eyepices Advice on eyepices

[Rune]

Hi,

I am new on this forum and I would appreciate some advice on which one to choose.

Background:

Scopes: SkyWatcher 120 ED Equinox and Vixen SD81S (120 ED is my primary).

Mounts: HEQ5Pro and Celestron AVX I use the latter because its lightweight and very easy to polaralign (im lazy :-) )

I have some Baader Hyperion eyepces 5mm, 10 mm and 24mm and one TeleVue Plossl 32mm 1.25"

After I got the TV Plossl 32mm I actually dont want to use the Hyperions anymore because I find them "inferior" to the TV Plossl. 

So back to the advice I need from more experienced observers. Im drooling on the TV Nagler 17mm and TV Ethos 17mm. The latter is several hundred dollars more expensive. Which one should I get for my 120 ED scope? 

/Rune

[alan potts]

Hi Rune and welcome to the forum, lots of dark sky up your way at the moment I guess.

Baader hyperions are not bad eyepieces but they do perform better in a slower scopes, like F10 or so. I have only TeleVue these days and either have or have used both you mention. The Ethos is a great eyepiece but as you say a lot of money, I favour it over the Nagler only because I have a fairly large Dobsonian where the 100 degrees FOV comes into its own.

The Nagler is a fine eyepiece and I recently had the loan of one for about 3 months which I used beside my Ethos, now as I would always go for the latter for my personal use the Nagler was a very fine eyepiece and I would say would perform very well in you SW 120mm ED, a fine scope that is too. The trouble is once you get this you will want more, Televue's are very morish

[Doc]

You can get maybe two naglers for the price of one ethos.

I have a complete set of delos's and also own a 120ED esprit and the delos range are pretty awesome in this scope, they are also cheaper then the ethos range.

 

 

 

[Alan White]

Rune

Glad that the TV Plossl has sold you into better eyepieces.

It was a 20mm TV Plossl that did it to me 

I now have a set of TV Plossl, which I like a lot and some Takahashi LE

and wider F.O.V Vixen LVW 22mm and a 10mm Pentax XW.

Pentax are a super EP as are the LVW, it does not have to be all TV!

[alan potts]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

You can get maybe two naglers for the price of one ethos.

I have a complete set of delos's and also own a 120ED esprit and the delos range are pretty awesome in this scope, they are also cheaper then the ethos range.

 

 

 

Rune that is good food for thought, Doc knows a thing or two and I wonder where most of his Delos's came from. Delos is well worth big consideration and they do a 17.3mm.

Alan

[Rune]

Thanks for the feedback. I will look into the Pentax eyepieces. 

But is a 10 % discount to TV eyepieces good? Or will there be better discounts in January? I see that some online stores have 10 % discount as we speak.

Thanks again and happy holidays!

/Rune

[John]

Hard to beat Pentax XW's - I use them very often with my ED120 and my other scopes too. My 1.25" set is

Pentax XW's: 10mm, 7mm, 5mm, 3.5mm

Tele Vue Delos: 17.3mm, 14mm

Tele Vue Panoptic: 24mm

I do have some Ethos eyepieces as well but those tend to get used in my 12" dobsonian more than my refractors. I used to have Naglers but the Ethos have taken over all but the 31mm slot now.

I don't see any discounted Tele Vue prices in the UK currently. Last time that happened the list prices rose first and then the 10% was applied - it sort of masked a general price increase.

Here a Pentax XW is around £80 less expensive than a Tele Vue Delos but the XW's seem just as good to me

[Louis D]

I have had the 17mm Nagler T4 for years, and have never been happy with how finicky the view is to hold with eyeglasses.  That, and it has some field curvature and astigmatism in the last 10% of the FOV.  Last year, I picked up the 17mm ES-92 and couldn't be happier with the eyepiece.  It is so much easier to hold the view in it than the Nagler, it's 10 degrees wider, and flat of field and astigmatism free to the edge.  It views like my 10mm Delos, just wider and at a lower power.  I don't know if B&H Photo in NYC ships to Norway, but they have it on holiday special for $339 right now.  That's $180 off the regular price and way cheaper than the 17mm Ethos and $30 cheaper than the 17mm Nagler.

[25585]

I second the ES choice. Less intense eye positioning is always good. 

Equinox 120 is f7.5 so there is more leeway than for a fast Newtonian to accomodate other makes. 

My 17s are a Nikon 17.5 SW (expensive) & Vixen LVW (discontinued). Neither has the huge FOV an ES offers - ES (the Argon) is what I would choose, & still may one day. 

[Charic]

Whatever you choose, only you can decide which is the better eyepiece after some  physical use, and if the expense is worrying, choosing second hand is the way to go for the premium eyepieces.!

Different scope here but  I tried TeleVue's Plössl and Delos range, based on feedback and availability, and have since sold them all.
They worked  fine, but  no outstanding improvement to image quality ( which I somewhat expected given their ratings/feedback)  and with just a little extra field of view to my regular 68° they proved expensive for such a small incremental performance boost. 
I may be sorry one day, because looking back now, they cost very little, and even though my prescription has just recently changed, I've no regrets selling them, after all, it was more of " I  just wanted to try them" and now that I have, moved on, and very happy with whats left.

Rune, I'd be surprised if there were no premium eyepieces available over the next few days, but you'll need a few more posts to qualify for access  to the classifieds, so keep texting?

[F15Rules]

20 hours ago, Rune said:

I have some Baader Hyperion eyepces 5mm, 10 mm and 24mm and one TeleVue Plossl 32mm 1.25"

 

Hi Rune,

Welcome and Merry Christmas!

It sounds as if you only have 4 eyepieces so far? If so, that's good, as it means that you've resisted the temptation to buy too many, and your magnification range covers a good span..you might want to consider something between, say, 14mm and 18mm at some point to fill that gap. Alternatively, you could buy a decent 2x Barlow lens at some point, which would give you more options but would be a bit more fiddly to use.

The TV 32mm plossl is a nice eyepiece, so unless you crave wider fields I would stick with that.

For the others, I'd offer the following as a choice (all as used purchases, costs based on buying in the UK used market).

5mm - Pentax XW (or XL 5.2mm). Cost c £170 (XW) and £125 (XL). In my opinion you can't do better for the money, taking field of view, comfort and sharpness into account.

10mm - Pentax XW 10mm (or XL10.5). Similar costs used to the 5mm above.

24mm - Explore Scientific Argon purged, around £70-90 used great eyepiece and wonderful value. Even better, IF you can find one, is the Vixen LVW 22mm 65deg, around £120 used as they are rare now and in demand.

The TV 24mm Panoptic is generally regarded as best in class in this range, but is a lot more expensive.

If you sell your Hyperions you should get about £50-70 each for them. The new ones above would cost around £400-£450 give or take, depending on your choices. So, for a net extra outlay of c£250-£350 max you would have a great selection which could last you for years?.

Good luck!

Dave

[Rune]

Thanks for all the help and advice. I actually bought the ES 17mm 92 degree and one TV Plossl 11mm.

I hope the ES will impress me. I think my next eyepieces will be the Delos. 

Very kind of you to share your knowledge with me.

/Rune

 

[25585]

@Runeas you have a TV 32mm Plossl, as an interim, get a TV 2x Barlow which will give you an effective 16mm & also be useful in the future for other eps. 

If you are happy with the image sizes from it, go for a more expensive 17mm later. 

[John]

The TV 32mm plossl is a good eyepiece but it's eye relief is too long as standard (ie: longer than the stock eyecup). Using a barlow with it will only make things worse in this respect I fear. Adding an eyecup extender transforms the standard TV 32 plossl into a much more comfortable eyepiece to use IMHO. More cost though, I'm afraid.

 

 

 

[25585]

8 minutes ago, John said:

The TV 32mm plossl is a good eyepiece but it's eye relief is too long as standard (ie: longer than the stock eyecup). Using a barlow with it will only make things worse in this respect I fear. Adding an eyecup extender transforms the standard TV 32 plossl into a much more comfortable eyepiece to use IMHO. More cost though, I'm afraid.

 

 

 

DIY easy enough to make I imagine. 

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Rune said:

Thanks for all the help and advice. I actually bought the ES 17mm 92 degree and one TV Plossl 11mm.

I hope the ES will impress me. I think my next eyepieces will be the Delos. 

Very kind of you to share your knowledge with me.

/Rune

 

I'm sure you'll be impressed with the ES-92.  Just be prepared for its immense weight at 1270g.  It can really throw off the balance of your scope, especially if you're switching between small and heavy eyepieces.  For my AT72ED and 127 Mak, I had to switch to an alt-az mount with axis locks to be able to switch eyepieces and not have the scope swing wildly when unloaded.  My Dob doesn't have such issues, though it will droop slowly below about 40 degrees with the ES-92 in the focuser, so I have to keep a light touch on the scope to stop it.

[Timebandit]

3 hours ago, Rune said:

Thanks for all the help and advice. I actually bought the ES 17mm 92 degree and one TV Plossl 11mm.

          

/Rune

 

 

 

 

That is going to be a fair old lump of weight on the end of the equinox, ?. I think you are going to get problems certainly with the balance point and changing from heavy to light eyepiece will mean adjustment of the scope set up at regular intervals.

I have a equinox and have used a 28mm uwan on it, and this scope really does not seem to like the it on the set up due to the balance point. Also it effects the focuser in operation and can cause slip so some adjustment is needed. The 28mm uwan is around 950g and therefore if the  ES 17 mm is 1270g that is a lot more weight again . A nice eyepiece but weighty , I now hardly use the uwan 28mm and the largest I put on the scope is the 20mm Nagler to which is much better for balance and not to overweight the set up. 

The trouble is with big eyepieces they are great on the likes of Dobs ,as they can handle the weight. But average size refractors can be put under strain in the focus and balance.

 

 

 

 

[25585]

Equinox focusers are sturdier than ED PRO standard ones. 

Before buying my Equinox I did consider an Esprit as it has a 3 inch focuser. Now have a Moonlite bought from a fellow SGL member, and a flange in the mail from FLO. 

It will be interesting using my 40mm ES MaxView on Equinox..or any scope! For counter-balancing other heavy eps like 35mm TV Panoptic, I have used weighted wrist bands such as athletes wear. They can be bought at Argos & strap round an OTA. 

[Moonshane]

Personally I prefer lighter eyepieces with refractors as balance is thrown moving from say a smaller 1.25" like a 32mm plossl to a larger say a 2" 17mm Nagler.

For my 120mm Equinox I have mainly used 24mm Panoptic, 11mm Delite, 7mm Delite and 6-3mm Nagler zoom. On solar system objects I use binoviewers with pairs of TV plossls.

[Piero]

I agree with the above comment. Balancing a refractor when switching between light and heavy eyepieces can be a hassle. 

I mainly use 2" eyepieces on my Tak 100, but these are in the same weight class and go from 20x to 250x, so no need to change to light eyepieces at high power.

[Louis D]

For my AT72ED, I have a 6 inch dovetail that protrudes back past the focuser to achieve balance.  I generally keep it in the mount's clamp near the end with heavy eyepieces.  I have to rotate the focuser to avoid interference as well.  On every eyepiece change, I have to remember to lock the altitude axis.  I've also taken to locking the azimuth axis as well to ensure I don't bump it off target.  For all the trouble, I wouldn't trade the view through heavy eyepieces for lightweight eyepieces of equivalent focal length.  The view is just that much better.  I've got a 17mm AT AF70 and a 17mm Nagler T4, but I still far prefer the ES-92.  It is sharper, wider, and just as easy or easier to hold the view compared to the others.  I've also got a 15x (~16.7mm) Bausch & Lomb WF microscope eyepiece set that is great in binoviewers, but only so-so in mono mode.  I also have an 18mm Meade HD-60 is not even as good as those 40+ year old B&L eyepieces (astigmatism, mostly).  So, no, I won't compromise on my viewing experience just to achieve mount balance more easily by using smaller, lighter eyepieces.

[Moonshane]

I don't believe I am compromising either Louis as I also use the same eyepieces in my dobs. I prefer the 50-60-70 degree field to the 80-100 degree. 

[Timebandit]

 

 

I also don't believe I am compromising. I don't call using the likes of XW at 70d a compromise and as for the Nagler T5 20mm 82d fov ,a supreme eyepiece IMO. The ES 92 may be good, but I would be surprised if optically wise it is as good  as the XW and Nagler . Fov may be the ultimate consideration for some. But to me it is Optical sharpness and clarity that I go for every time. You can overkill fov at times in my opinion, but you can never overkill optical sharpness, optical sharpness and crystal clear views for me wins the day ?

 

 

[25585]

It's when you know the atmosphere/seeing is the only weak point in your viewing chain. 

[25585]

1 hour ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

I also don't believe I am compromising. I don't call using the likes of XW at 70d a compromise and as for the Nagler T5 20mm 82d fov ,a supreme eyepiece IMO. The ES 92 may be good, but I would be surprised if optically wise it is as good  as the XW and Nagler . Fov may be the ultimate consideration for some. But to me it is Optical sharpness and clarity that I go for every time. You can overkill fov at times in my opinion, but you can never overkill optical sharpness, optical sharpness and crystal clear views for me wins the day ?

 

 

The XW 20mm v ES 17 92 deg is a win for the ES, from reading reviews. 

Nagler 22mm T4 v 20mm T5 would be interesting, though neither for me as their eye positioning & eye relief, respectively are minus points.

My Orion Lanthanum LER 20mm 80 deg v the ES 17mm 92 deg for optical quality is a 2 incher comparison I would like to carry out.