Sky-Watcher Eyepiece, Filter, Night Vision Torch Set

[hawklord2011]

Hi all, is the following offer worth getting having just bought a Skywatcher scope? Seems like a lot of eyepieces I might not use, is it worth it for the filters, torch and case alone? 

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/special_offer.html 

[John]

If you don't need the eyepieces the offer is not really worth bothering with. Colour filters and torches are not expensive. Cases can be picked up for relatively little as well.

What scope do you have and what eyepieces do you already have ?

[hawklord2011]

I have the Skywatcher 150P which comes with 10mm and 25mm with a x2 Barlow. The set has 7.5mm, 12.5mm, 17mm and 20mm which in my novice view seems to just fill in the gap between the ones I already have except the 7.5mm. Is it useful to have such a variety of closely spaced eyepieces? Value wise separately the torch is £17, filters are £30(?) and such a case might be £20 which makes the eyepieces practically free with the set being £79. 

[Putaendo Patrick]

This offer has been around for some time and will PROBABLY continue. If you've just bought your telescope you have four months to consider!

While the set is not bad, it's not especially good either. With your 2 EPs and Barlow you have four magnifications  covering a good range. I would play with these for a while before buying. You may end up thinking that paying a similar amount for just one or two superior quality EPs that you really need is a better deal at the end of the day.

Apart from a Moon filter which, although not essential (can use sunglasses!), many people find useful, I would buy filters at a later date. You can make a red light torch just covering a regular torch with layers of red cellophane or plastic, not so attractive perhaps but not 17 quid either!

[brantuk]

By the time you subtract £25 for the case - which can be had from Maplins with pick'n'pluck foam - you're left with £54's worth covering 4 eyepieces, 4 filters, and a torch. That's about £6 per item on average - which is not a big spend on any individual item. What am I saying? Well - imho you'll get £6's worth of quality per item (ie not a lot).

You can convert a standard torch for free using red cellophane or nail polish, forget the filters - you'll get fed up changing them in the dark and eventually get discarded, and the eye pieces will give dubious views or be a pain to look through in some way.

For a similar price a Celestron Zoom will be an all together much more satisfying, value for money, better quality, experience imho. Hth

https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/Celestron_8-24mm_Zoom_Eyepiece_1.25_.html

[laudropb]

If you look through other posts on here you will see that the advice given is nearly always not to go for a set such as this. The eye pieces will not be any better than the 2 you have and you will not find much use for the filters. You will at some stage want to upgrade your eyepieces, but that means getting new eps which will be an improvement. At the moment you do not really know exactly what that improvement is. Spend time with the eye pieces you have. Learn what they can and can not do. Learn what sort of targets interest you most.. Then you will be in a much better position to decide on upgrades, before spending your hard earned cash.

[hawklord2011]

Thanks everyone I'm going to chill out and use what I have for a bit like you say and find out which way I might want to go with it.

[brantuk]

Good decision! It's always wise to wait and consider in this hobby - expensive mistakes can be rushed through if not careful. I got caught out with the Celestron ep kit years ago - never again lol

[Mak the Night]

Many dislike the various kits that are on the market. The Celestron Eyeopener Kit is probably the best of these. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/eyepiece-sets/celestron-eyeopener-eyepiece-and-filter-kit.html

I didn't regret getting the Eyeopener kit as it taught me a lot about how different eyepieces worked with various magnifications. The included 2x Barlow is much better quality than the usual Sky-Watcher giveaway Barlow. The 13mm, 17mm and 32mm Plossls are quite well made, eminently useable and are more or less the same quality as the Celestron Omni Plossl series (apart from the colour they appear identical). The 6mm and the 8mm Plossls are just as well made but too physically small to be practical IMO. The 8mm may be useful at times. The filters aren't too bad but I have never got much use out of them. The Celestron aluminium edged ABS case was probably the most useful thing about the whole kit though and I still use it, albeit in a modified form.

I've seen the Sky-Watcher kit in the link above before. The Plossls look pretty decent, the filters seem OK and I actually own one of those Sky-Watcher torches. I doubt it's worth £79 let alone £149 (The Celestron retails at about that price).

The Sky-Watcher torches aren't that bad but I don't think they're worth the asking price. Replacing the battery is difficult and they are not very powerful when the red beam is selected. There are much better red light torches on the market like those made by Pellor.

All in all, I think the decision to hang onto the 79 quid and put it to something better is wise. A nice 32mm Omni Plossl would be a good start. Everyone should own a nice big Plossl if you ask me!

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

My Celestron Eyeopener case after serious modification with a Swiss Army Knife to house newer eyepieces.

[brantuk]

I'll give you 79 squids for that eyepiece kit in the picture Mak lol

But yes, the EyeOpener kit is a bit better than the older model which I had. Two eyepieces weren't usable, only one eyepiece was multi lens (despite advertising inferring they all were), the other eyepieces and the filters were all very basic (not as good as coloured sweet wrappers), and the barlow just smeared the view in all cases. Best thing about it was the case which I now house a camera in.

But imho - for £150 anyone will get better quality views with three £50 carefully chosen eyepieces.

[Mak the Night]

I'll give you 79 squids for that eyepiece kit in the picture Mak lol

But yes, the EyeOpener kit is a bit better than the older model which I had. Two eyepieces weren't usable, only one eyepiece was multi lens (despite advertising inferring they all were), the other eyepieces and the filters were all very basic (not as good as coloured sweet wrappers), and the barlow just smeared the view in all cases. Best thing about it was the case which I now house a camera in.

But imho - for £150 anyone will get better quality views with three £50 carefully chosen eyepieces.

I've heard that the earlier Celestron Eyeopener kits had some unusable poorly made eyepieces. From what I can tell they are all Plossls now and don't seem any different from the Omni series apart from the finish and the colour. Although I don't go a bundle on the filters that came with mine. 

Celestron Omni 2x Barlow (left) and the Eyeopener Kit 2x Barlow:

These are virtually identical and I can't detect any difference in performance.

The Eyeopener Kit 32mm Plossl (above) still gets used a bit by me even though I normally use my TeleVue 32mm Plossl. The 32mm Eyeopener Plossl gets taken out with my bino case (usually the only case I take out for a bino session) and is used after I have framed the target with the RACI which can often be at an odd angle. As I am disabled, sitting and standing are fairly easy for me to achieve, but anything inbetween is difficult for me. So once the target has been located with the RACI with me in a seated position I can move to the eyepiece and replace my seat for a comfortable position. I can then re-acquire and frame the target if it has moved due to RA. This enables me to tighten the clutches up and make sure everything is safe enough to insert the binoviewer (I have limited use in my right arm/hand and predominantly rely on my left hand to do almost everything). The large field stop of the 32mm gives a nice wide low power view enabling framing the target comparatively easy. I think everyone should own a nice 32mm Plossl lol. It was the best EP of the Eyeopener Kit and everyone's favourite.

The eyepiece kit in the picture is worth a few squid more these days lol!