High power eyepieces

[Littleguy80]

Another cloudy night so I find myself contemplating my eyepiece case instead of the stars! I should preface this by saying that I don’t have any immediate plans to buy eyepieces but am kicking around some ideas. 

Right now my high power eyepieces are Orthos (BGOs, Meade RG and Circle T). The short eye relief doesn’t trouble me. They’re sharp and have great contrast. Recently I’ve been using my Lunt XWA 9mm with the Baader VIP to get higher powers with a larger FOV. Sharpness and contrast are both poorer compared to the Orthos but it does make observing easier. 

Two ideas are floating around my head at the moment. Firstly, can I have my cake and eat it by getting a Pentax XW 5 and 7mm. Wider FOV but with great sharpness and contrast? I’ve not used these eyepieces but they seem to have a heck of a reputation. My 7mm Meade RG Ortho was the star performer for planetary last year which is why I’m thinking of the 7mm XW. The 5mm takes me up to 240x which may see less use due to the often poor seeing we have. 

Idea number two is Nagler Zoom 3-6mm. I’m waiting on pay day to order a little 72mm frac as a travel scope. The zoom would be nice for that as well as my dob. The zoom gives an extra 10 degrees AFOV on the Orthos. I’m guessing the sharpness and contrast will be close to the Orthos. The convenience of easily switching focal length at high power is also appealing. My dob is manual so switching eyepieces and keeping targets in the FOV can be tough at times. 

What do the great minds of of SGL think? I’m open to selling a kidney or child to finance the right choice   

[bingevader]

WO 6mm SPL?

[Geoff Barnes]

I tend to start all my viewing sessions with the 12 inch Dob using the Baader zoom on 24mm and zoom in on planets to 8mm which gives a good detailed and sharp view. I then swap it for the Baader Morpheus 6.5mm which is my favourite for high power sharp and detailed views of planets (conditions allowing of course). Great large eye lens and comfortable eye relief, it is a great eyepiece.

However, like most of us I'm sure I just want to tease out that little bit extra all the time, just get a bit closer to the planet if I can. So I'm currently looking, like you Neil, for something like the Vixen 4mm SLV  or BST 3.5mm maybe.

The TV  3-6mm zoom would be ideal, but out of financial reach at the moment - get one one day......

[iPeace]

XWs are lovely. To my eyes, DeLites are just as nice, but lighter and more compact. The Nagler Zoom is such a nifty tool to have and mine seems to be charmed in some special way; it's always been on hand for the very best moments, the very best transient conditions, the very best views. It's lucky.

Actually, my very best view of Mars - and Saturn - were with the 3-6 Zoom in a 72mm APO. It was very early morning, and I'm starting to think I may never experience better conditions. And to date, my best views of Jupiter were with the Zoom in a TV-85. Based on this, I have to say that if you think you want one, go for it. When you get lucky, it's more than good enough to keep you from wishing you had brought something else along instead.

[RT65CB-SWL]

The TeleVue Nagler 3-6mm zoom is perfect in my TeleVue Ranger, (480mm/70mm @f6.8 BTW). 

[Littleguy80]

33 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

I tend to start all my viewing sessions with the 12 inch Dob using the Baader zoom on 24mm and zoom in on planets to 8mm which gives a good detailed and sharp view. I then swap it for the Baader Morpheus 6.5mm which is my favourite for high power sharp and detailed views of planets (conditions allowing of course). Great large eye lens and comfortable eye relief, it is a great eyepiece.

However, like most of us I'm sure I just want to tease out that little bit extra all the time, just get a bit closer to the planet if I can. So I'm currently looking, like you Neil, for something like the Vixen 4mm SLV  or BST 3.5mm maybe.

The TV  3-6mm zoom would be ideal, but out of financial reach at the moment - get one one day......

I’ve also been thinking about the Baader zoom as a travel eyepiece actually!

i think the SLV would be your best bet. I loved my BST Starguiders but I think you can do better for faster scopes. The SLVs are supposed to give Ortho quality views with a 50 degree FOV. Can’t ask for much more than that  

[Littleguy80]

12 minutes ago, iPeace said:

XWs are lovely. To my eyes, DeLites are just as nice, but lighter and more compact. The Nagler Zoom is such a nifty tool to have and mine seems to be charmed in some special way; it's always been on hand for the very best moments, the very best transient conditions, the very best views. It's lucky.

Actually, my very best view of Mars - and Saturn - were with the 3-6 Zoom in a 72mm APO. It was very early morning, and I'm starting to think I may never experience better conditions. And to date, my best views of Jupiter were with the Zoom in a TV-85. Based on this, I have to say that if you think you want one, go for it. When you get lucky, it's more than good enough to keep you from wishing you had brought something else along instead.

Thanks Mike. It’s great to hear from you given you’ve owned both. I was really tempted when you put your XWs up for sale. You’ve very much sold me on the Nag zoom though! Now to decide on whether I wanna sell a kidney or a child to fund it  

[Littleguy80]

11 minutes ago, Philip R said:

The TeleVue Nagler 3-6mm zoom is perfect in my TeleVue Ranger, (480mm/70mm @f6.8 BTW). 

Thanks Philip! Sounds like it’ll go great with my little frac when it arrives  

[Paz]

I've never tried a Nagler zoom but I can see how it would be a good prospect. I have had a lot of good times with my Mk IV zoom and the ability to tune in to the ideal magnification is a big benefit. I have high power Delos and SLVs which are better quality but the zoom gets the most action.

[Paz]

16 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I’ve also been thinking about the Baader zoom as a travel eyepiece actually!

Here's a Baader zoom in my travel scope set up. With the 2.5x Barlow it also covers 9.6mm-3.2mm.

[jetstream]

The Nagler zoom is VG but will start to show limitations in larger aperture scopes, that being said I won't be without one. Xw's fit the bill but to get the sharpest views possible the Vixen HR's are hard to beat.

[Littleguy80]

3 minutes ago, Paz said:

Here's a Baader zoom in my travel scope set up. With the 2.5x Barlow it also covers 9.6mm-3.2mm.

Thanks for the picture. Looks a neat set up!

[Littleguy80]

2 minutes ago, jetstream said:

The Nagler zoom is VG but will start to show limitations in larger aperture scopes, that being said I won't be without one. Xw's fit the bill but to get the sharpest views possible the Vixen HR's are hard to beat.

Thanks Gerry. What limitations would I notice in the 10” vs the XW’s? 

I keep looking at the 3.4mm Vixen HR. 350x mag may be a bit much for UK skies though. 

[iPeace]

20 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

been thinking about the Baader zoom as a travel eyepiece

Also works very well. I like these (I own two of them). I combined it with different Baader barlows (Q, Hyperion Zoom, VIP) for higher mags and it took a DeLite to beat it - but I didn't compare it (barlowed) to the Nag Zoom.

I've satisfied myself that if I take a Baader Zoom along, I'd rather add the Nagler Zoom to the bag than a barlow for the Baader - but there's certainly a price differential.

[Ricochet]

I use barlowed XWs for my DSO high magnifications but for planetary I think binoviewers are the way to go. Smaller eyepieces are the order of the day and, assuming that you need a barlow to reach focus, eyepieces like orthos are ideal as the long focal lengths mean you get decent eye relief. 

[iPeace]

8 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I keep looking at the 3.4mm Vixen HR.

I'm sure you'd appreciate it, being used to orthos. The view is certainly the most 'pure' I've had. Not much extra in the FOV department, though. The eye relief 'feels' more generous than specified.

The dark, green-lettered, horses in this race are the 3 and 4mm DeLites. More FOV, luxurious in use, and views I can't tear myself away from, not even to try an HR. It's odd how this works for me and it may be different for you; just saying.

[mikeDnight]

On 15/03/2019 at 21:50, Littleguy80 said:

Thanks Gerry. What limitations would I notice in the 10” vs the XW’s? 

I keep looking at the 3.4mm Vixen HR. 350x mag may be a bit much for UK skies though. 

Don't look at this then!

It might not seem like much to look at, but its a massively impressive view and far better than I've ever seen through anyother eyepiece.

[Littleguy80]

13 minutes ago, iPeace said:

I'm sure you'd appreciate it, being used to orthos. The view is certainly the most 'pure' I've had. Not much extra in the FOV department, though. The eye relief 'feels' more generous than specified.

The dark, green-lettered, horses in this race are the 3 and 4mm DeLites. More FOV, luxurious in use, and views I can't tear myself away from, not even to try an HR. It's odd how this works for me and it may be different for you; just saying.

I hadn’t considered the Delites. Will have to give those a look. 

[Littleguy80]

4 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Don't look at this then!

Oh crickey. I might have to sell both kidneys now 

[John]

I've now settled on the following for high magnifications:

Ethos 8mm & 6mm

Pentax XW's 10-7-5-3.5mm

Nagler 2-4mm zoom

I also use my "cheapie" 7.2-21.5mm zoom plus Baader Q-Turret 2.25x barlow a lot with my refractors and it works much better than it really ought to !

I do have an HD ortho 4mm but each time I've used it lately I've seen no improvement over the XW / Nagler zoom views so the tiny eye lens / AFoV are not really worth putting up with IMHO.

I did have the Ethos SX 3.7 and 4.7 for quite a while but eventually concluded that the XW 5 and 3.5 were a touch sharper so I parted with the Ethos SX's.

There are many other fine high power options around but I'm not going to keep jumping on the eyepiece merry-go-round now. I really like the ones that I've listed above and I'm going concentrate on making the best use of them

 

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, John said:

 I'm not going to keep jumping on the eyepiece merry-go-round now. I really like the ones that I've listed above and I'm going concentrate on making the best use of them

 

Really John?! There isn't even room in your eyepiece case for just a tiny addition or two, or three?? Floppy says "They are really cute."  But don't let me try and tempt you!

[John]

There are some REALLY bad influences on this forum !!!

 

[bingevader]

Floppy is a really naughty teddy.

[Piero]

Building an eyepiece set is quite personal and not an easy task in my opinion. Besides, an eyepiece set alone is a bit meaningless if not considered with a telescope (or set of telescopes..). I chose my set considering the exit pupil and optical quality after a lot of reading and discussions with an experienced observer. To me the brand comes last. 

I haven't changed my set in almost one year and don't feel the need to. It just works for my needs. 

[estwing]

Had the nag 3-6, tho great ep...pointless in large aperture...but might suit you....drinking straw views are not for me..after getting the 8mm ethos and powermate there's no need for me to buy any other high power ep's.