Are cheaper eyepieces as good as very expensive ones?

[Timebandit]

 

 

Go with quality in my opinion, and go second hand. Buy once, Buy well and Buy cheap☺(not always possible even second hand, but way cheaper than new).                                        For DSO then you can get away with 3 eyepiece's. But if like me you do lunar and planetary, then you do need more at the higher power mags. I go from 4mm up to 7mm in eyepiece's for lunar, planetary, as depending on seeing conditions I try and push power to the limit in 1mm jumps, but still needing a sharp viewing experience.

So I have ended up with second hand quality in Pentax XW ,second hand BGO and a few second hand TV. I have completed my eyepiece collection and not needed to or felt like I am missing out to purchase another for around 18month now. Nothing has tempted me. More than happy with my little collection☺🔭

 

 

 

 

[wesdon1]

On 14/09/2019 at 14:04, Raph-in-the-sky said:

No worries, you can call me Susan if you like, it doen't matter 🙂

I think uou re making a move you won't regret (I didn't). Looking forward for your opinion on those EPs.

Once I was all set with EPs, my next move was a Telrad finder and a lacerta micro focuser uprgrade kit (which I just installed yesterday)... and now I m considering a RACI finder... Amateur astronomy is cheap to get into but once you re hooked there's no end.

Haha hi again "Susan". Ye definitely i'll let you know how i get on with them. I've thought about 2 speed focuser ( if thats the same as a micro-focuser ? ) myself to help with perfect focusing. It's something i will eventually buy, because as you wisely point out, it's cheap to get into but once you're hooked the bills increase exponentially! haha Wouldn't it be lovely if one won , say, 100 Million on the Euromillions and be able to afford to build ones own private Observatory with something huge like a 2 metre Aperture Reflector inside! oh that would be amazing! I'd never be out the place! haha Well back down to earth, i'll be more than happy when i get my new EP's! 

[John]

On 14/09/2019 at 20:37, Timebandit said:

 

 

Go with quality in my opinion, and go second hand. Buy once, Buy well and Buy cheap☺(not always possible even second hand, but way cheaper than new).                                        For DSO then you can get away with 3 eyepiece's. But if like me you do lunar and planetary, then you do need more at the higher power mags. I go from 4mm up to 7mm in eyepiece's for lunar, planetary, as depending on seeing conditions I try and push power to the limit in 1mm jumps, but still needing a sharp viewing experience.

So I have ended up with second hand quality in Pentax XW ,second hand BGO and a few second hand TV. I have completed my eyepiece collection and not needed to or felt like I am missing out to purchase another for around 18month now. Nothing has tempted me. More than happy with my little collection☺🔭

 

 

 

 

I'm a bit late to this but I do agree with the above post from Timebandit after many years of trying different eyepieces and reviewing some of them for this forum

 

[wesdon1]

Hi again everyone! I ended up buying second hand and saved some cash in the process!. I bought a Televue 2X barlow, which the quality of which is simply astounding!?? My goodness the quality difference between my "Standard" SkyWatcher 2X Barlow and the Televue Barlow is like a brand new  Eurofighter Typhoon Military attack Jet and a beaten up rickety Cessna that can barely fly!! haha seriously though i'm so so happy with it!! I also bought a Televue 8mm Plossl EP. I Paid £77 for the Televue 2X Barlow and £55 for the Televue 8mm Plossl. These things rock!! haha i'm genuinely shocked how much better they are than my SkyWatcher EP's that you get as standard with any low to mid priced SW Telescope!! I CAN'T WAIT for Jupiter and Saturn, amongst others, as after testing my new Barlow and EP on Moon a few nights ago, I am expecting special things when the weather is good and hopefully the seeing is acceptable! Thanks so much for the great advice everyone! I'll keep you's posted on my experiences with my new toys! haha! Sincerely, Wes. 

[Moonshane]

to my mind it totally depends on the scope being used. In most slower scopes (f ratio of maybe f7 or more) pretty much any eyepiece will give decent views. Slower scopes f6 or less will start to challenge the cheaper ones. Other than extremely faint or subtle detail at the edge of seeing, no eyepiece even an ultra expensive one will show you something that a cheaper one will not (assuming the object fits in the field of view). However, the journey might just be a little more pleasing to the eye with a more expensive option.

I did a comparison a while back which might explain my own findings.

 

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

I ended up buying second hand and saved some cash in the process!. I bought a Televue 2X barlow, which the quality of which is simply astounding!??

I have the 1.25" TV 2x, and it is quite good as you say.  Another oldie but goody is the Meade 140 2x barlow.  It's a three element Japanese made design from the late 90s that yields about 2.4x compared to the TV's 2.1x (for shoulder focusing eyepieces).  Back-to-back comparisons on the Trapezium last winter showed it to be just about identical in performance to my TV barlow.

They usually go for $40 to $45 used here in the US.  A big plus to them is that the optical nosepiece is 1.25" filter threaded, so it can be threaded onto the front of eyepieces for about 1.6x or as a binoviewer OCS/GPC at about 3.0x.  The TV barlow nosepiece uses a nonstandard 1.25" thread, so it can't be used for these purposes.

The only older barlow I own that outperforms the TV is the Japanese made 1.25" Orion Deluxe Fully Baffled 2x barlow.  However, it's about 6 inches long, so it's uses are limited by that.  The difference is subtle on scatter, but it is there.  All else is about the same including the 2.1x magnification.  The unit is a single piece, so the nosepiece cannot be removed.  These come up very rarely second hand, but they're usually also about $35 to $45 here in the US because few people know much about them.

[wesdon1]

On 23/09/2019 at 20:54, Louis D said:

I have the 1.25" TV 2x, and it is quite good as you say.  Another oldie but goody is the Meade 140 2x barlow.  It's a three element Japanese made design from the late 90s that yields about 2.4x compared to the TV's 2.1x (for shoulder focusing eyepieces).  Back-to-back comparisons on the Trapezium last winter showed it to be just about identical in performance to my TV barlow.

They usually go for $40 to $45 used here in the US.  A big plus to them is that the optical nosepiece is 1.25" filter threaded, so it can be threaded onto the front of eyepieces for about 1.6x or as a binoviewer OCS/GPC at about 3.0x.  The TV barlow nosepiece uses a nonstandard 1.25" thread, so it can't be used for these purposes.

The only older barlow I own that outperforms the TV is the Japanese made 1.25" Orion Deluxe Fully Baffled 2x barlow.  However, it's about 6 inches long, so it's uses are limited by that.  The difference is subtle on scatter, but it is there.  All else is about the same including the 2.1x magnification.  The unit is a single piece, so the nosepiece cannot be removed.  These come up very rarely second hand, but they're usually also about $35 to $45 here in the US because few people know much about them.

Thanks for the info about your experiences and the qualiuty similarities of your older Japanese EP and the Meade 140. I shall remeber this for future purchases as if i can get as good quality as TV cheaper then it's a no-brainer. You obviousely know a lot more about these things than myself so i thank you for the great advice sir!