Orion Epic II ED 5mm 1.25" eyepiece any good?

[darthvader]

Anyone got/used the above EP ?

is it suitable for use with a SW 200p dob ?

someone close by me has one for sale @ £39 - is that a reasonable price for it do you think?

thanks

[ronin]

It is the same eyepiece as the BST Starguider, so at £39 reasonable.

They are produced by Barta and come out under a few names.

Orion Epic, Olivon, BST, TC ED, Astro Tech Paradigm, Agenastro, there will be a few others as well if you bothered to search.

In answer should work on the 200P.

[Chris]

I also saw this for sale As Ronin as said its exactly the same eyepiece as the cheaper to buy BST starguider (99 pounds vs 49 pounds for the same eyepiece). I guess 39 pounds is reasonable considering the new price but I know you can get the BST's for between 30-35 second hand or 49 brand new. 

[andrew63]

That's a fair bit of magnification with a 5mm - perhaps too high to use often ?

andrew

[darthvader]

thanks for the heads up on that. Didn't realise they were the same EP - like you say skies_unlimited on ebay have them new for £49 so not as much a bargain as I thought   

Am I right in saying it would give me 1200/5 = 240x magnification ? (I want it for Jupiter / Moon mainly) or would it be better to use a barlow 2x with the stock 10mm EP giving me 1200/10 x 2 = 240x instead?

does combining a barlow with an EP generally give worse results than a single EP ?

[rwilkey]

Hi Darth, I prefer not to use a Barlow, but 240x mag would not see much use.  OK on the Moon and Saturn, but too much for Jupiter, which benefits from 150 to 180x in my opinion.  150x hits the sweet spot for me with a 6mm William Optics SPL. 

[AlexB67]

Hi Darth, I prefer not to use a Barlow, but 240x mag would not see much use.  OK on the Moon and Saturn, but too much for Jupiter, which benefits from 150 to 180x in my opinion.  150x hits the sweet spot for me with a 6mm William Optics SPL. 

 I would say too for the SW 200p perhaps 5mm would not often see use. In the 250 Dob I find I can push a bit higher without loss in contrast I find with 200x often doable . On night of very good seeing even 240x  on Jupiter in the ortho I now own, but in my 5 inch scope 130x I find very good for example to get that balance right in contrast and mag, for me anyway, but it will tend to vary person to person I suppose what works for them and what they like to see.

I'd be more tempted by a 7mm eyepiece for planets to start with in that scope perhaps as a better all rounder. 6mm -  8mm would see more use. I certainly would like a 7mm myself   but it takes takes time to save for that pentax XW    but it will be mine

[darthvader]

£69 on FLO for the 6mm William Optics EP - does it matter that the eye relief is long (i dont wear glasses)?

Does longer eye relief also help with annoying eyelashes getting in the way? If not I'm gonna have to get the dog clippers out!

[AlexB67]

I gather they get good positive write ups those Williams eyepieces, the xcel celestron would also do for a 7mm as in the sort of BST equivalent level I gather or even slightly better some will say.  I've never use either so cant help.

Glasses or not the eyerelief is always welcome for comfortable viewing unless it is excessive eyerelief which may happen with a barlow combination that pushes it out even further where you find yourself hovering away from the eyepiece to avoid blackouts in some extreme cases . Having an adjustable eyecup is nice but not a must I find, so you can adjust the distance so you can't get too close to the eyepiece 

[rwilkey]

£69 on FLO for the 6mm William Optics EP - does it matter that the eye relief is long (i dont wear glasses)?

Does longer eye relief also help with annoying eyelashes getting in the way? If not I'm gonna have to get the dog clippers out!

Hi Darth, I do not wear glasses and prefer the longer eye relief, it makes for very comfortable viewing.  You won't need the dog clippers!