Wide-Field eyepieces?

[Pleiades M45]

Just looking for some recommendations based on what people own here.

Any suggestions with wide-field pieces?

I understand Tele Vue does all of this but please I'm sure as hell not paying $500+ (£318+) I bet they are fantastic but that's just not my price range for an eyepiece at the moment.

[MarsG76]

Hi mate,

I can't recommend enough the Televue Nagler type 6 eye pieces... they deliver a wide apparent field of view and deliver crystal clear views. Personally I have the 11mm Nagler and the view through it is so wide you don't see the edges, its like looking through a window into space.

Before I got this eyepiece I mainly used a 40mm LV (with and without a focal reducer/flattener), it was low power so was and is good for large object views like the Carina or Orion nebulae, that said the best views I ever had of nebulae and star/globular clusters was through the Nagler, hands down.

You get what you pay for and it's definitely worth the US$310. 

[Dinosour23]

What scope is that ?

[Pleiades M45]

Hi mate,

I can't recommend enough the Televue Nagler type 6 eye pieces... they deliver a wide apparent field of view and deliver crystal clear views. Personally I have the 11mm Nagler and the view through it is so wide you don't see the edges, its like looking through a window into space.

Before I got this eyepiece I mainly used a 40mm LV (with and without a focal reducer/flattener), it was low power so was and is good for large object views like the Carina or Orion nebulae, that said the best views I ever had of nebulae and star/globular clusters was through the Nagler, hands down.

You get what you pay for and it's definitely worth the US$310. 

After posting this thread i found the "Celestron Luminos"

Would this be the same thing? Both have 82º apparent field of view.

Not sure if Tele Vue make their products overpriced or if they really do offer a different experience.

[Pleiades M45]

Also for 2" i can just purchase an 1.25" to 2" adapter easy if anyone will be suggesting 2" eyepieces.

[John]

it would be very useful to know the model of scope that you are using. Even if you can get an adapter, there are some scope designs where a 2" eyepiece is just not going to be suitable because of other design constraints.

[Pleiades M45]

it would be very useful to know the model of scope that you are using. Even if you can get an adapter, there are some scope designs where a 2" eyepiece is just not going to be suitable because of other design constraints.

And this I was not thinking of. I don't think it can work in a Maksutov Cassegrain scope.

But if there is a solution to this tell me otherwise!

[John]

And this I was not thinking of. I don't think it can work in a Maksutov Cassegrain scope.

But if there is a solution to this tell me otherwise!

It depends which scope you have - some Maksutov-Cassegrain scopes can make use of 2" eyepieces and some cannot. Yours seems to be a smaller one (4.1 inches ?) so my guess is that 1.25" eyepieces will be what you need.

For the widest field of view you could go for:

- a 32mm plossl with a 50 / 52 degree field of view

- a 24mm super wide angle eyepiece with a 68 degree apparent field of view

- an 18mm ultra wide eyepiece with an 82 degree apparent field of view

All the above will show as much sky as the 1.25" format will allow. Most brands would work well with a maksutov-cassegrain scope because their slow focal ratio is quite forgiving on eyepieces.

Tele Vue quality delivers more benefits with faster scopes so you can avoid having to spend that much if you wish.

[MarsG76]

After posting this thread i found the "Celestron Luminos"

Would this be the same thing? Both have 82º apparent field of view.

Not sure if Tele Vue make their products overpriced or if they really do offer a different experience.

It would be an interesting comparison... I never had a chance to compare the two.

[russ.will]

I would think a Baader Hyperion/Orion Stratus 24mm would be a nice balance for the lowest possible magnification balanced against actual field of view.

It will show a tiny bit less sky (actual field of view) than a 40mm Plossl, but the wider apparent field of view (68deg v 43deg) means that the subject you are viewing will be a lot larger and with better contrast due to the higher magnification darkening the sky background. 

Russell

[ronin]

Do you want magnification and wide views or just the wide view?

The ES82's give "wide" views but as 14mm is the longest for the 1.25" fitting that likely means about 100x in your scope and that means a view of about 0.8 degree

Now an Astrotech Paradigm comes in 25mm and 60 degree that likely means 60x in your scope and so 1 degree view.

I have guessed at a 1500mm focal length, yours may be otherwise but the principle is the same.

If you do NOT want magnification then may as well look at the Paradigms (Celestron X-Cel's are very similar), if you want the magnification and the width then consider the ES82's.

Another rarish one are the Antares W70's, they do a 25mm and it is 70 degree field so slightly more width at 25mm. Not sure how good - I don't have the 25mm specifically, but the others are fine.