Eyepiece advice

[RAWBob]

I'm starting to get a little concerned about my purchasing decisions.  The stock 25mm eyepiece that came with the 750mm 6" Newtonian I bought seems to be OK fro basic viewing, I use a 2x Barlow for photographing the moon/planets at present, but bought a 5mm for the power, assuming 150 times magnification for 750mm focal length at F5.  Should I get something else like a 9mm or 13mm instead?  The reviews seemed positive but after reading some of the forum threads here now I'm not so sure.....

 

Bob.

[Louis D]

Yes, you'll probably want an 8mm to 10mm and a 12mm to 17mm eyepiece to fill in the mid-power gaps.  If your scope has a 2" focuser, you may also want to invest in a 30mm to 40mm widest field eyepiece as well.

[RAWBob]

So should I keep the 5mm?  I'm definitely getting the 10mm since it's already got the T thread on it for the camera adapter just like the 5mm does, the Celestron Duo range has decent reviews, and easy adaptation from 1.25 to 2 inch.  Thanks for the advice though, greatly appreciated.

 

Bob

[Astro Imp]

I started with your set-up and although I didn't get into imaging used a 5mm a lot for visual and found it very useful for a variety of objects, Luna, planets, double stars etc. I also used a 7mm, 12mm, 18mm, 32mm along with the supplied 25mm.

 

[constantino]

This will probably cover every combination you'll ever need (up to 24mm). I had a Mark 3 and was very pleased with it

http://www.microglobe.co.uk/baader-hyperion-8-24mm-universal-zoom-mark-iv-with-barlow-225x-lens-p-15947.html

[RAWBob]

Scary prices back home in the UK, $289 here in the US, and it's cheaper than buying three more separate EP's.  Thanks for the heads up, I think that will likely be my next purchase.  After that, well, it's a new mount, the CG-4 isn't going to cut it.  I should have waited until I got some advice from everyone here.  It's OK for viewing but tracking for long exposures, not so much.  Atlas maybe?  So many different opinions.  I'll have to cross that bridge in November.

[Louis D]

If you're in the US, I would recommend you pick up one of Sheldon Faworski's mislabeled Olivon 1.25" 8mm to 24mm Zoom Eyepiece he offers for $65 on CN classifieds as MASILMW.  I have one, and it is identical to the Celestron Zoom Eyepiece for Regal M2 Spotting Scopes which I also have (picked up from ebay).  It is about 90% of the Baader in most respects.  It's better in some respects, such as having a non-rotating top making the use of winged eyeguards possible.  I also think the zoom motion is smoother.

[John]

1 minute ago, Louis D said:

...  It is about 90% of the Baader in most respects....   

This always makes me smile a little. We have an eyepiece that is 90% as good as another which is about 90% as good as a good fixed focal length eyepieces.

If we search around we can probably find another that is less expensive again and offers 90% of the performance of the Olivion 8-24 zoom.

So thats a 30% performance loss but the purchase cost is getting really low by now. We can probably shave a bit more off if we look really hard.

It's kind of a "race to the bottom" isn't it ?

Sorry if that sounds a little harsh but I feel that astronomy is an exacting business and we should be pushing for better performance quality rather than worse. Yes, price is an important factor but we also need to maintain excellent performance as well I think. We don't need to be so accepting of lower performance in return for a few £'s / $'s saved IMHO.

Your F/5 150mm newtonian is capable of delivering excellent views if paired with good quality (but not necessarily expensive) eyepieces - give it a chance to shine

 

 

[Dave1]

I'm with John on this, I have a Baader MK3 Zoom, I also at the moment have a very limited collection of eyepieces. Even the cheap old Plossl eyepieces tend to out perform the Baader Zoom. The cheap generic old Plossl eyepiece out perform in contrast and light transmission, the Baader Zoom has no light scatter, where as the cheap Plossl do.

Which is why I have sourced a complete set of secondhand Circle T volcano top eyepieces, with a very rare Circle T 25mm Kellner.

Might be worth looking on the secondhand market for decent eyepieces at good prices.

[LukeSkywatcher]

High quality EP's at an affordable price..............

Guess what i am gonna say next!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Yep, Vixen NPL's. Short eye relief, which a lot of people dont get on with but the NPL's have a firm fan base.

[RAWBob]

Well, I ended up keeping the 5mm, got a 21 and will likely get something else to complement it.  The scope does produce some great images, but the CG4 mount, that has to go, it's a POS when it comes to finding anything, even with the supplied 25mm eyepiece, it's a pain.  $300 wasted, but I can use it for planetary photos I guess, and it holds my 100mm spotting scope and camera quite nicely for moon shots.  Anyway, still working out the kinks, looking for advice on a GOTO mount in the $1500 range, and will likely go from there.  I should have joined the forums before spending any money.  Hindsight is always 20-20.

 

Bob

[ronin]

If you still want any opinions I would say go buy the complete set of Astro-Tech Paradigms, 5mm, 8mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm, 25mm. $60 each and they will last you forever. I bought mine 2 at a time but 1 at a time is sensible. If you get better then keep them for outreach.

They do a 3.2mm but ignore that, or not. I chose not to ignore it. The Paradigms should be a fairly good match for your scope and not overly costly.

[RAWBob]

That's sound advice.  I can still return the others (Amazon Prime) so I have a week or so to figure it out.  I appreciate the advice, did a few hours viewing last night using each one.  The 20mm was the best, the stock 25mm that came with the scope fared OK, not so much with the 2x Barlow.  The 5mm was remarkable, once you actually got something centered in the scope, there was a lot of light pollution/haze.  I'm photographing the eclipse tomorrow, have the solar filter for the 150mm scope and for my cameras.  Should be interesting.  Then I'll have a few more observing sessions during the week and figure out my next steps.  It's quite a steep learning curve....

Bob.