Good eye piece recomendation

[Dan13]

Hi, Im due to acquire a 127 mak from a member here on Friday. Strangely I started my astro journey with astrophotography from the start and never really obsevered. 

I absolutely love this hobby and am fully committed to it now.

Question is ...I have some standard 9mm ,25mm eye pieces that I've acquired through scopes along the way, I also have a 2x barlow.

I'm looking for a nice eye piece to complement the Barlow for some good planetary and Luna viewing, looking to spend up to £70 as t this moment.

 

Many thanks ( apologize for spelling it's not my greatest strength)

 

Clear skies

[John]

Congratulations on the scope.

What barlow do you have ?

Just don't want it to be the "weak link" !

 

[Dan13]

1 minute ago, John said:

Congratulations on the scope.

What barlow do you have ?

Just don't want it to be the "weak link" !

 

Thanks John , ah ok! Well I'm guessing it will be then as it was only £20 I think! 

 

Maybe I need a half decent Barlow and a eyepiece...rabbit hole continues 🤣

[John]

I use one of these zooms quite frequently for lunar, planetary and double star observing. Not the widest field of view at the long end but image quality is good. I use a 2.25x barlow with it but my refractors are shorter focal length than your 127mm mak-cassegrain is so on it's own the zoom gives you 70x - 208x:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-72mm-215mm-eyepiece.html

A touch over your budget but a lot of flexibility !

 

[DeathWarpedUp]

Just out of interest, if you have  got mostly 9 to 25s. Won't you need something wider to help with your general star  hopping?

[Stu]

I would forget the barlow, no need for it with a 1500mm focal length; you can get to x250 with a 6mm eyepiece so the barlow is pretty much redundant, especially if it is questionable quality.

John’s suggestion is a good one, and would give you plenty of flexibility. I guess the alternative would be something like a BST Starguider or two 😉. The 8mm would give you a very useable x187, good for planets or the Moon.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

[Dan13]

11 hours ago, John said:

I use one of these zooms quite frequently for lunar, planetary and double star observing. Not the widest field of view at the long end but image quality is good. I use a 2.25x barlow with it but my refractors are shorter focal length than your 127mm mak-cassegrain is so on it's own the zoom gives you 70x - 208x:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-72mm-215mm-eyepiece.html

A touch over your budget but a lot of flexibility !

 

Thank you , happy to pay a little over if its on good merit from somone such as yourself. 

 

So this is in theory 3 eye pieces in one? Am I reading that right? 

[Dan13]

2 hours ago, DeathWarpedUp said:

Just out of interest, if you have  got mostly 9 to 25s. Won't you need something wider to help with your general star  hopping?

I'm really not sure tbh I'm not very knowledgeable with observing and these are the only ones in the tool kit atm

[Dan13]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I would forget the barlow, no need for it with a 1500mm focal length; you can get to x250 with a 6mm eyepiece so the barlow is pretty much redundant, especially if it is questionable quality.

John’s suggestion is a good one, and would give you plenty of flexibility. I guess the alternative would be something like a BST Starguider or two 😉. The 8mm would give you a very useable x187, good for planets or the Moon.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

Thabk you, yes I like the look of the one John posted it seems to be a multi tool if I'm reading right. Would an 8mm be enough for mars saturn and Jupiter without a barlow? 

[DeathWarpedUp]

7 minutes ago, Dan13 said:

I'm really not sure tbh I'm not very knowledgeable with observing and these are the only ones in the tool kit atm

What do you use to find targets with AP?

Edited July 9, 2020 by DeathWarpedUp

[Dan13]

7 minutes ago, DeathWarpedUp said:

What do you use to find targets with AP?

stellarium/EQmod/Nina

[Stu]

38 minutes ago, Dan13 said:

Thabk you, yes I like the look of the one John posted it seems to be a multi tool if I'm reading right. Would an 8mm be enough for mars saturn and Jupiter without a barlow? 

Yes I think so. It would give x187 which would work pretty well for all three. Saturn and Mars can take more under good conditions, perhaps up to x220 for Saturn and x250 for Mars but the 8mm would be a good start.

One issue is that with planets low currently even x187 may be too much on occasion so the Zoom would give you the range of magnification options.

[Dan13]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

Yes I think so. It would give x187 which would work pretty well for all three. Saturn and Mars can take more under good conditions, perhaps up to x220 for Saturn and x250 for Mars but the 8mm would be a good start.

One issue is that with planets low currently even x187 may be too much on occasion so the Zoom would give you the range of magnification options.

Thats a good point thank you Stu, Im kind of gearing up now ready for mars in OCT, always been a dream to view that target and looking forward to it. I think i may go with Johns suggestion as it seems very versatile

[Geoff Barnes]

I'm particularly looking forward to viewing Mars when it comes into my view in December at 45 degrees elevation. As it is one object that seems to take whatever magnification one can throw at it I will attack it with my new Vixen SLV 2.5mm and at 600x I will expect to see at least a few Martians going about their business! 😁

(No dust storms pleeeez!).

[Dan13]

17 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

I'm particularly looking forward to viewing Mars when it comes into my view in December at 45 degrees elevation. As it is one object that seems to take whatever magnification one can throw at it I will attack it with my new Vixen SLV 2.5mm and at 600x I will expect to see at least a few Martians going about their business! 😁

(No dust storms pleeeez!).

haha brilliant Geoff, ive ordered the zoom lens but as we no with this hobby oct-dec is a while away yet and new gear can be bought   

[RT65CB-SWL]

I hardly ever use a Barlow lens; (2.8x, BTW); with my Mak & SCT.

I may occasionally use a 1.6x extension piece that screws into the
filter thread of the e/p.

[DeathWarpedUp]

22 minutes ago, Philip R said:

I hardly ever use a Barlow lens; (2.8x, BTW); with my Mak & SCT.

 

Agree. Theres no need on most nights really.

Edited July 9, 2020 by DeathWarpedUp

[sputniksteve]

1 hour ago, Philip R said:

I hardly ever use a Barlow lens; (2.8x, BTW); with my Mak & SCT.

I may occasionally use a 1.6x extension piece that screws into the
filter thread of the e/p.

What's your preferred EP for the Mak?

[RT65CB-SWL]

28 minutes ago, sputniksteve said:

What's your preferred EP for the Mak?

Anything that has TeleVue printed on the barrel... especially these...

left: 13mm Plossl - centre: 13mm Nagler type 1 - right: 13mm Nagler type 6  

[sputniksteve]

13mm then? 🙂

[RT65CB-SWL]

Plossl = 50deg AFOV - Nagler = 82deg AFOV -
apologies - I should have included it in my reply.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Philip R

[Dan13]

18 hours ago, John said:

I use one of these zooms quite frequently for lunar, planetary and double star observing. Not the widest field of view at the long end but image quality is good. I use a 2.25x barlow with it but my refractors are shorter focal length than your 127mm mak-cassegrain is so on it's own the zoom gives you 70x - 208x:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-72mm-215mm-eyepiece.html

A touch over your budget but a lot of flexibility !

 

All ordered John thanks for your help