need advice, eyepieces for people with glasses

[steviegall]

hey all, so i just now clicked the big green buy button on flo for a 200mm skywatcher dob

ive been reading around this section as i knew i would have to plan buying some eyepieces, looking around ive seen mention of some pieces not being suitable(maybe suitable isnt the right word, as effective as others) for glasses wearers

im looking at the bsts as they are highly regarded here and seem well priced so my question is this

is anyone out there with these/other eyepieces that wear glasses and do they(the glasses) affect viewing that much that i should take this into account and should it affect the choosing of one eye piece over another?

[ronin]

Got one and a half sets of the BST's and glasses (-5), work fine for me.

Eye relief is given as something like 15mm maybe 16mm, the X-Cel are I think 18mm so a little more but you have to find out where this measurement is from, and that is not always easy/obvious.

The TV's tend to have more, Delos is I have an idea 20mm eye relief, they cost a fair bit more.

Plossls have eye relief that is a proportion of the focal length, usually 2/3 or 70% - use which ever you find easier to play around with. So a 32mm plossl has around 22mm eye relief, the 8mm will have 5-6mm and a 5mm is almost a contact lens.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

all depends on how bad is your vision.I have a friend who has to wear glasses on regular basis,however,he doesnt need them when using telescope.He just have to refocus from my position (non glass wearer) to achieve focus for his vision.

As mentioned above,for glass wearers you are looking for Ep`s what have long eye relief to be able to accommodate your specs.There are couple of options i could suggest:

1.Get long eye relief EP`s ,you are looking for Ep`s with a minimum of 16 ideally 20mm ER (eye relief).

Contenders from most expensive to cheaper: Televue Delos, Pentax XW or older XL,wait for new Televue De-lites or Baader Morpheus.Televue Nagler Type 4.

For cheaper option could also consider Vixen,Televue Radians,celestron x-celsmaybe BST Explorers?There are a few these days to choose from.

2.There is another option what people do forget.

A good quality BARLOW in likes of Televue in 1.25 or 2" but has to be barlow and not powermate.Barlow pushes eye relief back by a notch and as such,your short relief EP`s actually become reasonably long eye relief ones.This will give you the option of using a lower power eye piece with substantial ER but at higher powers without the sacrifice of getting another high power EP but with short eye relief.Could also be a cheaper way forward.

Plossls and orthos are deffo out of question as these have been famous for short ER,unless,you go for the barlow option and get like 18-25mm ortho/plossl.

Clear skies and best of luck on your hunt.

[Charic]

...with the  BST Starguiders, leave the rubber guards down when you wear your glasses.......I wear prescriptions  for driving, and when using my Telrad, but not for the eyepieces alone!

Order the Starguider/s of your choice, may I suggest the 8mm and / or the 12mm. You can therefore tell for yourself whether you need to wear your glasses or not at the eyepiece. You can always return the BST Starguider if your not satisfied, so you have nothing to loose, except your return postage! I bought the 8mm as a direct replacement/improvement over the supplied 10mm. The result was - I ordered the rest 

Note: Its possible that on the first attempt to raise the eye-guard rubber on a Starguider, it  may appear to fail  ie. it does not rise/extend?  its not a fault, just the way the  tension  was set on leaving the factory, causing slippage of the eye-guard instead of extension.  If the guard does not appear to  clearly rise/extend, just give the rubber a firmer grip and twist again. That is the fix if any was needed?

[laudropb]

I would suggest that you try the supplied eyepieces with both your glasses on and off. I observe with my glasses on, but found I could use both the eyepieces that came with my Dob. The 25 mm is fine and the 10 mm is usable. It is better to take your time before you part with your hard earned cash. Choice of eyepieces can be a very personal thing. If you can join a local club and try to look through the different makes and types.

[YKSE]

I agree with laudropd, use the stock eyepieces for some sessions to start with, don't part your hard earned cash that easy. In the mean time, read more eyepiece reviews, and most of all, read more observing reports and discussions in the forum. With better understanding eyepieces and observing, you'll make well-judged decisions. Good luck

[niallk]

For me, I find it more comfortable to take my glasses off when looking into an ep ... popping them back on to look through my Telrad etc. It's only a pretty low level of hassle - one of these days I'll get contacts - but might loose a smidgen of light with them I guess?

[MattJenko]

I have the 250px and I have been on the hunt for spec friendly EPs for a while, so take this as my objective opinion only. I bought a Hyperion Zoom, but it was not a great match, despite having the eye relief. I use it on my little refractor to excellent effect though. Here are my current EPs which are great for specs wearing.

- MaxVision 28mm

- TeleVue Radian 10mm

- Vixen SLV 6mm

I am on the verge of buying an Explore Scientific 14mm 82' to complete my set.

I have also tried and liked:

- LightWave 100 degree 20mm

- Skywatcher PanaViews

- Skywatcher SWA

Hope this helps

Matt

[Charic]

For me, I find it more comfortable to take my glasses off when looking into an ep ... popping them back on to look through my Telrad etc. It's only a pretty low level of hassle - one of these days I'll get contacts - but might loose a smidgen of light with them I guess?

niallk.......same issues here, but I would assume the EP or the Telrad  (one or the other ) would still suffer if you went down the contacts route. For me, contacts were an issue too as the left one kept falling out?

The reason I sold my 1st Telrad was the need for me to wear glasses to see the 3 circles sharply.  But after selling the finder, I felt something was missing! Someone here  kindly sold me a spare one they had. Its affixed to the scope, but only gets used from my darker skies now.