How to tell if an eyepiece is good?

[Ahgii]

How to tell if an eyepiece is good? Usually plossl are the best along with the higher quality kernels and the huygens are the worst i hear. But how do you distinguish the types? Or how to know if an eyepiece is good in general?

[ronin]

http://www.billsastro.com/Astronomy/Equipment/Eyepiece Folder/eyepiece_design.htm

Start sort of here.

The first are simple and "old" designs" so Huygens, Kellners, Rasmdens. These are likely best avoided.

The Plossl and Orthos are next and are generally good but have some limitations, often the field of view is narrow, but when in the center the view is good. There are many plossls and some are better then others.

The ones beyond plossl in the page are often in use in various forms presently. And so are generally good. Just be aware there are good and not so good in many. Manufacturers try to reduce cost and get away with what is ultimately inferior optics.

In plossls you will/may find that some are OK down to f/6, some OK down to f/5 and some (TV) down to f/4. When you have decided then ask again and also give a budget per eyepiece. In approximate order of rising cost and performance you have GSO plossls, Vixen NPL Plossls then TV Plossls.

[Pig]

Ahgii,
I will use the term acceptable as apposed to good.
The only true way to determine acceptable performance is to take a look through each eyepiece and find out for yourself. However, I appreciate this method can work out to be a very expensive and time consuming way to determine what is and what is not acceptable to you.
Another reliable method is to ask peoples experiences, but there is no guarantee that their suggestions will suit you and your scopes. Eyepiece performance is quite personal due to the ownership rights of eyeballs  
Alternatively you can always ask the retailer, before purchasing an eyepiece, if it is acceptable for you to return it should you not take to it  

[Louis D]

Read lots of eyepiece user reports on this forum, on Cloudy Nights, and several others.  Ask questions on the various eyepiece forums specific to your setup about the eyepieces you're interested in.  As Pig alludes to, what works for one person may not work for another, so take each recommendation with a healthy dose of skepticism.

[MarsG76]

Read the user reviews on EPs... generally you do get what you pay for.

In my experience the best eyepieces that I settled on and use are Televue Nagler and Ethos (Awesome EPs), followed by Vixen Lanthalum LV and Celestron X-Cel for planetary detail viewing. 

[barkis]

There are many Eyepiece Gurus on SGL,  and If you publish your telescopes details Objective  Diameter, Focal/Ratio, whether it is a Refractor  or Reflector, also
what your Observing needs are, then you will get a good Input as to what eyepieces will be most suitable for you. You may only need one, perhaps two to fill your immediate requirements, but perhaps  you might wish to indicate if there are any financial restraints needing to be  applied, as some of the more exotic eyepieces come adorned  with  large price tags .
Not surprising though, as with most goods, the better quality they are, the more expensive they are. 
However, there is a thriving used equipment market place, both here in our Classifieds, and out there in Astro. Land, and you could get fortunate, and grab a bargain or two.
But again, high quality eyepieces do not depreciate in value to any great degree.

[John]

When I was starting to take an interest in eyepieces I read as many eyepiece reviews / reports as I could. Not all users agree on what is best because eyepieces are quite a personal thing but if you read enough trends start to become apparent between those which are OK and those which are particularly good.

Over the years I've been able to try and own dozens of different eyepieces by different manufacturers and I've reported on quite a few of them in the "reviews" section of this forum