Name your top 10 brands of eyepieces

[ollypenrice]

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Are they not more reliable now they are basically VWs?  

From personal experience I'll never know! (I can't even afford VW...)

Back on EPs, though, I never fuss about having lots. I think that with a big reflector you probably only need two. With a refractor I'd accept the need for three. A minority opinion, perhaps, but one based on what I actually put in the scopes when out there.

Olly

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

From personal experience I'll never know! (I can't even afford VW...)

Back on EPs, though, I never fuss about having lots. I think that with a big reflector you probably only need two. With a refractor I'd accept the need for three. A minority opinion, perhaps, but one based on what I actually put in the scopes when out there.

Olly

I think for deep sky observing with a dob the two would probably do. If you spend lots of time observing planets or doubles then I think either having a high quality Zoom or a closely stacked range to cover the x150 to x230 (or higher) range is justifiable to give best results depending on the seeing.

[25585]

Hmm. 

My top 10 individual eps;

1) Vixen LVW 22mm

2) Tele Vue 35mm Panoptic

3) Nikon 17.5mm SW

4) Tele Vue 32mm Plossl

5) Pentax XW 10mm

6) Vixen LVW 42mm

7) Vixen LVW 13mm

8) Tele Vue 55mm Plossl

9=) Pentax 5mm XW

9=) Pentax 7mm XW

The Pentax 5mm & 7mm are  double stars rotating round a common axis. Each outshines the other on occasions. 

[Macavity]

For those who seek a SERIES of *same-make* eyepieces, I rather liked the 
way Baader Hyperions chose the Fibonacci series: 5, 8, 13, 21, (34). Oops!
But if you need a scheme for focal lengths it seems better than "random"?  

When I culled my number of Hyperions: I went to 10... 17... 31mm Aspheric...
It roughly follows a series based on "Root Three" rather than Golden Ratio?
Part of the DANGER of eyepiece purchase is trying to fill perceived GAPS to
ever greater and greater subdivision. Somewhat with @ollypenrice on this? 

If I return to visual observation, I might look at Baader Morpheus's though.

[GavStar]

For less than £100 I think the Pentax xf, William optics swan, vixen npl, vixen slv and bst starguider are all very good options.

For me based on quality of views, comfort and aesthetic presentation my top ten eyepieces are

1) ES 92 17mm

2) Televue ethos 21mm

3) ES 92 12mm

4) Pentax xw 5mm

5) televue Ethos 8mm

6) Televue ethos 6mm

7) televue nagler 31mm

8) Pentax xw 7mm

9) televue DeLite 4mm

10) Pentax xw 10mm

Not making the list (and slightly disappointing for me) Pentax xw 30mm, Leica Asph zoom, vixen lvw 22mm

[25585]

25 minutes ago, GavStar said:

For less than £100 I think the Pentax xf, William optics swan, vixen npl, vixen slv and bst starguider are all very good options.

For me based on quality of views, comfort and aesthetic presentation my top ten eyepieces are

1) ES 92 17mm

2) Televue ethos 21mm

3) ES 92 12mm

4) Pentax xw 5mm

5) televue Ethos 8mm

6) Televue ethos 6mm

7) televue nagler 31mm

8) Pentax xw 7mm

9) televue DeLite 4mm

10) Pentax xw 10mm

Not making the list (and slightly disappointing for me) Pentax xw 30mm, Leica Asph zoom, vixen lvw 22mm

Lot of expensive heavy glass there!

I have some eps not used enough to get rated. But like any "Top Ten" chart, movement up & down, on & off varies. 

Tele Vue generally, being well reported on, seem disappointingly risky. The issues of kidney bean/black-outs, too-small eye relief, too-exact eye placement crop up too often for my comfort. Couple with high prices it's too much a gamble to buy any more. 

Having replaced about 5 TV eps with other makes/models I felt a little sad initially, but then the new glass gets looked through & it's like I have new eyes! Tele who? 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Best ive used so far are Vixen.

Apart from Vixen, all ive used is Hyperion 8-24mm zoom and stock EP's that come with each scope i own. I did buy a 4mm Celestron Omni which gave me mind blowing views of the Moon on the 1 night i got to use it. Bad investment.

[Mak the Night]

If I had to name one eyepiece that was my all time favourite, I reckon the main contender would be the 19mm TV Panoptic. 

 

 

I have ten reasons:

 

1/ I use it in every scope I own regularly (Maksutovs, SCT, Newtonians, refractors).

2/ It both Barlows and reduces well.

3/ It's small, light and kind of dumpy (all positive for me).

4/ It's good in a bino (you need a pair though lol).

5/ Optically superb at low, medium and high magnifications.

6/ Nice brass/chrome drawtube with an undercut that has a lower lip taper.

7/ Good basic rubber non-fancy eyeguard.

8/ Perfect (for me) 13mm eye relief.

9/ Robust and feels quality.

10/ It was the first TeleVue wide angle EP I ever bought.

[Charic]

18 minutes ago, Mak the Night said:

I have ten reasons:

Now thats a different outlook!

[JoeP]

Not one person has mentioned Vixen SLVs! In terms of image quality, they are flawless; often compared to Televue. They cost around 60 pounds second hand, with their one flaw being the comparatively small 50 degree field of view.

[Charic]

1 hour ago, JoeP said:

Not one person has mentioned Vixen SLVs! .................. they are flawless; , with their one flaw........

Perhaps no one likes or remembers them? (joking aside) were all different, and yes, it only takes time, that eventually, all brands/types will  no doubt get a mention.
I do love your description though 

[Paul73]

I like / Remember the SLV’s. Can’t understand why they don’t make anyone’s list. Clear & true. Comfy to use. Narrow fov (but the appallingly named Delite is like looking down a long bog roll fov wise).

Televue Delos are my favourites, then Ethos, then Panoptics. Never tried a Radian, don’t like the dead image of the Naglers, the Plossles are very good for transmission but are massively uncomfortable to use and make the moon look like a Rugby ball...

ES - Love the 82°. 68° less so. Not tried the 92°. 100° good but no Ethos killer.

Etc etc etc......

Paul

 

[Pig]

I only have 4 brands, Televue, Leica, Vixen and Baader. Each of them are better than the other depending on the target object..... Gordon (Floater) offers the best suggestion ?

[25585]

31 minutes ago, Charic said:

Perhaps no one likes or remembers them, after all were all different, but yes, it only takes time, and eventually all brands/types will get a mention.
I do love your description though 

I mentioned LV which were the predecessor of SLV. Latter's eye cup cut usable eye relief & I sold the only SLV last week. Still have some LV eps, two twenties & two nines as prospective bv eps. 

There is a quiet SLV fandom here on SGL - see recent appreciation thread. 

[John]

Tip to the original poster - keep a table of the results noting the names mentioned and their frequency rather than the detailed views on them. You will soon pick out names that come up frequently and those that are more occasionally mentioned.

Eyepiece selection and preferences are a very personal thing I've found out in many years of reviewing and discussing them on this forum. Sometimes you find yourself thinking "are my preferences likely to be more like person Y than person X" ? Very hard to work that out without trying some for yourself I feel because of course we know practically nothing about each other

Good luck !

 

 

 

 

 

[Highburymark]

I have a narrower experience of eyepieces than many on this forum. But these are some of the EPs I've most enjoyed since I made the mistake five years ago of stopping off at the Widescreen Centre on the way home from work to ask what they would recommend as an upgrade from my humble collection of Meade plossls.....

Baader Hyperion 10mm - this was the first upgrade/wide field/non-plossl EP I ever looked through. With its huge lens, comfortable eye position, and sharp views of the Moon and planets (in an F10 SCT and F14 Mak), I was mesmerised.

TeleVue Panoptic 24 - the ultimate 'keeper' eyepiece - used pretty much on every observing session with every telescope I've owned. (Honourable mention too for the Panoptic 35 which was the only eyepiece to deliver tight, refractor-like stars in an SCT.)

Leica ASPH - very expensive if bought new - I got a great deal - but (with the Leica extender) it offers ortho-like views across a 60-80 degree fov between 5mm and 18mm. It's as much a part of my astronomy kit as my left eye.

Pentax XF zoom, Fujiyama orthos and TeleVue plossls (20mm, 15mm, 11mm) - beautiful solar ha EPs.

TeleVue Delite - 7mm, 4mm, 3mm - outstanding sharpness and clarity. Best I've experienced. As with Delos before them.

TeleVue Nagler T6 11mm and Ethos 13mm. Had my best wide field dso views with these two EPs.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Hyperion range to an F10 SCT owner. They do just as good a job with these scopes as EPs costing three times as much.

 

 

[Charic]

7 minutes ago, John said:

......a table of the results.......

I'm surprised one does not exist already John, like a ready reckoner, but who and how would they keep it in order? 
As you so rightly mention, the 'best' eyepiece is very subjective and would not suit every person - every scope, otherwise we'd all have the same!

[icebergahed]

Wow i wished i asked a easier question. Theres just too much knowledge in here to absorb. I have got a better understanding of things now. Alot of the quoted eyepieces are eyewatery prices however as Highburymark has mentioned the Baader Hyperion range may be my starting point and i can build the mountain over the next few years.

Thanks everyone

[25585]

To those who own different types, fl & fr of scopes, an eyepiece that performs well in all, and makes relaxed viewing is I think, the perfect optic. 

Once those are known and used most, they make a cherished personal collection. 

[John]

1 hour ago, 25585 said:

To those who own different types, fl & fr of scopes, an eyepiece that performs well in all, and makes relaxed viewing is I think, the perfect optic. 

Once those are known and used most, they make a cherished personal collection. 

Yes, that is what I've been searching for over the past decade.

What I have arrived at now does what you suggest for me and my scopes but as we know, people have different preferences so the ideal set / sets will vary person to person.

The challenge for me now is to stop wondering if the "grass is a little greener" with x or y and get on with putting as much time in with my current inventory as possible to ensure that I know how to get the best out of them and that they can deliver the best for me

 

 

[Timebandit]

10 hours ago, icebergahed said:

Wow i wished i asked a easier question. Theres just too much knowledge in here to absorb. I have got a better understanding of things now. Alot of the quoted eyepieces are eyewatery price     

Thanks everyone

 

If you start a question about " best" eyepieces on SGL then stand well back as you are going to get a lot of answers as we love a good debate on this subject. And as it is a very personal thing we then defend our choices 

With regards to cost of eyepieces,then more often than not unfortunately quality costs.

 

 

52 minutes ago, 25585 said:

To those who own different types, fl & fr of scopes, an eyepiece that performs well in all, and makes relaxed viewing is I think, the perfect optic. 

Once those are known and used most, they make a cherished personal collection. 

 

 

In that case the perfect eyepiece will be a mini set of Pentax XW in 3.5mm to 10mm range.

 

Job done ? ?

 

 

[Mr Spock]

My favourite type of eyepiece is the LVW. Not only are they comfortable to look through, they are sharp too!

The 22mm has the finest rendition of stars as points I've seen in any eyepiece. The view through my Celestron 80ED is startling - points of light like little fine specs of dust.

What a shame there was never a 10mm. I have the 22mm, 13mm and 8mm. The only way you will get them off me is if I leave them to you in my will...

[25585]

2 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

My favourite type of eyepiece is the LVW. Not only are they comfortable to look through, they are sharp too!

The 22mm has the finest rendition of stars as points I've seen in any eyepiece. The view through my Celestron 80ED is startling - points of light like little fine specs of dust.

What a shame there was never a 10mm. I have the 22mm, 13mm and 8mm. The only way you will get them off me is if I leave them to you in my will...

There is an 11mm however 

[Mr Spock]

5 minutes ago, 25585 said:

There is an 11mm however 

No, there isn't The sizes are: 42mm, 30mm (different design), 22mm, 17mm, 13mm, 8mm, 5mm, 3.5mm.

[25585]

2 hours ago, John said:

Yes, that is what I've been searching for over the past decade.

What I have arrived at now does what you suggest for me and my scopes but as we know, people have different preferences so the ideal set / sets will vary person to person.

The challenge for me now is to stop wondering if the "grass is a little greener" with x or y and get on with putting as much time in with my current inventory as possible to ensure that I know how to get the best out of them and that they can deliver the best for me

 

 

That challenge....is an expensive one! XWs just have the edge over LVWs, more ergonomically/deluxe, than optically. So I have "Turned Japanese", twice. For 20-ish down (including my Nikon).

Longer fl eps are less certain, though I don't think, due to eye relief, I can get any better eps than I own. Only finding a perfect 2 inch Barlow remains on my to-buy list.