. Was better ...... or tolerable - in the skywatcher refractor, but I'd say that your better off getting good quality ep's rather than a single zoom ep. I'd personally go along with the "jack of all trades but master of none" description,...... for my zoom at least.

Regards, Les

[John]

I agree that the Baader Hyperion MkIII zoom is pretty good in the 20mm - 8mm range. There is at least one zoom that is actually as good or better than almost everything else and thats made by Leica. Quality of that type does not come cheap though and it's cost is around £700.

[Stu]

As with everything it's often a case of 'you get what you pay for'

I have a 3 to 6 Nagler zoom which is an excellent high power zoom which allows you to tube your magnification in planets and other high power targets to the seeing conditions. To me it is very good, but not quite as good as dedicated eps. Very good for grab and go/travel use too.

The Leica Zoom ASPH 8.9 to 17.8mm zoom is very expensive, but acknowledged to be as good as dedicated eyepieces so can actually work out to be comparable or cheaper than a set of high quality Televues for instance.

Already mentioned, the Baader Hyperion Zoom has a good reputation and is reasonably priced, not in the same league as the Leica though.

Stu

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[Joseki]

I recently got a Baader Hyperion Zoom, plus the matching x2.25 barlow.  It's a nice piece of kit as far as I can tell, the only negative is it's massive (and still quite expensive £240 in total from FLO - but works out at £24 per click-stop).  I'm quite happy with just that and a dedicated low mag eyepiece but then I don't have a collection of high performance EPs to compare it to.

[Dreamweaver]

I have the Celestron 8-24mm zoom fov 43 - 66 degrees that I use on all my scopes. You get a bit of change from £300 depending where you buy it from. For me the zoom works very well as I tend to do a lot of grab and go observing and it means therefore that I carry less. TBH a dedicated eye piece at a given focal length, especially a Tele vue, would give better results but for the money I found the portability of having one eye piece that zooms better for my needs as I then don't have to carry loads of eye pieces with me. It does not mean that you have to zoom to the max all the time; there is a sweet spot somewhere that is right for the object you are looking at. I don't think you would be disappointed, the quality is still very good. Clean crisp images that stay in focus as you zoom. Great for day time use too. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have the Hyperion MkIII 8-24mm zoom. I bought it from FLO a couple of yrs ago. I'd been curious for a while as to how well they work and i "bit the bullet" and invested. The main reason i bought was because i am a wheelchair user and the less gear i have to carry,the better. Since buying, i have had no problems with it (a few people have had to return them because they seize up). The ONLY issue i have with my zoom is that the focus at the 8mm end of the scale never quite gets there compared to other fixed focal length 8mm eps i own. Its 99% there but never just as good.

I use my zoom on: SW Heritage 130P and Celestron 8se and love it. I do also still use my Vixen NPLs, because i just love the sharpness and contrast that they give.

So, are zoom EPs worth it,do they work?

Yes and yes.

Are they a "jack of all trades, but good at none"?

No. They are really very good at what they do. They can be expensive, and you have to decide if they suit your situation/budget.

One thing though,Seben (a brand usually to be avoided) seem to have a very good quality zoom (8-24mm i think), which costs about £50. A few members here use them and are very happy with them.

[solarboy]

hi

I have 3 a meade  a televue 8 to 24 and a unbranded cheap one this is Rubbish when I zoom in on the stars the stars around the edge are distorted

so if you buy  one buy a good un  a bit expensive  but you won't regret it

pete

[TwinkleTwinkle]

looking tinto buying the baader 8-24mm .. i only have the one that came with my scope so wondering if this will be a good allrounder or should i invest in multiple eyepieces ? if so which would people recommend 

[Caldwell14]

The Baader zoom is pants, mine fell apart within 2 weeks. Its certainly not a 8mm to 25mm in any case

as John quite rightly points out 20mm is about by its limit. Fixed fl will always be the way to go on the quality front.

[Caldwell14]

BST explorers are a good option. That said once again the 25mm is the weak spot. Celestron XCEL are a more expensive and frankly better ep than BST. Again that said the build quality is not great, the eye cups become unstuck and fall off. Bostick is quite good at sticking them back and perhaps might only require re-doing a couple of times a year.

[John]

The Baader zoom is pants, mine fell apart within 2 weeks. Its certainly not a 8mm to 25mm in any case

as John quite rightly points out 20mm is about by its limit. Fixed fl will always be the way to go on the quality front.

Apart from the 24mm focal length point, which is a bit too narrow for my taste, the only build issue I have with my current Mk3 zoom is the wide helical rubber eye cup which seems rather loose. I use one of the alternative eye cups provided instead.

Otherwise the build is pretty good and optically it's delivered some great views, albeit as a 20mm-8mm zoom 

The Mk3 Hyperion Zoom does seem optically a bit better to me than the Mk2 that I owned a while back. 

Your eyepiece choice tells it's own story though - discerning choices !