It is not you, its me. Falling out with an eyepiece.

[Pondus]

For some years I`ve used the Hyperion Zoom (and barlow)  as my main eyepiece. And I`ve been more than happy With it.

Last year I added the ES20mm 100 for widefield use (btw I really love this big eyepiece).

 

This year I have really struggled to get along With the Hyperion zoom. I cant seem to find the Perfect viewing position and struggle With

blackening, eyecuppositioning and well everything. I`ve become  more and more Critical to its performance toward the edges and well everything about it

seems to annoy me  at present time. 

Up until now I really loved this zoom especially when observing lunar and planets.

Have you ever experienced a 'falling out' With an eyepiece, an eyepiece you for a long time enjoyed?

Or is it just me trying to make up an excuse for investing in New eyepieces?

 

Rune

[iPeace]

You're not the same person you were a year ago - or even ten minutes ago.

Do you need an excuse for investing? If you want to, go for it!

If your experience with the same eyepiece on the same targets is much less enjoyable than it previously was - allowing for the variable observing conditions, of course - I'd say it's time to look further.

Whatever is bugging you, get it sorted! If you're not looking through the scope with a big smile on your face, you're not doing it right...

Good luck, and keep us informed.

[jabeoo1]

Experimenting with EP's, its part of the hobby for me.  Although my midrange (11mm, 15mm & 20mm) are solid, for some reason its the high power and lowest power ones that get the chop.    Although now my next plan is final ................until next time !

 

[Pondus]

Investing in New bathroom, New Kitchen and my daughters wedding coming up this summer,  I think I have to wait a bit.

But I will invest, and do have a current Budget  about £4000,- to spend on New Scope (apo)  plus high end eyepieces. Thats the plan anyways.

It just surprises me how uncomfortable I am at the present moment With an eyepiece I`ve had som much fun With.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced the same regarding eyepieces.

 

Rune

[Paul73]

I know exactly what you mean. I can't use the Hyperion Zoom for night time. Loved not having to change eyepieces. But, as the novelty wore off, the obvious drawbacks came to the fore. I.e., Tiny Fov with none of the intermacy of a  Plossl / Ortho. Lovely for solar though.

Paul

PS. You had better spend that £4K quickly. It will shrink as wedding budget accelerates ....... Looking forward to the "what should I get for £xx?" Thread??

 

 

[Timebandit]

 

Hello. I think the trouble with this hobby now there is just so much choice available. The Orthoscopic and plossl were the staple for years. Now there are just so many great more comfortable and wider view eyepieces available, and when you have the sites like SGL this also opens your eyes to what eyepieces are available and puts temptation in our way. Like a kid in a candy store. I think as observers we are always pushing for that bit more  quality and viewing sharpness in our eyepieces.

I used the TV plossl for a long time and was more than happy with its performance. Then I had read a few articles on the Pentax XW and the quality of the sharpness of view and 70d fov  and 20mm eye relief, so that got me thinking. And when some come up second hand ,then i could not resist and I purchased them. Unfortunately this was a downward spiral. As I just found them just so comfortable to use and the extra fov of 70d was so good especially on the DSO targets. I then turned into a mini collectionist with the Pentax XW as they were a breath of fresh air to the viewing experience, and worked great in the refractor and reflector , the poor plossl hardly ever gets used now. 

[John]

I'm not enjoying using orthos as much as I used to. They are still stirling performers of course and as much performance as you can get per £ spent on an eyepiece but when I put one in the drawtube now it does not stay there for long

I've not used my Ethos eyepieces for quite a while but I don't think it's because I've fallen out with them. The cause there is the lack of suitable nights to have a good session with my 12" dob . The majority of my observing lately has been of the "hit and run" type with refractors and with those I tend to use my 1.25" eyepieces much more often.

 

 

 

[Floater]

7 hours ago, iPeace said:

Whatever is bugging you, get it sorted! If you're not looking through the scope with a big smile on your face, you're not doing it right...

For me, this is the first rule of amateur astronomy, writ large. ??

[Highburymark]

Until I was 50 all my stargazing was done with Meade plossls and an ETX. Then I decided to invest more time and more cash into the hobby, and trotted off to the Widescreen Centre to get a new zoom eyepiece. I was set on a Hyperion zoom, but they didn't have one in stock, so I took the retailer's advice (normally very sound advice I should add) and bought a Pentax XF. Turned out to be a complete lemon as a nighttime EP - woolly, great lunks of false colour even in a slow telescope. But later that year I decided to buy a Lunt ha scope, and by extraordinary luck the XF zoom turned out to be a superb solar eyepiece, not just sharp and contrastful but also a great range of magnification for sun watching - from 6.5mm to 19.5mm. So rather than falling out of love with an eyepiece, this was how I suddenly fell in love with an eyepiece that would otherwise have been pensioned off 

[Alien_Photons]

Yes I have fallen out with a few. But equally fallen back in with some. I had an APM zoom which I think was a clone of a canon. It was my favorite until eventually mechanics became an issue after years of use. Decided I wouldn't buy another zoom. I do miss the flexibility and simplicty.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I think the only EP i have ever fallen out with was a 40mm Celestron E-Lux, which i bought 2nd hand (perfect condition) from a fellow SGL member. IIRC, i was using my SW Heritage 130P scope at that time and i just absolutely hated the EP. It was like looking through a straw. I dont know much about these EP.........exit pupil,eye relief etc. All i do know is that it wasnt for me.

I very quickly resold it to yet another SGL member. 

*sorry about the image size. It wasnt that large when i downloaded it*

 

[Charic]

The only EP I really fell out with was a  6mm TMB Planetary II clone,  just too tight with the fov compared to the 60° that was in use back then, although since then have become accustomed to lesser and wider fields of view.

That said, my widest 72° TV's are not getting the thorough test I keep promising myself, so have decided to let them go, after all, I only bought one (three to date!) to compare aside my 8mm 60°, and apart from their wider field, there's not much on offer, unless you desire 20mm eye-relief, 72° afov and the branding! I still think TeleVue has a huge following, but for me, their expense does not match their performance, for my eyes on my f/6 scope, and when the conditions allow my present stock of EP's are just fine.

The Baaders will be next, they have been cleaned, lets see how they respond to my needs. The 60° ED's and the Plossls will remain as my staple collection for some time to come.

[Paz]

I got a 6.3mm Plossl and fell out with it on the first session.

The eye relief was so short i found it unusable but it made realise eye relief needs to be enough for my preferences and since then I've only  gone for long eye relief eyepieces.

[Charic]

I guess some of the eyepieces we dislike as an individual will be highly favoured by the next person, and vice versa.
Maybe a few lemons will appear, after all, its all down to the focal ratio of the scope and the end user, which makes eyepiece selection highly critical and subjective.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I fell out of love instantly with the 4mm Celestron Plossl that came in my EP kit. I'm happy to say that it is no longer included in the kit.