Which EP's for Celestron Edge 8"

[BRUN]

when i bought my dob i asked on here about EP's and the general consensus was to go for ES 82 in 8.8, and something bigger like a 24mm, and a barlow, and go from there

i bought an ES 24mm 68 degree and i have a TV barlow too, but its looking highly likely ill have a new scope soon, a Celestron C8 Edge HD, i think that comes with a 40mm plossl, but its a totally different setup to my dob so im wondering if i need to look at different EP's ?

im going on holiday in November to Scotland, and ill be in the middle of nowhere with no light pollution, so i want to make the most of it

im planning on getting starsense before the holiday too so my budget isnt massive, but id like to know what i should be looking at

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Both the 8.8mm and 24mm should be fine in the Celestron. I have an older, non-edge C8, and at F/10 it is very tolerant to EP type.

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have a Celestron C8 SE, the basic Celestron 8" SCT, and use 25mm, 15mm and 8mm eyepieces with it. 

[BRUN]

On 8/30/2017 at 16:44, Cosmic Geoff said:

I have a Celestron C8 SE, the basic Celestron 8" SCT, and use 25mm, 15mm and 8mm eyepieces with it. 

any particular brand or range you can recommend ?

i know with my dob everyone was quite specific i needed a minimum quality of EP

[Cosmic Geoff]

In my C8 I use: 25mm Celestron Plossl, 15mm Celestron Omni Plossl, Celestron X-Cel 8mm (old version), Baader Classic Ortho 10mm. I can only say that these seem adequate, and at f10 the choice of eyepiece is not so critical as at f6, f5, or f4.

[BRUN]

thanks

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have an 8SE and they are pretty forgiving on most eyepieces. I use a Hyperion zoom 8-24mm just because its easier to carry one EP rather than many. My favourite EP's are Vixen NPL's. Most people would get by with just 3 EP's .........8mm,15mm and 25-30mm. I use 8mm for the planets, 15mm for a bit of a wider view and 30mm for scanning the night sky and star hopping. 

[Grotemobile]

I just use 4 with mine . 8.5 Pentax XF  , 11mm ES 82 deg , 20mm ES 70 deg. & a Celestron 8-24 zoom. 

[BRUN]

those NPL's are really cheap

are these zoom ones ok ?

would be ideal to have one of those if they work well

[Highburymark]

Martyn - as you're buying the Edge from me thought I'd pitch in.

As others have said, most eyepieces perform well in the F10 C8. The 40mm plossl that comes with the scope is superb - best stock eyepiece I've ever used, so you'll find that really useful. You already have a great 24mm ES. So you just need something around 14-16mm, and then a higher power option for planetary/lunar. I rarely went beyond (i.e. below) 10mm - 203x - London skies just don't allow super high magnifications. If you like the wider view of the ES 24 I'd be tempted to look at the rest of the range. They are top quality. I also used zooms quite a lot with the Edge - the Baader is a great buy, not cheap, but lots come up secondhand. Worth considering.

[LukeSkywatcher]

3 hours ago, BRUN said:

those NPL's are really cheap

are these zoom ones ok ?

would be ideal to have one of those if they work well

The Vixen NPL are cheap considering their quality. They rate up there equally with the BST's (according to people who have used both). They offer amazing sharpness and contrast. Their only downfall, which is reported by many users is the short eye relief. I personally have never found it an issue.

Zoom EP's can be expensive, but they replace the need to own multiple fixed focal length EP's. They can be a one stop shop. The Seben zoom gets very good reviews and costs a fraction of the price of the Hyperion zoom or others. Seben are usually a brand to walk away from, but they seem to have done something right with their zoom EP.

[LukeSkywatcher]

44 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Martyn - as you're buying the Edge from me thought I'd pitch in.

As others have said, most eyepieces perform well in the F10 C8. The 40mm plossl that comes with the scope is superb - best stock eyepiece I've ever used, so you'll find that really useful. You already have a great 24mm ES. So you just need something around 14-16mm, and then a higher power option for planetary/lunar. I rarely went beyond (i.e. below) 10mm - 203x - London skies just don't allow super high magnifications. If you like the wider view of the ES 24 I'd be tempted to look at the rest of the range. They are top quality. I also used zooms quite a lot with the Edge - the Baader is a great buy, not cheap, but lots come up secondhand. Worth considering.

What are the optics like on the scope?. Can you post images of them, just so we can all better advise.

[rwilkey]

Going on Highburymark's comments, I would highly recommend the ES82 14mm ep, a superb quality piece of kit at a reasonable price. 

[BRUN]

so whats the highest power EP that i should be looking at, was pretty set on the ES 8.8mm

[BRUN]

I have spoken to FLO and they have suggested the 11mm should be my limit, but a lot of you seemed to have used the 8.8mm, can anyone offer input on this ?

thanks

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

For planetary viewing, I use my Pentax XW 10 mm (203x), and frequently switch to my Delos 8 mm (256x), and even the XW 7 mm (290x) on nights of good seeing. I think I would like a Delite 9mm to fill the gap between the XW 10 and Delos 8. I used to have a Vixen LV 9mm which was my primary planetary EP in those days, so 8.8 mm should be fine

[BRUN]

im thinking my choices are the following

11mm 82 degree and 16mm 68 degree, or

8.8mm 82 degree and 14mm 82 degree

? Im reading conflicting things that the 8.8mm might not be usable most of the time, and that the 11mm might be a better choice, but im also reading many of you guys happy to go to 8mm in this or similar scopes