Lunar eyepiece

[Green12]

Hello all!

 

i use Meade 4000 sp and BST starguider eps plus MV 34 for 2inch

My scope is f10 sct 8 inch Meade lx90 acf, 

I'm looking at Fujiyama ortho 9mm or Antares upl elite plossl 7.5/10mm which I believe to be pseudo masayuma??

would either of these ep's be a good upgrade from where I am at the moment or am I unlikely to notice any if much difference at my level?? I have to admit I have had several -it can't get better than this moments whilst observing moon.

3 years casual garden astronomer??

2 eps mentioned are similar price and both below 100- 80-Fujiyama 94-Antares.  

I also like to buy new.

i think I'm leaning toward Fujiyama if any, with haven driven scope its not necessary to have wide fov -so far tracking has been superb.

 

thank you

 

gtwelve

 

[billyharris72]

Hi gtwelve:

I've not used your eyepieces but have used the Celestron Ex-Cel's which may be somewhat similar to the BSTs. I have a few orthos (2 Astro Hutechs and 1 Fujiyama - the 9mm) and in my view they are quite a lot better. Two caveats:

1) Not great for non-equatorially (or goto altaz) mounted scopes, as the FOV is too narrow. So should be fine on your setup.

2) Moderate eye relief. If you need specs to observe (I can make do without) then I'd go for something else.

I'd give it a go and see how you get on. Either the 9mm or 12.5mm would be a good performer in that scope.

Billy.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

If the short eye relief doesn't put you off, the Fujiyama orthos have a good reputation. I never got on with such short orthoscopics, because I wear glasses, but a 25mm ortho I used to have was one of my favourite EPs. For longer eye relief, you could turn to the Vixen SLV, NLV or LV series. Ortho-like performance at 20mm eye relief. The LVs come up second-hand quite often, and should be in your price bracket.

[Mak the Night]

I believe the Fujiyama, like the Astro Hutech and Edmunds Optics are all made by Kokusai. I have a 9mm Circle T as well.

If you can live with the short eye relief and 42° FOV these are difficult to beat for lunar/planetary.

[Green12]

Thanks Billy, Michael, Mak

 

great to hear from experienced users that I'm looking in right direction!!

 

gtwelve

[Mak the Night]

You're welcome. 9mm is a very useful size for me as with various Barlows it can give me 100x, 150x, 200x, 225x, 250x and 300x, and I have several 9mm EP's.

 

The Circle T is very sharp, bright and contrasted, it's almost perfect for lunar viewing as there is no scatter, ghosting or any perceivable distortions. The X-Cel LX is a very competent planetary eyepiece, and Barlows well, although it can suffer from a tiny amount of scatter IMO sometimes. I have a GSO 9mm Plossl which is superb and almost rivals the Circle T. The 9mm Bresser 60͒ 'Super Plossl' (actually a 5 element Erfle) can be very good in scopes f/7 and slower (preferably slower) as is the Sky-Watcher (Barsta) 9mm UWA. 

These are good on refractors although I find they don't Barlow well, particularly in Newtonians, they do have a Smyth negative/Barlow in the drawtube which may contribute to any Barlow problems.

I know people who use the Orion (Barsta) Expanse series for lunar/planetary, although I don't use mine for that. It also has a Smyth negative.

[Green12]

Again, thanks for replies and help.

i forgot to mention that I also use a binoviewer (not all the time) with 25mm 18mm and not as often with 8mm.

i have a 1.85 Barlow/nosepiece that gives me 13.5 for 25mm and 9.7 with 18mm. X3 nosepiece does not get used as often.

i can't imagine the Fujiyama 9mm ortho besteting my BV set up for comfort.

but for standing at the eyepiece observing. Should the Fujiyama ortho still give me a better optical view.??

im not concerned with losing fov if using ortho as for some reason I think my BV present a narrower fov than when using mono ep. Perhaps it is the magnification playing tricks on me.

 

thanks again for taking time to read  and I welcome any advice.

 

i think I'm wanting that better eyepiece!!

 

gtwelve