widefield ep

[algol]

Hi guys is the 32mm skywatcher SP colossal a good widefield low power eyepiece?

Looking for something that allows me to star hop easily, and see things that are largeish

Flo has one here: 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-sp-plossl-eyepieces.html

[ronin]

Someone better give a reply.

Yes that will give you a fairly wide field, and it is fairly inexpensive.

It does say best in F/6 and slower, so do not expect greatness from it.

Have to say I did similar for a Mak, I wanted as wide a field as I could, I bought a 40mm, there is supposidly no difference but I had read that the 40mm gave a very tiny bit more. So it was either the same field or possibly a teeny bit more.

One thing to take into account is that something like a 25mm BST Starguider will deliver the same field of view as a 30mm plossl.

Which makes it all interesting by the time you work it all out.

The eyepiece will do what you want, the eye relief may mean you have to hold your head/eye some distance back from the eyepiece asn it will be around 20-22mm. This could be a little troublesome.

You should get a 6.4mm exit pupil, 20x magnification, which at night should be pretty good.

[JED-E3]

If I was starting over again I wouldn't bother with the 32mm plossl, I have one but it doesn't work very well in fast scopes, I would get a 24mm Maxvision SWA(68') it will give the same true field but with a sharper, wider apparent field and much more wow factor.

Its £66 but it should be future proof if you upgrade your scope.

James.

[Paul73]

+1 for the Max Vision. Really quality eyepiece.

It is worth spending a bit more on good eyepieces. You don't have to go mad. But saving £20/£30 is often false economy. The BSTs that Ronin mentioned are about as cheap as I would go.

Paul

[John]

If you are on a tight budget the 32mm plossl will show you just about as much sky as the 1.25" format can. The apparent field of a 40mm plossl is limited to 43 degrees so you see about as much sky but it's like looking down a narrower tube.

While a shorter / wider wide field like the Maxvision is nice and perhaps more "future proof" you can get 32mm plossls for under £20 on the used market and it's difficult to argue with that if you want to keep your costs right down. I've had a few over the years and enjoyed them

[algol]

Cheers guys the only thing holding me back is money, as it is short at min as I'll health has affected my work

[TiTanecd]

I have a that EP, I like it. Much better than the stock EPs that I got with the 130EQ. Its the cheapest EP, for its spec, available by me (SA).