Which Eye piece

[astroban]

Hi

I am looking at eyepiece's as the "buy yourself a present" season is nearly on us .

I am looking at the 24MM BADDER PLANETARIUM (FROM FIRST LIGHT OPTICS£78.50)not sure how to post link, what do you think about this eyepiece?

The other option would be the 8-24mm zoom, whilst this would not have such a widefieldof view at the 24mm end, it would give a lot more viewing options for only £66.5 more.

Am I going to notice the difference between the zoom and individual eyepieces have zooms improved in quality over time?

I currently have a Skymax 150 pro (1800mm)Any help or advice would be welcome before I spend my hard earned.

James

[Andrew*]

I owned the 8-24mm Baader Hyperion zoom and loved it. In your scope it would provide an extremely useful range of magnifications from 75-225x - pretty much everythign you need for general purpose viewing.

Plus, the zoom does have the same apparent FOV (68°) as the 24mm Hyperion, but only at 8mm. At 24mm it is still an acceptable 50°.

You would also benefit from a lower power eyepiece, to use on larger DSOs and as a finder eyepiece - 35-40mm. There are three that spring to mind that are excellent and reasonably priced:

- Skywatcher 38mm PanaView (70°) at £79

- Skywatcher 40mm Aero (68°) at £99 (haven't tried this, and it's possible the PanaView, above, will perform just as well in your slow (f/12) telesope)

- 40mm TMB Paragon (70°) at £125 - a bargain - not long ago this was £179.

I believe that these two eyepieces will cover all your needs, everything from just under 50x for large DSOs, to over 200x, for planetary views, that this scope will excel at.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

[Andrew*]

Am I going to notice the difference between the zoom and individual eyepieces have zooms improved in quality over time?

I believe they have. People might argue that you will be better off with fixed f/l orthoscopics for sharper views, but personally I find the ease of use of a good zoom eyepiece outweighs the slight increase in sharpness/contrast.

What kind of viewing will you be doing, actually? I just assumed that it would be a bit of everything because you were asking about the 24mm Hyperion, which is more of a DSO eyepiece at 75x, and the Skymax, which is more of a planetary scope.

Andrew

[lunator]

James

I have the 24mm eyepiece and it is a nice piece of kit.

I don't think you will be disappointed with either eyepiece. I guess it comes down to whether you want 2 eyepieces or the convienence of the Zoom.

Cheers

Ian

[TheThing]

Plus, the zoom does have the same apparent FOV (68°) as the 24mm Hyperion, but only at 8mm. At 24mm it is still an acceptable 50°.

The FOV gets smaller as you decrease magnification? Is that correct? (Forgive my asking, but it is usually the other way round- increase magnification, decrease FOV. I've not come across this before.)

[russ]

Heard a rumour that the Skywatcher Aero ED 30mm and 40mm are rebadged and slightly tarted up Paragons. Which would make the Aero a very nice eyepiece. Not seen a single review for it yet though.

James, at f12 almost any eyepiece will perform well. The 24mm Hyperion would be perfect in your Skymax 150. Nice wide field and sharp edge to edge. And it uses the maximum true field for a 1.25" eyepiece, which is important as your Skymax only supports 1.25" eyepieces as standard.

Russ

[russ]

Larger as the magnification increases sounds right. My Speers 5-8mm zoom is 87deg at 5mm and 80deg at 8mm.

Russ

[Andrew*]

Plus, the zoom does have the same apparent FOV (68°) as the 24mm Hyperion, but only at 8mm. At 24mm it is still an acceptable 50°.

The FOV gets smaller as you decrease magnification? Is that correct? (Forgive my asking, but it is usually the other way round- increase magnification, decrease FOV. I've not come across this before.)

I'm talking about the Apparent FOV, which in the case of the Hyperion is 68° at the 8mm setting, and 50° at the 24mm setting. Of course, the true FOV (actual area of sky you are observing) decreases as the magnification increases.

And sorry - I forgot maks only accept 1.25" eyepieces - in that case you could use a 32mm plossl for your wider field. Meade's Series 4000 is both good and cheap - you could pick one up for £30.

Andrew

[TheThing]

D'oh!

Thanks for clearing that up.

[astroban]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will go for the 8-24 zoom as you said Andrew it offers a good range for general viewing.

I do have afocuserthat will take 2" but I do not have a 2" diagonal at the moment. I do like looking at the planets (when you can see them) but find a low power eyepieceusefulfor location items.

Thanks again for advise

James