Next (first) eyepiece step...

[Shooting star]

I was gifted an Orion XT8 telescope which came with only an Orion Sirius Plossl Multi-coated 25mm. It seems a decent starter eyepiece,  but I know it is on the lower end of the spectrum. More serious intentions now... Wondering what next step ought to be. Quality 2x Barlow? Or do I want to buy a better 25mm eyepiece to replace the existing? Or go for a good quality short focal length one? Say an 8mm which then, one day with 2x Barlow, would give me the max (suggested at 300x as opposed to the theoretical 400x)? Any thoughts/strategies would be appreciated.

[Ricochet]

What is your budget for upgrading the eyepieces? When I was in a similar I started by adding 8mm and 12mm Starguiders. At the longer focal lengths you need to start looking at ES68° eyepieces to get the same quality. 

[Timebandit]

 

Hello . The stock eyepiece's that come with the scope and usually just to get you going.

The BST starguider range are a decent next step up in eyepiece's that lots of members on this site use with good results.

Also don't get hung up with magnification. There is no point having a super high power eyepiece that when viewed the image is soft or blurred. You are much better having a slightly lower magnification that is sharp and well defined.

Hope this helps

 

 

 

[Shooting star]

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

What is your budget for upgrading the eyepieces? When I was in a similar I started by adding 8mm and 12mm Starguiders. At the longer focal lengths you need to start looking at ES68° eyepieces to get the same quality. 

Thanks. £200 would be upper most for a given eyepiece but somewhere between £100-150 ideal. 

[Shooting star]

2 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

Hello . The stock eyepiece's that come with the scope and usually just to get you going.

The BST starguider range are a decent next step up in eyepiece's that lots of members on this site use with good results.

Also don't get hung up with magnification. There is no point having a super high power eyepiece that when viewed the image is soft or blurred. You are much better having a slightly lower magnification that is sharp and well defined.

Hope this helps

 

 

 

Understand what you say on magnification. Quality important. Thanks. 

BST recommend more than once so I'll have a look. Cheers.

[miguel87]

I would rey to get a range of focal lengths rather than 1 great eyepiece. I have a choice of 5 eyepieces when I observe and most people would call this a fairly small range (I have a barlow too).

I would look at having a range of magnifications between about 25x and 300x.

You can get alot with £200, all my eyepieces including my barlow would cost £300 new!

[Timebandit]

36 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Understand what you say on magnification. Quality important. Thanks. 

BST recommend more than once so I'll have a look. Cheers.

 

Also keep a look out on the second hand market ,such as SGL sales site. You can sometimes make a considerable saving buying used, and most of us look after our astro kit. So some nice used gear comes up at very sensible money 

 

 

 

[DeanCJ]

Have you considered a zoom eyepiece? I personally have never used one but for £185 you could get a Baader Hyperion IV from FLO which would give you a focal length of 8 to 24 mm, also, if you could stretch your budget a little RVO are offering a combo deal to include the Baader zoom with the matching 2.25 Baader Barlow for £235 which would give you a focal length of 3.6 to 24mm. 
I am a novice myself, and as I have said, I have never used a zoom but I believe the Baader zoom is highly rated and I am sure other forum members would give you their opinions.

[Shooting star]

4 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

Also keep a look out on the second hand market ,such as SGL sales site. You can sometimes make a considerable saving buying used, and most of us look after our astro kit. So some nice used gear comes up at very sensible money 

 

 

 

Will do. Great suggestions, appreciated.

[Shooting star]

4 hours ago, miguel87 said:

I would rey to get a range of focal lengths rather than 1 great eyepiece. I have a choice of 5 eyepieces when I observe and most people would call this a fairly small range (I have a barlow too).

I would look at having a range of magnifications between about 25x and 300x.

You can get alot with £200, all my eyepieces including my barlow would cost £300 new!

Good thought. Sounds wise. Surprising the relatively little spend required. Which brands are you happy with?

[Shooting star]

3 hours ago, DeanCJ said:

Have you considered a zoom eyepiece? I personally have never used one but for £185 you could get a Baader Hyperion IV from FLO which would give you a focal length of 8 to 24 mm, also, if you could stretch your budget a little RVO are offering a combo deal to include the Baader zoom with the matching 2.25 Baader Barlow for £235 which would give you a focal length of 3.6 to 24mm. 
I am a novice myself, and as I have said, I have never used a zoom but I believe the Baader zoom is highly rated and I am sure other forum members would give you their opinions.

Thank you. I'll look into it. I know the Baader name is quality and I had read somewhere that a zoom is a viable option.

[miguel87]

6 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Good thought. Sounds wise. Surprising the relatively little spend required. Which brands are you happy with?

I use vixen SLV for short focal length, bit pricier but worth it, I have a starguider which are endlessly popular and cheap, a vixen nPL which isnt perfect but a step up from supplied eyepieces and one 2 inch sky watcher panaview which I think is underrated.

[Timebandit]

15 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Good thought. Sounds wise. Surprising the relatively little spend required. Which brands are you happy with?

 

Well I have moved into the pricer brackets by now in the hobby. Been into the astro for a few years now. As I have a OOuk 14 Dob and a SW 120Ed then it was time to get eyepiece's to do these scopes the fov and optical sharpness they deserve but with sensible eye relief. So over the last  couple of years  I have build a collection up of mostly Pentax XW in the 3.5 to 10 mm range and for a wider fov around the 20mm a TV nagler ,also a few BGO. Most of my gear has been purchased used. I think when it comes to astro gear you need to do a balancing act with your gear. As the views are only as good as the weakest link in your optical chain.

 

Hope this helps 

 

 

[Shooting star]

4 hours ago, miguel87 said:

I use vixen SLV for short focal length, bit pricier but worth it, I have a starguider which are endlessly popular and cheap, a vixen nPL which isnt perfect but a step up from supplied eyepieces and one 2 inch sky watcher panaview which I think is underrated.

What would you say is the difference between the Vixen SLV and the Starguider eyepieces. How different a viewing experience is it? 

[Shooting star]

4 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

Well I have moved into the pricer brackets by now in the hobby. Been into the astro for a few years now. As I have a OOuk 14 Dob and a SW 120Ed then it was time to get eyepiece's to do these scopes the fov and optical sharpness they deserve but with sensible eye relief. So over the last  couple of years  I have build a collection up of mostly Pentax XW in the 3.5 to 10 mm range and for a wider fov around the 20mm a TV nagler ,also a few BGO. Most of my gear has been purchased used. I think when it comes to astro gear you need to do a balancing act with your gear. As the views are only as good as the weakest link in your optical chain.

 

Hope this helps 

 

 

It all helps and thanks. I think I need to consider used gear where I wouldn't have previously. 

[Louis D]

19 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

What would you say is the difference between the Vixen SLV and the Starguider eyepieces. How different a viewing experience is it? 

The Vixen LV/NLV/SLV are 45 to 50 degrees AFOV, 16mm to 18mm of usable eye relief, high quality lens polish, and very good multicoatings.  They offer up excellent edge to edge sharpness over a limited field of view for the eyeglass wearer on a budget.

The Starguider BSTs offer 57 to 62 degrees AFOV, 12mm to 18mm of usable eye relief, mid-quality lens polish, and good multicoatings.  They offer up a near-superwide field of view, good central sharpness and decent correction to the edge on an even tighter budget.  They may not be the best for eyeglass wearers, though.

[miguel87]

41 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

What would you say is the difference between the Vixen SLV and the Starguider eyepieces. How different a viewing experience is it? 

I dont wear glasses so I cant comment on that aspect.

There is no question that the SLV's have a slightly sharper image. But otherwise it's quite a close call. The extra 10 degrees AFOV in the starguiders is really nice to look at with very good stars almost right to the edge (my scope is f5 too). I slightly prefer the contrasty view through the starguider too, it could just be my eyes but the sky background is a very pleasing colour.

I bought the SLVs mostly for planetary stuff often paired up with my barlow so I wanted to get a quality lens what would put up with being barlowed at high magnifications.

But higher up the focal lengths, I would go for the BSTs everytime because the contrast and wider view are great.

Edited April 22, 2020 by miguel87

[Shooting star]

10 hours ago, Louis D said:

The Vixen LV/NLV/SLV are 45 to 50 degrees AFOV, 16mm to 18mm of usable eye relief, high quality lens polish, and very good multicoatings.  They offer up excellent edge to edge sharpness over a limited field of view for the eyeglass wearer on a budget.

The Starguider BSTs offer 57 to 62 degrees AFOV, 12mm to 18mm of usable eye relief, mid-quality lens polish, and good multicoatings.  They offer up a near-superwide field of view, good central sharpness and decent correction to the edge on an even tighter budget.  They may not be the best for eyeglass wearers, though.

Great advice! As an eyeglass wearer eye relief (and exit pupil I suppose) will be critical. Thank you very much.

[Shooting star]

10 hours ago, miguel87 said:

I dont wear glasses so I cant comment on that aspect.

There is no question that the SLV's have a slightly sharper image. But otherwise it's quite a close call. The extra 10 degrees AFOV in the starguiders is really nice to look at with very good stars almost right to the edge (my scope is f5 too). I slightly prefer the contrasty view through the starguider too, it could just be my eyes but the sky background is a very pleasing colour.

I bought the SLVs mostly for planetary stuff often paired up with my barlow so I wanted to get a quality lens what would put up with being barlowed at high magnifications.

But higher up the focal lengths, I would go for the BSTs everytime because the contrast and wider view are great.

Another great insight. Helping me to come to conclusions on what is best for me. Thanks.

[Shooting star]

On 22/04/2020 at 22:55, miguel87 said:

I dont wear glasses so I cant comment on that aspect.

There is no question that the SLV's have a slightly sharper image. But otherwise it's quite a close call. The extra 10 degrees AFOV in the starguiders is really nice to look at with very good stars almost right to the edge (my scope is f5 too). I slightly prefer the contrasty view through the starguider too, it could just be my eyes but the sky background is a very pleasing colour.

I bought the SLVs mostly for planetary stuff often paired up with my barlow so I wanted to get a quality lens what would put up with being barlowed at high magnifications.

But higher up the focal lengths, I would go for the BSTs everytime because the contrast and wider view are great.

Wonder what you all think of SVBONY eyepieces. Not heard of them so cautious about quality...?

[miguel87]

6 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Wonder what you all think of SVBONY eyepieces. Not heard of them so cautious about quality...?

Never heard of them, sorry.

 

[John]

SVBONY re-brand eyepieces so they are probably better known under other brand names.

If you link to a particular eyepiece or range then we can give an opinion.

 

[Shooting star]

1 hour ago, John said:

SVBONY re-brand eyepieces so they are probably better known under other brand names.

If you link to a particular eyepiece or range then we can give an opinion.

 

Ah I see. Thanks. Sounds like one to avoid. Don't like the idea of rebranded.

[John]

4 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Ah I see. Thanks. Sounds like one to avoid. Don't like the idea of rebranded.

Actually a lot of that goes on even with some of the big names. If the design is a good one then the brand name that is on it does not matter too much.

For example, these are all the same eyepiece:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/ovl-hyperflex-7e1-72mm-215mm-high-performance-zoom-eyepiece-125.html

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/lunt-ls7-21ze-zoom-eyepiece-72mm-215mm.html

https://www.astroshop.eu/eyepieces/orion-7-2mm-21-5mm-1-25-zoom-eyepiece/p,17113

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_330

Big range of prices though !

 

[Louis D]

51 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Ah I see. Thanks. Sounds like one to avoid. Don't like the idea of rebranded.

Aside from Televue, Brandon, Vixen, Takahashi, Masuyama, Pentax, Nikon, Olympus, Docter, Zeiss, Leica, Meopta, Swarovski, and a couple others I may be forgetting, pretty much all the rest are simply market brandings for readily available, Chinese or Taiwanese made eyepieces.  Often, Vixen and Takahashi subcontract out their eyepiece manufacturing to other Japanese companies.  Even Baader is suspect since their Hyperion line is basically the same as the Orion Stratus line.  Most eyepieces are made by GSO, JOC, KUO, Synta, Long Perng, etc.  If they're good, it doesn't really matter what the lettering on the eyepiece says.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Louis D