Tele Vue Plossl eyepieces

[pbeville]

Thanks John, I'll see how I like the ES 82 14MM and maybe pick up the 68 24MM if I like it.

I've had a hard time trying to find negative reviews on any eyepiece in the ES 68 or 82 lines of eyepieces.

[John]

It's worth doing some maths if choosing a mix of 82 and 68 degree eyepieces. Sometimes the 82 degree ones will be showing almost just as much sky as longer focal length 68 degree ones so you can end up with a form of duplication in your set which might not be the best use of £'s

[RikM]

Hmmm, well how do the ES 68's handle faster scopes? I can easily see myself upgrading in the not-so-far future, so I don't want to waste money now on an eyepiece that won't work wel with a future telescope...

I only have one but the 28mm ES 68 works well for me in my f/4.7 Dob. My other eyepieces are Pentax XW and though the ES isn't quite up to the same standard, I am quite content with it. I also have a 21mm smooth side TV Plossl (HH specific as for John and Shane) and it is okay but I prefer the wider aFOV of the ES. I have heard that the newer TV Plossls are better than the older smooth sides though.

[Qualia]

Pbeville,

Extracting budget from the equation and purely looking at quality glass, some of the the most popular options in no particular order appear to be:

Tele Vue

Explore Scientific ES68, 80 and 100

Meade 5000 UWA

William Optics UWAN's

Skywatcher Nirvanas

BSTs

X-Cels LXs

Orthoscopic like Baader's.Genuine

If field of view and eye-relief wasn't a big concern, or if budget was a little tight, then buying into a set of Baader Genuine Orthos and Tele Vue Plossls would be a good move. These eyepieces will show as good a quality image as more expensive glass, but obviously with less field of view and less eye-relief.

When deciding upon your next eyepiece, it is always conducive to work along the lines of required magnification, exit pupil, true field of view, eye relief, length and weight. If you're looking to buy, a proper choice will depend on your specific circumstances. With that said, if I had a 6" for general DSO hunting and observing, I'd probably be looking at around 60x for my medium-low and around 90x for my medium high.

Critically speaking, I have a couple of Delos and find they produce orthic quality images in the superlative. I mean that quite seriously. The comfort is excellent. Eye relief is extremely generous. Contrast, tone, sharpness and light through put is amazing. Their ergonomics and finish is just gorgeous. In my own case, I figured that for general DSO work I only needed two eyepieces. Moreover, I realised that these eyepieces would be with me for a number of years, so I sold up my run of X-Cels LXs and purchased the Delos. Was the move worth it? Yes

For lower power work for 1.25" eyepieces, I find the Tele Vue Panoptics are really nice eyepieces. They're small and light so you can carry them about with ease and you won't suffer from any kind of balancing issues. Of course, I don't find them in the same league as the Delos. Don't get me wrong, we're talking Tele Vue here, and they're superb eyepieces. The 24mm will show as much sky as a 1.25" will show and they're as sharp as tack right across the field of view even in fast scopes like my f5. However, I find the 24mm does pincushion a little on large objects like the Moon or the Sun - a mute issue when it's only used for checking out star fields or finding faint objects - and the flip up eye cup does attract dust.

I can't comment on other eyepieces but I'm almost certain they will also get top marks but my heart says, don't go buying a load of eyepieces but just save for two really cracking, premium, quality glass eyepieces and a decent low power eyepiece and Barlow. For a good number of reasons, I'd personally go for Tele Vue and if it means saving a little longer, so be it.

Hope this helped

[jetstream]

I picked my low power EP's not only by the apparent field of view, but also by true field of view. The lower the power, the larger the true field. The low powers field stops go 43mm,36mm, and 30mm, which I find quite useful.

The 24mm ES 82 has about 33mm FS dia, which is nice at that focal length, the 23mm Luminos/Axiom is around 37mm. Lots to choose from....

I love my Televues, the Ethos/Delos are hard to beat, maybe impossible to beat IMHO, but there are a lot of good EP's out there.

[pbeville]

Just an update:

I pulled the trigger on the ES 68 24MM. The ES 82 14MM I ordered is on backorder, so I have to have something to tide me over! 

Thanks for the help everyone! 

[Moonshane]

I think based on comments of others you'll be delighted!