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Getting rid of eyepieces feels.....good?


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In my recent attempts to simplify my observing by consolidating my gear, I've ended up with only 4 eyepieces. When I realised this, my first thought was "must buy more", but having worked out what the remaining EP's offer me in terms of Mag, FOV & exit pupil, I don't think I need bother.

I have 3 Vixen SLV's @ 10,15 & 20mm and a 30mm NPL which offer me the following in my WO ZS66 travel scope, ST120 & C8...

eps.jpg.88fcfa13d591d3bb29aad2bc5770f13e.jpg

I've found recently when set up with the ST120 & C8 on the alt/az mount, the 15mm lives in the ST120 pretty much permanently, the 3mm exit pupil works well for me on DSO. If I'm having a DSO only session, the 30mm lives in the C8 offering the same exit pupil but with more mag.

During recent planetary sessions, the ST120 has ended up as a finder scope only with the 30mm fitted,  the C8 then becomes the main observing scope. The seeing has only been good enough on one occasion to use the 10mm @ x200 mag in the C8 on Jupiter, super views, I'd like to push it harder but atmospheric conditions and floaters may be limiting factors. Otherwise the 15mm seems to give good results when seeing is marginal.

The 20mm hasn't seen much action, other than the ring nebula in the C8 recently, which was fantastic. It looks like it may be useful in the little WO ZS66 when travelling, along with the 30mm, depending on how dark the skies are.

So, for now, my EP case will remain as is. The only thing I could do with is a little more FOV for planetary and some DSO's in the C8. I have my mind set on TV Delites if and when upgrade time comes as it gets me into the premium EP sector at a sensible price and I don't want to push the FOV too much in the C8, thus highlighting it's inherent coma. I think the 9, 15 & 18.2mm would work well, along with maybe a 32mm TV Plossl.

Gotta get some more mileage out of these SLV's first though, the view through them really is the best I've had, such good transmission & clarity for the money and I like the cooler colour tone over other EP's I've owned.

So who else is a minimalist EP'er!?

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I am not minimalist with 27mm, 24mm, 25mm (pair), 19mm, 18mm (pair), 15mm (pair), 12mm (pair), 11mm, 10mm (pair) 9mm, 7mm, and 6-3mm zoom but can add something to the discussion (I do also have seven scopes so your ratio of 3:4 is not that far from mine of 7:12 - I'll keep telling myself that!). I have two DeLites (7mm and 11mm) and they are wonderful eyepieces. I plan to change the 9mm Vixen LV (that I have not even collected yet!) for a DeLite in a year or so when funds allow. That said, I will be making comparisons between the 11mm DeLite and 9mm LV in between to see if it's likely to be worth it.

I will also be comparing the 12mm SLV to the 11mm DeLite for the same purpose although I really cannot justify pairs of DeLites. I am hoping that the SLVs will live up to the reviews suggesting they are as good as anything else but with the restricted 50 degree field (which I like). If I really get on with them I may even sell my TV plossls and buy further sets. My one concern is the reports of a reflective spacer affecting views of the moon which I love doing with BVs and obviously this could impact my enjoyment of the 12mm pair.

For your kit it sounds like you have everything you need at present though - bravo!

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I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on an SLV/Delite comparison, especially how the colour tone compares as that is one thing I find perfect. I haven't noticed any reflections in my SLVs to date, is the reflective spacer issue in the 12mm only?

The 50° AFOV of the SLVs has only bothered me that one time on Jupiter @ x200 on my alt/az mount as I spent more time nudging the scope than observing. Having said that, Jupiter could be left to drift right to the edge of the FOV without any sign of elongation. I have just picked up a cheap EQ5 head though to try manual EQ tracking, see if that helps.

 

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I have  6 BST`s and a BST ED zoom and I am just looking around for some cheap plossl`s I have just bought 2 meade 4000 A 12.6mm and a 6.4mm im looking for a couple more around 15/16 mm and 22/24mm I have two scopes a F5 Newtonian and a F10 Frac. 

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I've set myself a maximum of 5, excluding the two EP's that came with my scope. I currently have BGO 6mm, BST Starguider 8MM and ES68 24mm. I'd like the 12 and 18mm Starguiders but don't have money for those at the moment. As an alternative I'm picking up a Revelation/GSO Barlow that does 1.5/2x mag to use with the 24mm until I can afford the other two eyepieces. After that I'm done! I did read that 3-5 eyepieces is all we should really need.

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5 minutes ago, parallaxerr said:

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on an SLV/Delite comparison, especially how the colour tone compares as that is one thing I find perfect. I haven't noticed any reflections in my SLVs to date, is the reflective spacer issue in the 12mm only?

The 50° AFOV of the SLVs has only bothered me that one time on Jupiter @ x200 on my alt/az mount as I spent more time nudging the scope than observing. Having said that, Jupiter could be left to drift right to the edge of the FOV without any sign of elongation. I have just picked up a cheap EQ5 head though to try manual EQ tracking, see if that helps.

 

The spacer was apparently in (I believe all of) the early versions and I am hoping that in more recent examples it was sorted out. I have only read this once on CN in the states but it was a respected observer that said it was an issue on moon/daytime observing. Maybe it's a non-issue now if they have corrected it :happy7:

I'll be reporting back at some point but these are for my anniversary at the end of May so will be some time after then. I mainly use a driven mount (eg5) for the objects I'd be using these eyepieces with and agree it's a real boon especially when sketching.

e.g.

 20170417_201545.thumb.jpg.a90cd1e64d6d1806ca7672f0d053d068.jpg

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It does get more complicated when you have (different naturally) scopes with shorter and longer focal lengths. This is shown well in the spreadsheet above. You can combat this by having two scopes out of course but it's easier in some respects to bring one scope and a wider ranging selection of eyepieces in one box. Each to their own :0)

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7 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I did read that 3-5 eyepieces is all we should really need

I've read the same a few times but it seems that some people like extensive EP collections, I can understand it though, it's quite addictive collecting them.

5 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

The spacer was apparently in (I believe all of) the early versions

I have noted a few litte quality differences between my first SLV and more recent ones, hope you're right.

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3 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

This is the only reference I can find to the bright spacer creating reflections. To be honest if it bugs me, I might even try and paint/flock the offending bit.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/460861-whats-the-scoop-on-the-new-vixen-slvs-any-good/page-2 

Interesting but I can definitely say I haven't observed the same effect when lunar/planetary viewing. That post is a couple of years old now so hopefully if there was an issue, it's been sorted, as you say.

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Too many eyepieces and barlows does become a cludder, where heaps of gear rarely or never gets used and/or magnifications/fov/exit pupils get duplicated with combinations of eyepieces and barlows.

 

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16 minutes ago, Charic said:

40mm in the classifieds ( for the frac? ) Not sure if its 4000 series.

Could you tag the post please but not sure how good a 40mm  would be Im looking for a round 16/17mm and 22/24mm that should do me then unless I go for the 9.7mm.

 

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1 hour ago, parallaxerr said:

So who else is a minimalist EP'er!?

Not so much a minimalist but I know of three focal lengths that are essential for my needs, matching my scope and eyes, in effect leaving me with  a 6mm 12mm and 32mm, a minimalist set of three.
However! I won't be parting with my Starguiders any time soon, I've settled for the GSO Revelation Plossl's (always wanted a Plossl set! still trying to fathom out why?) and when time and conditions allow ( Snow showers here this week1) I'll be further assessing the needs of my Baader Classic orthoscopic's and my William SPL's, but in all honesty the SPL's may get sold as a set, at a bargain price, if/ when I ever get that 6mm, non-existant Starguider, and of the Ortho's, I just wanted to try them aside the plossls, and why not?

I feel the advice here is usually top mark, but you still need to try and assess for your self, whats right for your own personal needs. I still think that TeleVue has an excellent reputation, but their products so far, Plossl's and Delos have not improved my astronomy in anyway, after holding onto some high initial expectations prior to their receipt, I honestly expected a lot more? especially for what your pay for them. But then, and I know, my scope is only an f/6, you can possibly use any eyepiece, but given an f/4 scope, maybe my star guiders will suffer, and the premium eyepieces I once had, that were planned for a larger/faster scope, may have been the wrong decision to sell on, I know I won't get one again for the price I sold them, (maybe I will one day?)

That said, I have just sold three Delos, and two Meade 4000s, but either way I'm not sure I'm happy or gutted. I'm happy for the receivers, their getting some bargains! (I think so) but I'm more than satisfied with what remains, regarding the revelations and starguiders...........(so far!)

 

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2 minutes ago, Charic said:

I won't be parting with my Starguiders any time soon

I have yet to try the Starguiders. I have read all the reviews which are overwhelmingly positive, but can't help feeling they'd be a step back from the SLVs. The extra 10° AFOV would be nice though. I must try one.

7 minutes ago, Charic said:

I still think that TeleVue has an excellent reputation, but their products so far, Plossl's and Delos have not improved my astronomy in anyway

This is my concern with shelling out the bucks. It's impossible to know how much better, if at all, they'll be than my current EPs. I remember being very underwhelmed by a TV EP in a 80mm apo at a star party a few years back, noting a distinct amount of off axis colour. I knew nothing about the setup though so couldn't vouch for the other components of the optical train and put it down to a mismatch.

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parallaxerr.....You can return a Starguider to the retailer if your not happy, I did? You'll need to pay the return postage but they were sent post free in the first place when I bought mine of -bay, but their also available from First Light Optics. Choice is yours. 

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2 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

 

So who else is a minimalist EP'er!?

Me :) 

31mm 
20mm 
12mm 
All Naglers
Powermate.

Thinking of flogging the lot (except the powermate) and getting a 17mm Ethos. Might just do me. :) 

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I'd be perfectly happy with two eyepieces - Panoptic 24mm and Leica ASPH zoom with Baader VIP barlow as my desert island choices. So why I have 15 other EPs I'm not sure.

Pan 35, and Delos 17.3, 10 and 6 probably heading for the classifieds as I can't justify keeping everything - especially the heavy stuff. 

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It's interesting to see how many comments are made about heavy eyepieces and how weight is undesirable. I've not owned any hand grenades but for me, I can't see that weight would be an issue as I can balance the SCT and Frac against each other. Perhaps a grenade in each would be an issue if I ran out of dovetail length??

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Minimalist you must be joking?

Try collectionist and we may be on the same wavelength  . IMO when it comes to lunar and especially planetary then 3/4 eyepieces will just not cut the mustard. I have a combination of BGO and Pentax eyepieces from 3.5 mm up to 10mm in the high magnification range. Not because i like a full case(even though they do look impressive lined up☺). I consider that due to the variety of atmosphere conditions which can change minute to minute and day to day then you do need 0.5 mm or 1mm intervals in high magnification to get the best out of a lunar/planetary session. Some nights you may be able to push the magnificent to get good scale of image and fine details with a high magnification 3.5mm . Other nights the atmosphere conditions will leave you with blur details using such magnification  eyepieces,  and something around 5, 6mm may be the order of the day. And on poor seeing times even 9, 10mm. As  a planetary observer to get the best scale of image and combination of clarity and sharpness then I consider you do need multiple eyepieces at the higher magnification in increments of around 1mm to allow for atmosphere condition and adjust as necessary,   

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10 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

 

Minimalist you must be joking?

Try collectionist and we may be on the same wavelength  . IMO when it comes to lunar and especially planetary then 3/4 eyepieces will just not cut the mustard. I have a combination of BGO and Pentax eyepieces from 3.5 mm up to 10mm in the high magnification range. Not because i like a full case(even though they do look impressive lined up☺). I consider that due to the variety of atmosphere conditions which can change minute to minute and day to day then you do need 0.5 mm or 1mm intervals in high magnification to get the best out of a lunar/planetary session. Some nights you may be able to push the magnificent to get good scale of image and fine details with a high magnification 3.5mm . Other nights the atmosphere conditions will leave you with blur details using such magnification  eyepieces,  and something around 5, 6mm may be the order of the day. And on poor seeing times even 9, 10mm. As  a planetary observer to get the best scale of image and combination of clarity and sharpness then I consider you do need multiple eyepieces at the higher magnification in increments of around 1mm to allow for atmosphere condition and adjust as necessary,   

You do have a point once you reach higher mags you do need a few eps for the right conditions.

Maybe I will add a 10 to my list then haha ? 

Richard

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I've heard the phrase "minimalist observing".......

Normally, when I sell eyepieces, it is to fund other astro purchases. Then I miss the flexibility.

I'm currently on 11. This is pretty good for me ??

In truth, I would be happy with 6. Or, 4 if I could afford 100° metal.

The 24mm Panoptic is the only one on the "must have" (but can't afford) list at the moment. The rest are Delos and SLV! Although the 6mm SLV will be going soon with the arrival of a lovely 6mm Delos (although the head to head comparison will be interesting).

Paul

PS. I do have a couple of TV Plossls which are classed as my Finderscope eyepieces so don't count.?

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