Opinions on Celestron OMNI Plossls

[Moonshane]

I have decided to rein in my spending a bit on the higher power options for my binoviewers. I was thinking initially about pairs of Delites (maybe 11mm and 7mm) which would be great but an expensive route at about £360 used! I then thought about TV plossls and possibly the Vixen SLVs for comfort and I may even still go for the latter in due course. I have established that I'd like 12mm and 9mm pairs to accompany my 25mm, 18mm and 15mm pairs. This gives a nice gap between eyepieces and give the following magnification ranges:

120mm ED 1.7x GPC (general use)

61

85

102

128

170

120mm ED 2.6x GPC (good seeing)

94

130

156

195

260

102mm ED 1.7x GPC (general use)

48

66

79

99

132

 

102mm ED 2.6x GPC (good seeing)

73

101

121

152

202

 

100mm PST mod no GPC

40

56

67

83

111

 

100mm PST mod 1.7x GPC

68

94

113

142

189

I use the

2.6x GPC for white light solar. Also for lunar (and probably planetary) in very good seeing with the 120mm and 102mm Fracs

1.7x GPC for lunar, planetary and Ha with the 120mm, 102mm and 100mm fracs

No GPC only with the 100mm frac for Ha.

 

I am therefore looking at budget options and the OMNI plossls seem to be a half decent option especially as they have the focal lengths I am after in their range. Anyone used these for BVs? Any comments generally on their performance in scopes around f7? In truth I suspect as always the answers will be yes, they are very good for the stated purpose but would be good to get feedback on these focal lengths (and if possible the 32mm which I am also considering as a pair) from users/owners. BTW does anyone know where the focus position is in comparison with e.g. a TV plossl - i.e. further in or out, and by how much?

Thanks for any assistance

Shane

 

 

 

 

 

[Rick_It]

Celestron Omni EPs are the new (and hopefully improved) version of the E-Lux.

I had the opportunity to compare Celestron E-Lux 25mm with TAL plossl 25mm, and the difference was quite relevant in favor of the TAL.

I'm also in the market for a 12mm cheap EP, and I'm considering too a plossl.

I have read that GSO are quite good. They are sold by teleskop express among other vendors. As you know, main problem of plossl is eye relief

[laudropb]

Hi Shane. I have the 15 and 12 mm omnis. They were on sale in Currys/PC world for £10 so it was a no brainer. I have been pleasantly surprised by their performance at f6 in my Dob and even at f5 in my 102 ST, though that's mainly been for solar WL. I don't have a bino viewer, so can't help you there.

[billyharris72]

37 minutes ago, Rick_It said:

I have read that GSO are quite good. They are sold by teleskop express among other vendors. As you know, main problem of plossl is eye relief

I have an Omni but only in 4mm, so not much of a comparison. But I do also have a 12mm GSO which is a decent eyepiece. I also have a few Skywatcher ones, which are slightly cheaper and just as good (possibly the same OEM).

The one thing I do notice with all Plossls in mf F6 Dob is a bit of distortion at the edges. Not bad, but some people can't stand it so something to be aware of. Compared with the Celestron Ex-Cels (which I imagine would be excellent in a binoviewer)  I'd say the Plossls showed more astigmatism at the edges, but better control of glare and stray light on really bright objects.

[Moonshane]

cheers all

I'd be open to other suggestions too if anyone has 'knowledge' such as the 9mm Skywatcher Ultrawides and the Planetary UWAs etc. or anything really. In the longer term I might 'upgrade' but to be honest, everything seems to work well in BVs! I'd also consider similar focal lengths e.g. 12.5mm, 13mm and 8-10mm too if the experience is good.

[cloudsweeper]

I had a 40mm Omni which I quite liked, but didn't do any rigorous testing of it.

As for S/W Planetaries, I posted this yesterday - can't control it! - click on heading and scroll to top!

Doug.

 

[John]

I've had a couple of the Omni plossls over the years. A 4mm was awful - one of the cemented doublets was askew (ie: the elements were cemented askew). I threw that one away. The 32mm was decent but so have been practically all the 32mm plossls I've owned and tried over the years. I seem to recall using a 12.5mm and 20mm at some point and those were OK for their cost.

Of the cheap plossls I've owned the GSO and the Vixen NPL's are the ones that stand out as better than the herd, for me.

I've had a couple of sets of the Skywatcher UWA's (the 66 degree gold banded ones) and I quite like those. The 9mm is the best and the 15mm the worst but all 4 are pretty nice to use in an F/8 or F/10 scope. Some ghosting on bright objects with the shorter FL's but for what they cost thats not unexpected.

I've not used an SW planetary yet but they do look very like one of the Burgess / TMB planetary clone varients that were around a couple of years back.

Most eyepieces seem to have a focal plane around 8mm further in than Tele Vue's "B" par-focal group, which includes the TV plossls and many other 1.25" TV's.

[Rick_It]

I'm quite curious on how the 12mm WA 60° performs. Same eye relief of a plossl but a bit larger FOV. It should be a 4 elements eyepiece, maybe a Konig or an Erfle. It costs around 40€ (even less in the US).

[Moonshane]

cheers guys

As always there's a million and one options!

Maybe I should just stick with my (second) original plan and save for a bit, demonstrate patience and buy 11mm and 8mm TV plossls. At least that way I know what I am getting and although ER will be a little tight on them, the quality is good.

[Moonshane]

Well I changed my mind again! In the end although I have ended up a 12mm and a 9mm, a used one of each of Celestron X cell lx which happened to come up first!

Now I just need to find one more of each

[John]

Nothing like a bit of opportunism

 

[Moonshane]

Lol

Agreed John. I concluded they were worth a shot as they will be comfier than than a plossl of the same focal length and most things should work well in binos at f7 plus the effect of the gpc

[Stu]

Shane, I've got a pair of 32mm Omnis, plus 40mm for Ha Binoviewing. I'll bring them to PSP so you can check them out

[Moonshane]

Cheers buddy that will be grand. 

The main reason for 32mms for me would be to allow full disk white light disks with the wedge (0.68 degrees assuming no vignetting)  and 120mm ED as it's a tight squeeze currently at 0.53 degree field with the 25mms. Would be great to try them before committing. I did look through one once in a 6" f5 and it seemed pretty good really so I have hopes that in BVs a pair might be decent

 

[parallaxerr]

A bit late to the party now seeing as you've already made a purchase but I have the 32mm Omni which is a solid performer and previously had the 12mm, which was OK. The rest of my EPs are now SLV's which I can't recommend highly enough.

The SLV's were bought to replace Altair Astro LER's which, at £55 each I would have recommended. They have 9mm & 12.5mm @ 55° AFOV. Barrels are slim for bino-viewing and they're very comfortable on eye-relief, slightly warm colour to them (compared to the cool SLV's) but performed excellently at F5 so would be good at F7.

Food for thought as a fall-back if no more X-Cels come up!

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-9mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-12.5mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

[LukeSkywatcher]

"Of the cheap plossls I've owned the GSO and the Vixen NPL's are the ones that stand out as better than the herd, for me."

I would agree with this.

I bought a 4mm Omni a few yrs back (70 euros brand new). I cant really comment on it as i rarely have used it. Maybe this is a comment on it,in itself?.

*Edit*

Back when i bought the Omni, i remember thinking it was rather expensive. I'm sure i checked prices online and it was cheaper elsewhere. I bought it from the main Celestron dealer here in Ireland and had it delivered to me. The cost of delivery was only 5 euro, so that put the price for the EP @ 65 euro.

Still expensive because ive just been checking online prices in the last few mins and i'm sure i paid over the odds.

This is the one i bought:

 

 

[Roy Challen]

Ahh! The 4mm Omni plossl. That brings back memories When I first started observing, this was my first 'upgrade' eyepiece, I was using a Meade ETX 70 at the time. It was actually quite decent and was my most used EP, probably still remains as my most used EP of all time. I thought the eye-relief was ok back then (not that I knew what such a thing meant), I wonder if I still would.

Anyway, bit late now, but I was going to suggest SGLs favourite budget wide angle - the BST Starguider and its entourage of clones. Or the Vixen NPLs.

[LukeSkywatcher]

21 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Ahh! The 4mm Omni plossl. That brings back memories When I first started observing, this was my first 'upgrade' eyepiece, I was using a Meade ETX 70 at the time. It was actually quite decent and was my most used EP, probably still remains as my most used EP of all time. I thought the eye-relief was ok back then (not that I knew what such a thing meant), I wonder if I still would.

Anyway, bit late now, but I was going to suggest SGLs favourite budget wide angle - the BST Starguider and its entourage of clones. Or the Vixen NPLs.

My 1st upgrade after buying a scope (90mm refractor), was a Celestron EP kit. I wont lie.........some good stuff in that kit (much of which i still have today). You do seem to pay for the case and the coloured filters though. The 32mm "GSO" was and still is probably my most favourite EP ever used. I then bought the 4mm Omni because i wanted to get up close and personal with the planets and the 4mm EP in the Celestron kit was just impossible to use. There's short eye relief and then there is SHORT eye relief. 

I seem to get on very well with short eye relief EP's though because i also in my collection have 3 Vixen NPL's (8,15,30). Most people just dont seem to get on with them. I think myself and John are their biggest fans here on SGL.

In my time, ive also owned a 40mm Celestron E-Lux (bought from another SGL member). I very quickly sold that one on because to me it felt like i was loking at the night sky through an empty tube of smarties. I really didnt like that EP.

I only mention this because i saw E-Lux mentioned above somewhere. But whats good for the goose,may not be good for the gander. Each to their own.

p.s.~I am the "proud" owner of not just one set of coloured filters, but 2 sets of coloured filters. Neither of which i ever use. Now i think about it........i have owned 3 sets of coloured filters. The 1st set i gave away for free to a member of SGL.

Will i ever learn.

LOL.

[YKSE]

3 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

A bit late to the party now seeing as you've already made a purchase but I have the 32mm Omni which is a solid performer and previously had the 12mm, which was OK. The rest of my EPs are now SLV's which I can't recommend highly enough.

The SLV's were bought to replace Altair Astro LER's which, at £55 each I would have recommended. They have 9mm & 12.5mm @ 55° AFOV. Barrels are slim for bino-viewing and they're very comfortable on eye-relief, slightly warm colour to them (compared to the cool SLV's) but performed excellently at F5 so would be good at F7.

Food for thought as a fall-back if no more X-Cels come up!

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-9mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-lightwave-12.5mm-ler-1.25-planetary-eyepiece.html

35 Euro seems to be even better deal than £55

http://www.astro-professional.de/index.php?page=categorie&cat=238&next_page=2

[LukeSkywatcher]

16 minutes ago, YKSE said:

35 Euro seems to be even better deal than £55

http://www.astro-professional.de/index.php?page=categorie&cat=238&next_page=2

I must be easily pleased (or my eyesight is rubbish). I have also in my collection a 25mm SLV (bought from a fellow SGL member @ 50% of retail price). A lot more expensive than the NPL's, but to be honest i prefer the NPL's over the SLV.

I simply can not find fault with the NPL's. At a stretch, considering their price and how well they perform.....if ANYTHING........they are under-priced. 

 

[YKSE]

There're variations of a brand EP across the focal length, some more, others less, therefore I usually try to be careful with recommendations for a brand just based on some of them are good or even very good

Here's a more comprehensive review of SLVs, you may have to choose the english translation to read it:

http://www.astrotest.it/test-reports/eyepieces/vixen-slv-eyepieces/

[Moonshane]

They seem amazing for €35 Might even get them instead. I seem to be changing my mind a lot.  Maybe that means that I should hold my horses.

[parallaxerr]

1 hour ago, YKSE said:

35 Euro seems to be even better deal than £55

http://www.astro-professional.de/index.php?page=categorie&cat=238&next_page=2

I searched high and low for those when I had the Altair versions as I wanted the 18mm & could only find it on the TS site for close to 100 Euro with delivery! Typical.

[parallaxerr]

36 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

They seem amazing for €35 Might even get them instead. I seem to be changing my mind a lot.  Maybe that means that I should hold my horses.

I thought they were good @ £55, a steal at 35 Euro.

[JOC]

On ‎28‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 12:19, laudropb said:

They were on sale in Currys/PC world for £10

Recently?  I can't find that Currys/PC World sell eyepieces now - I'd have a bite at a tenner a pop!