BST Starguider 8 & 12mm 1.25" brief review.

[MKHACHFE]

Before reading this, I should say that I'm pretty new to this hobby and have no experience with any  eyepieces other than those I mention below.

My lovely wife gave me a 8mm and 12mm BST Starguiders for Xmas and although I have only had a chance to use them for a few hours since I got them, my impression so far is very positive. 

Pre BST, my only EPs were the 25mm Plossi that came with my XT8, a £10 10mm from Amazon and a baader classic ortho 10mm.

To  be honest, I did not get on with the BCO at all. Yes it was sharp enough, but I never liked the narrow FOV and always felt that it didn't barlow well.

Just peering through the 12mm BST for the first time was a great experience. I know it's only a 60deg view but it felt so much more, is luxurious the right word? Much more immersive than the BCO and Plossi are. 

It's possible that the outside edge stars suffered a bit of blur, but I can't be sure. The skies were not that great. And dew was an issue as well. 

I can say though that M42 looked absolutely wonderful through them, and when paired with my Astronomik UHC filter, the view was better than I had ever experienced so far. 

I then pointed the scope almost straight up and after initially struggling to spot them, had a lovely view of Cassiopeia's double open cluster, the detail increasing rapidly the longer I looked. 

The only time I really used the 8mm more than the 12mm was when I looked at Uranus before heading indoors for the night. I used the 2x barlow as well and even though the view was shaking a fair amount as the wind had picked up a lot by then, I could tell that the planets disc was pretty darn sharp, even through the less than 100% clear skies.

All in all, I'm super happy with them so far. For me they are a big step up from what I had and frankly, for the price they go for, I'm amazed at the quality.

 

Incidentally, both EPs as well as my UHC filter were purchased from FLO. 

I can't wait to use them at a dark site. Hopefully that will happen very soon.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

[wookie1965]

For the price BST`s pack a punch I myself have had the whole set, I sold ones I dont use I have the 25mm great for sweeping the sky the 15mm this is my goto eyepiece when hunting double and multiple stars and a 8mm for planets and craters on the moon and tighter doubles.

[Raph-in-the-sky]

BSTs are great! Those were also the ones I bought as a first upgrade and I'm still very happy with my 5mm and 15mm. 

I also don't like narrow views and I think that 60° to 82° is the sweet spot for me... never tried a 100° EP but I think the price would be to steep for me.

[Peter77]

I can only agree with the others, they are excellent. I have the 3.2, 5 and 8mm myself. Planning to buy the whole set. They are very good. Well built also, very high quality feeling.

[MKHACHFE]

Yes indeed. Regarding the build and weight, I was really pleasantly surprised when I first took them out of their boxes...made a nice change from lightweight plossis. 

I'm so happy I picked BST's as my first mid range EPs.

 

Happy new year guys/gals.

 

Cheers

[david_taurus83]

The 8mm is my favourite. Seems to give the best magnification without pushing the scope too far.

[John]

Nice report - thanks for posting it

I've been pleasantly surprised by how good the BST Starguiders that I've owned have been.

A few years ago I compared the 8mm BST Starguider with my 8mm Tele Vue Ethos and, apart from the massive field of view of the Ethos, the overall quality of the view was really not much different when used with my F/5.3 12 inch dobsonian scope.

There is some variablity of optical performance across the range fo focal lengths but overall BST Starguiders are a big step up from the stock eyepieces that are supplied with scopes and an eyepiece that seems to perform pretty well in quite a wide range of scopes as well. They are quite a bit more comfortable to observe with than plossls or orthoscopics, especially in focal lengths shorter than 18mm because the BST Explorer design allows more comfortable eye relief and a larger eye lens than those designs.

Out of fairness to the Baader 10mm Classic Ortho, its is optically a sharp, contrasty eyepiece with excellent light transmission and low scatter but the orthoscopic design inherantly has a 40-45 degree sharp field of view (the BCO actually has 50 degrees but the last 5 of those are not sharp) and an eye relief that is around 80% (max) of it's focal length. 

 

 

 

[ronl]

They are a very good eyepiece, I have been using them for quite some time, I have tried quite a number of different types of eyepiece, but couldn't get on with them, I get superb views, but for me they are comfortable, and the twist up eye cups stop any blackouts, overall I think they are nice to use and great value for money.

Keep enjoying them.

Clear Sky's.

[DavidJM]

Love these eyepieces for the price, anyone on a tight budget will not find any better in my opinion, they have given many happy hours of viewing😀

[Mognet]

I have a 5mm, which I thought was quite good. The local skies don't really allow for anything much more than lunar viewing with it, but I'll happily get a couple more to replace the Skywatcher EPs supplied with my scopes once the we start getting decently clear skies again

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Nice review. I agree they provide excellent views and perform very well for a modest outlay. The build quality is also very good. I will be picking up the 18mm come pay day to complete my set. I have all of them except the unrequired 3.2mm -  They be my lens of choice in my amateur days. It would be nice if they offered some 2" 30mm plus eye pieces also.

 

Baz

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Barry-W-Fenner

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

A review I can agree with. My BST 8 & 15mm eyepieces were a massive step up from the supplied Skywatcher items and Acsension plossls I had. I don't have experience with high end eps but the BST units definitely improved observing with the 130PS, ST120 and 200P significantly at a relatively low £42 each new. Definitely keepers.