Seeking advice about cheap eyepieces

[aurora5]

Hello, I am getting 130p heritage telescope and I would like to buy a small mm eyepiece for planets in the range of 4-6mm (although 4mm sounds a bit too little) as I do not like using barlow. 
These are the cheapest eyepieces I could select from and I'd like advice on which brand is best.

http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-1-25-4mm-super-ploessl-eyepiece/p,47413#tab_bar_1_select

http://www.astroshop.eu/omegon-1-25-6-3mm-super-ploessl-eyepiece/p,47414#tab_bar_1_select

http://www.astroshop.eu/ts-optics-ploessl-eyepiece-4mm-1-25-/p,4970#tab_bar_1_select

http://www.astroshop.eu/vixen-npl-eyepiece-ploessl-6mm-1-25-/p,11165#tab_bar_1_select

Out of them all only the Vixen eye piece has some kind of eye relief while only the TS Optics one has fully coated lens (the others are multi coated which I'm under the impression is worse).

Thanks in advance.

[vlaiv]

Hm, how far, budget wise, are you ready to go? Not sure if my advice is going to be helpful since you have your budget set.

I would probably recommend that you skip plossls at 4mm focal length due to poor eye relief. Might want to take a look at these:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p156_TS-Optics-Optics-3-2-mm-Planetary-HR---1-25--Eyepiece--58---fully-multi-coated.html

or

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p157_TS-Optics-Optics-4-mm-Planetary-HR---1-25--Eyepiece--58---fully-multi-coated.html

They are quite a bit more expensive (double your budget of 35e), but they will provide you with wider field, decent performance and really decent eye relief.

 

[aurora5]

Sadly I'm above my budget as it is as I'm forced to order from abroad so prices are higher and there's a shipping cost. The site I'm linking to could give me some discount if I pay in advance but those cheap ones are the ones I can go for.  I could include those too

http://www.astroshop.eu/celestron-4mm-omni-eyepiece-1-25-/p,7948#tab_bar_1_select

http://www.astroshop.eu/celestron-6mm-omni-eyepiece-1-25-/p,7949#tab_bar_1_select

but double price is too much.

Is there a significant difference between multi and full coating and which brand has more quality lenses for that low range cost?

[vlaiv]

Huh, not sure if you are going to see the difference between full coated, multi coated and fully multi coated eyepieces. You need the same design and model eyepiece to compare, and even then, you need exceptional observing skills and threshold object to notice the difference. Light scatter control is more noticeable than coatings for example so is number of glass elements, so comparing two different eyepieces solely on type of coating is rather difficult.

As for brand, most of brands you listed source their glass from the same manufacturer, and all are usable eyepieces. I think that biggest concern should be eye relief. Better combination would be a good barlow (which again you said you would like to avoid) + 8-10mm eyepiece instead of 4mm - 5mm eyepiece, but that will also cost you more than a single eyepiece.

[triton1]

Have you checked FLO click the logo at the top of the page they stock cheaper eps in your price range and post abroad too.

[Louis D]

Have you thought about the 1.25inch 6mm 66° Ultra Wide Eyepiece Lens Fully Multi-coated ES For Telescope eyepiece available for $18.59 USD shipped (free to Bulgaria) from Hong Kong?  It's the same eyepiece as the 6mm Orion Expanse Telescope Eyepiece that costs $50 USD without worldwide shipping.

[BeerMe]

On 2017-6-22 at 16:56, Louis D said:

Have you thought about the 1.25inch 6mm 66° Ultra Wide Eyepiece Lens Fully Multi-coated ES For Telescope eyepiece available for $18.59 USD shipped (free to Bulgaria) from Hong Kong?  It's the same eyepiece as the 6mm Orion Expanse Telescope Eyepiece that costs $50 USD without worldwide shipping.

I second this option.  

@aurora5 I've used the 15mm version of that EP and the 66° FOV is great compared to a basic plossl.   With your budget, you may even be able to stretch to 2 EPs if you shop around.  There are some great bargains to be had on these eyepieces on ebay, and FYI the 9mm is reckoned to be the best of the bunch although I can testify that the 15mm is very good too, for the price :-)

[Alfian]

I have to say my experience of the 9mm Skywatcher version of this eyepiece (66 degree SWA) was not  so good in the f5 reflector I used at the time, and though it's probably not correct to compare different focal lengths, optically it wasn't a patch on my 15mm Vixen plossl. For longer focal length scopes it may be OK though.  Admittedly it was better than the 10mm EP that came with the scope but thats not saying too much.

[Davesellars]

Look out for a second hand 6mm Baader Classic Ortho.  They seem to come up pretty often on the used market.  Another alternative would be a 10mm Baader Classic Ortho (really great eyepiece) and use a barlow to get 5mm.  the eye relief of the 10mm is comfortable (I assume you're not using glasses).

[SpaceWalker]

IMO, the best budget planetary eyepiece is a decent Zoom + Barlow. This combo is relatively inexpensive and very flexible, you can reach appropriate magnification perfectly matching the seeing conditions just in seconds and, therefore, catch rare moments of perfect seeing which usually can last 10-20 seconds. Think about that.

If you are a budget observer you can't avoid using Barlow or you must pay extra for fixed focal length eyepieces, there is no free lunch . I can't recommend 66*AFOV SWA eyepieces for planetary, they are not good for that, IMO.  But if you still want fixed focal length eyepiece, I'm second to Davesellars, the 6mm BCO or 10mm BCO+Barlow would be a good choice. But eye relief especially in the BCO6 is very short. I have both of them. You can also try getting a 5mm BST Stargutder, many observers are happy with it. If you have a chance buy on the used market, it'll save you a lot of money.

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p463_Baader-Classic-Ortho-6mm-1-25--Eyepiece-with-rubber-eyeshield.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-5mm-ed-eyepiece.html

 

[Alfian]

5 hours ago, SpaceWalker said:

I can't recommend 66*AFOV SWA eyepieces for planetary, they are not good for that, IMO.  But if you still want fixed focal length eyepiece, I'm second to Davesellars, the 6mm BCO or 10mm BCO+Barlow would be a good choice. But eye relief especially in the BCO6 is very short.

Agreed on all counts. I've recently bought a 2nd hand BCO 10mm and its very good  and more comfortable to use than I expected, certainly as compared to a 10mm Plossl.