Lense kits - advice

[Sonicfishcake42]

Hi everyone! 

I've just committed to buying my first scope after years of wanting one. I've gone with the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 9.25' as this is about as far as my budget can stretch and being a novice I believe the goto function/wifi and battery pack to be quite useful for my needs.

Anyway, to the point... I know very little about the eyepieces other than what magnification is generally used for what (Even that I have a very basic understanding). I have no idea what brand, size, price range are suitable. I was pondering getting an eyepiece/lense kit so I have most of the primary basic needs covered. My first thought was either the Celestron kit or the Meade kit. I was wondering if the quality of these eyepieces are adequate? I understand given the price they are most likely below par in quality, is this the case?

My primary desires are to observe DSOs, Planets, Clusters etc. If buying the eyepieces individually I wouldn't know where to start. Does anyone have any advice on whether I should buy a lense kit and add more over time? Or if these are ultimately poor quality and I should buy individually? If so are there any specific brands/sixes/types that are best to opt for? 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

James 

[Lorne]

Congratulations on your new scope.... I would hold off buying any more eyepieces until you get to try the supplied ones, that way you can decide what you prefer viewing and tailor your eyepiece choice to suit.  In my experience you end up not using half the eyepieces in a kit. 

[ronin]

I would say that for the scope mentioned you are wasting your time in getting a kit.

Simply many will/may be of little use.

The focal length of your scope is long and you are likely to find that anything under 10mm will be of restricted use. For the scope you really are looking at the longer focal lengths and so the wider fields and the lower magnifications.

No idea where Lound is UK or elsewhere (?) so suggesting brand A or B may not be available to you.

Also what do you intend to look at?

The scope is good for planets however you have the long focal length that makes some DSO's more difficult - some on the larger nebulas may not fit in without careful choice of eyepieces.

[Sonicfishcake42]

Hi all, 

Thank-you for the swift responses. I'm not entirely sure what eyepiece(s) come with the scope at all, I will find out in the coming days! I was assuming there would only be one eyepiece provided, I didn't want to limit myself in not having more than 1 or 2 eyepieces and limiting what I am able to view. 

To answer your question Lound is in Retford, however I'm in the countryside so I have no light pollution whatsoever in my chosen viewing spot.

In regards to viewing nebulas which are of course larger than planets in the sky and a larger viewing field being needed any idea what size eyepiece would be suitable for a 9.25' scope? I'm not overly sure how the magnification is worked out from the size in mm of the eyepiece.

Do you have any recommendation what size eyepiece I would need for viewing planets and nebulae? And I'm assuming I will need a barlow as that would double my amount of viewing magnifications depending on how many eyepieces I have? 

Thanks guys

[brantuk]

I would advise against the kit's - especially the cheaper end ones - you'll find that most kits are not much better than the eyepieces that came with your scope - and often worse. Best thing is to join a local astro soc and go to a few meetings. You'll get loads of help and advice and the guys will let you try their eyepieces in your scope - you'll soon get accustomed to what you like using. Then start building your own individual eyepieces set from there - you'll save a lot of money in the long run. Hth

[laudropb]

Hi. I think you get a 40mm and a 13 mm eyepiece, giving magnifications of 59x and 180x respectively. This will give you lots to see while you learn your new scope. As has been stated a kit set will not be that useful. It would be better to buy a wide angle lens once you are sure what you want to observe. To find the magnification divide the focal length of your scope by the focal length of the eyepiece, I'm mms

[Cornelius Varley]

Eyepiece kits tens to use budget eyepieces and there will be some eyepieces in the kit which you may use a couple of times or rarely. A better option would be to purchase a couple of better quality eyepieces that would complement the eyepieces supplied with the telescope.

[happy-kat]

Magnification is limited by the seeing conditions often it just is not possible to go high because the view wont support it.

[Sonicfishcake42]

Thanks for the advice guys, seems to be unanimous that kits are a bad idea! I'll stay clear. 

Seems I need a 40mm, 13mm and 2x Barlow

Any recommendation on brands?

Thanks in advance 

[ronin]

I didn't want to say go buy A and B to find that you are in Finland or somewhere.

Lound is somwhere I have not heard of, Retford yes I know that.

40mm tends to be a 2" and 13mm a 1.25".

To swap between them means an adaptor/converter so factor that in, or out.

Magnification is simply scope focal length divided by eyepiece focal length, so 2350/40 = 59x (ish)

Now the "problem" the view you get is the eyepiece field divided by the magnification.

So if you had a 60 degree eyepiece at 40mm then you then get 1 degree view.

That is reasonable, but not in 1.25" format, a 40mm plossl has a restricted field of about 40 degrees, not 52 or 60.

If however you get say a 25mm BST, which is a 60 degree eyepiece then:
Mag = 2350/25 = 94x

Your view is then 60/94 = 0.63 degrees.

To be honest that seem not too bad.

Next winter it means that M42 will not quite fit in, neither will you see all of M45 (Pleiades), they are both 1 degree or a bit more.

The BST's at 12mm, 15mm, 18mm and 25mm would give a good bunch to get going with (not all at once).

As to the 2" selections cannot say, I stick with 1.25" eyepieces, makes life easy and no scope I have is as long in focal length as the 9.25.

Also the long focal length means that most reasonable eyepieces should work well in the scope.

[glowjet]

Hi Sonicfishcake42, Welcome to SGL, wise decision on the kits, it is said the only thing you wind up with after buying one of these is the case. Enjoy your new scope and the forum

[Sonicfishcake42]

Hi Ronin

That makes sense now, I was a tad unsure on how to work out the magnification at first. And yes, I'd agree in sticking with the 1.25s (certainly at the moment when everything is new to me).

I was having a look at some of the BSTs, a term I came across was 'eye relief', I'm not sure what that is? Could you explain? I'd certainly prefer quality over quantity so buying 1 or 2 eyepieces at a time instead of 4 cheaper eyepieces are more desirable as I plan to get as much use as I can out of my scope over a long time.

Thanks for giving me a detailed run through and advice, it really does help

Thankyou Glowjet, although a case will be handy I think I will have to accumulate some quality eyepieces first haha! Cannot wait to get stuck in

[Tonynexevo925]

I have been down exactly the same journey you're now on!! Happy to share my experience to date if you want to pm me contact details.

Btw journey isn't yet finished

[ollypenrice]

What I want in an EP for a long focal length SCT is one that will open up the view as much as possible, so something with a large apparent field of view. This will have to be a 2 inch fit, so does your scope have a 2 inch back and 2 inch diagonal? If not these will be costly. As others have said, 'wait and see what you like' is good advice.

Personally I feel no need for lots of eyepieces and prefer to have three good ones than ten moderate ones. In our 20 inch Dob I use only two, 13 and 26mm, both ultra wide TeleVues. In the 10 inch SCT, which can be very good on the planets, I'll use an 8 or 10mm Radian as well as the two previous ones I mention.

Olly

[baggywrinkle]

The Celestrons SCT generally come with a 1.25" 24mm Plossle. It is nit bad quality. I had one with my old 6SE and the same with my 9.25.

Like others I would advise buyiing the kit, the ep's are of so so quality with poor eye relief.

These days I use a Baader 8-24mm zoom with my 9.25 and overall I have found it is a joy to use and also works well the the 2xbarlow that Baader  can provide.

There is another rule I heard of which says look for 50x, 100x, and 150x on 3 lenses and add a 2x barlow and you have 6 decent magnifications.

Of course magnification is not the be all as it can be compromised by seeing.

[Owmuchonomy]

My 9.25 SCT in 2007 came with 3 eyepieces; Celestron 1.25" plossls of FL 15, 25 and 40mm. The scope is slow so very forgiving of eyepieces. I have only ever used the 15 and 40mm for general use. When Mars was at opposition last year I once got away with my 8mm Baader Hyperion i.e., close to 300x magnification. Those events are few and far between. As others have said, explore fully what is provided before looking at any new glassware.

[Mr Spock]

With my C9.25 my most used eyepiece is the 10mm - enough magnification to see all the detail but not too much to fall victim to poor seeing.

[Dom1961]

As mentioned the BSTs are great eyepieces, I got them as my first eyepiece buys, I got the 8mm and the 15mm which will give me different mags to what you'll get. But still they are really comfortable to use. Also you could keep an eye out for any customer returns that Alan puts on auction. That's how I got mine for quite cheap. He checks them fully to make sure they are not damaged. But hope you enjoy your scope!

[Earl]

have you considered a baader zoom? its a capable eyepiece, and the only one i own, however im not a visual observer as such, id get a celestron 32 25 and 15 or 10 plossl they do the job quiet well or Meade 3000 range or super plossls

[Sonicfishcake42]

Hi guys, 

Yes, I was going to settle on the BSTs for my first purchase, then I've come across the Celestron X-Cel LX range. They look quite well made also. The online reviews seem rather promising but of course I take everything with a slight pinch of salt. Reviewers that buy and review those as their first Eyepieces aren't going to know how they fair against other EPs and thus comparative reviews are not a given when reading up online.

Has anyone had experience with the Celestron X-Cel XL range? Or know if they're going to be any better? 

I think my limit at this time is around £75 per eye-piece give or take a few quid.

I've not looked into zoom lenses yet, I've not even considered them to be honest.

[YKSE]

I agree with comments that no rush in buying eyepieces. Take your time to find our your preferences.

If you've not considerred a zoom,  do take a few  minutes to re-read the answers above, how many SCT owners have recommend Baader zoom to you. I have one, and would not hesitate to recommend it over inexpensive fixed focal eyepieces, the ability to zoom is a huge andvatage, Especially for high magnifcation viewing,  you'll have an eyepiece always find right magnification for seeing conditions, instead of many eyepieces collecting dust after a couple of tries.

[Sonicfishcake42]

Hi guys, 

After a lot of consideration and reading previous threads and reviews on the Baadar zoom I can see it's got praise from a lot of people that are more knowledgeable than myself! I've decided to commit to the Baadar Zoom.

Thanks again everyone for your input! 

James 

[brantuk]

Great choice - the Baader zoom is a far better option than any of the starter kits. The views will be way superior to any kit eyepieces though it does narrow a little at the 24mm end. It will give you a pretty full range of views until you start deciding which individual eyepieces you want to go for.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Great decision on the MkIII. Its the only EP you will need for a long long time. You may decide never to buy another single EP ever, but i doubt it. I pretty much exclusively use my MkIII with my 8" SCT and its just great. The ONLY issue i have found with it is that at 8mm, the focus (view) is a tad soft/blurred. This could be down to atmospheric conditions or more likely that i just fail to hit the sweet spot when focusing the scope @ 8mm. So probably nothing to do with the actual zoom itself.

I just love the freedom it gives me. I am not bogged down with carrying a case full of different EP's around with me. 

[Sonicfishcake42]

Yes, I've read about the issues at the 24mm end of things, however a 8-20 does me just fine, if needed a first purchase if I decide to start a collection of fixed EPs I can opt for a 24mm first