Help me choose good eyepiece

[VilleM]

Hello, I currently have Celestron X-Cel 12mm, TS Superview 40mm and cheap 20mm plossl. I love X-Cel and 40mm is good for larger views aswell. However Ive been thinking about a good quality, very hing contrast eyepiece for nebulas. Max price would be around 200 euros.

I currently use only 1.25" connections for eyepieces, however it can also be 2" since 2/3 of my scopes have 2" focusers. Only 8" Newtonian has smaller one, however I am planning to upgrade it anyways. The other two scopes are SkyWatcher 6" Newtonian and TS Imaging star 70mm f/6.78 quad APO.

What would be good choice? Some sort of 20mm eyepiece would be good upgrade for my old plossl, but wich one would deliver best contrast?

[laudropb]

I think I would get a decent Barlow lens, turning your 40 mm into 20 mm and 12 mm into 6 mm.

[spike95609]

There's nothing wrong with the X-Cel's by all accounts so I don't think you'd be losing out by adding another one of those. If you don't mind a slightly narrower field of view, 50°, most likely the same as your plossl, the Vixen SLVs are very high quality and contrast and will fall well within your price range. Astroshop are currently selling them around the 100-120 Euro mark.

[ronin]

Strangly the TV Plossl comes to mind. They are minimal but the contrast and sharpness is very good.

Suspect that the new Delites are outside the price range, as just about all the TV except the plossl's would be.

Not sure on others, I have the BST's, TV plossls and a few others, SWANs and W70's. The TV's are sharpest however I tend to use the BST's.

Another one that gets good reports are the Vixen's, but they have just changed their range and the new SSW are well over 200€. Maybe search out the older eyepieces, SLV's I think was the range.

Oddly from TS you can get a Nagler at 300€ - I would have expected a bit higher cost.

[Roy Challen]

I agree with both the above comments. TV plossls and/or Vixen SLVs, definately can't go wrong with either. And with your budget you could get two, maybe three if you go second hand.

[VilleM]

Thanks, X-Cel or SWAN is definedly something I have to think about.

Is anyone using William Optics UWAN series? I found some reviews that stated its very close to TV Naglers. Also 82 deg FOV, never used anything wider than 60deg. Whats the diffrence in practical use?

[John]

The UWAN's and the Skywatcher Nirvana's are the same eyepiece and get very close to Tele Vue Nagler performance in all but the faster scopes. I've used / owned all the focal lengths except the 7mm.

The SWAN's are not too well corrected though. They would not be considering one for an F/6 or F/5 scope.

82 degree eyepieces usually (not always but often) have tighter eye relief than 60 or 70 degree eyepieces meaning that your eye needs to be closer to the top lens of the eyepiece to access the full field of view. This can cause difficulties if you wear glasses when observing.

[VilleM]

The UWAN's and the Skywatcher Nirvana's are the same eyepiece and get very close to Tele Vue Nagler performance in all but the faster scopes. I've used / owned all the focal lengths except the 7mm.

The SWAN's are not too well corrected though. They would not be considering one for an F/6 or F/5 scope.

82 degree eyepieces usually (not always but often) have tighter eye relief than 60 or 70 degree eyepieces meaning that your eye needs to be closer to the top lens of the eyepiece to access the full field of view. This can cause difficulties if you wear glasses when observing.

Would 16mm UWAN give the "spacewalk" effect? I dont wear glasses so slightly tighter ER is not a problem, as long as its comfortable to view for longer perioids.

[John]

Would 16mm UWAN give the "spacewalk" effect? I dont wear glasses so slightly tighter ER is not a problem, as long as its comfortable to view for longer perioids.

It's certainly got the potential for that although I feel that the "spacewalk" effect affects different people different ways and there are a number of factors apart from the field of view of the eyepiece that contribute to it.

[VilleM]

Made my order today, SW 32mm PanaView and 20mm SWAN.

[Charic]

.....I can vouch for the 32mm Panaview, a very nice eyepiece, Its my Andromeda EP and just as big 

Cant vouch for the SWAN's, yet I own two SPL's. There is a third one for the collection and I have made a sensible offer, more than I paid for either one of the two I already own, but the seller refuses my offer,  yet its been on offer for over three Months now?  He just can't be told? even arguing with me that  you cant get these EP's for the low price I paid? I  just wished him well....

I wish you dark skies for  when the EP's arrive, Enjoy.