Am I getting a good set with this?

[Mai Ai Bing]

My scope: Celestron 8" Evolution HD Edge

The eyepieces I have put on my shopping list - do they "make sense" - anything missing - something "wrong" here? Please give it to me straight so I avoid expensive mistakes 😁  :

To fit also 2" pieces I am getting this:

Celestron 90° Dielectric Star Diagonal with Twist-Lock (2")

 

Explore Scientific 62° Series 32mm LE Eyepiece (2")

 

Tele Vue Panoptic 24mm Wide Angle Eyepiece (1.25")

Tele Vue Delos 14mm Eyepiece (1.25")

Explore Scientific 82° Series 11mm Eyepiece (1.25")

Alpine Astronomical Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Mark IV Zoom Eyepiece (1.25"/2") (any size preferable?)

Tele Vue 2x Barlow Lens (1.25")

[Viktorious]

Overall fine choices!

 

The Baader zoom is 1.25", it's just that a 2" skirt is included which can be screwed on to be able to use with 2" focusers/diagonals. 

I would say though that you're covering all those focal lengths already so might be an unnecessary expense to get the zoom. Unless you have the money and want to use it for shorter sessions where you don't want to be swapping eyepieces. 

 

The weak link otherwise is the ES62° 32mm. If I recall correctly the 62 series is the weakest of the ES, and the tfov will be quite close to the 24mm panoptic. Since you're getting a 2" diagonal I would suggest a "proper" 2" eyepiece (especially if you skip the zoom).

Something in the 35-40mm perhaps, for that slightly larger exit pupil at f/10. At f/10 most will be good but popping to mind are such as ES68 34mm or 40mm. Or for a bit more money Pentax XW 40mm or Panoptic 35mm or 41mm.

[Mai Ai Bing]

3 hours ago, Viktorious said:

Overall fine choices!

The Baader zoom is 1.25", it's just that a 2" skirt is included which can be screwed on to be able to use with 2" focusers/diagonals. 

I would say though that you're covering all those focal lengths already so might be an unnecessary expense to get the zoom. Unless you have the money and want to use it for shorter sessions where you don't want to be swapping eyepieces. 

The weak link otherwise is the ES62° 32mm. If I recall correctly the 62 series is the weakest of the ES, and the tfov will be quite close to the 24mm panoptic. Since you're getting a 2" diagonal I would suggest a "proper" 2" eyepiece (especially if you skip the zoom).

Something in the 35-40mm perhaps, for that slightly larger exit pupil at f/10. At f/10 most will be good but popping to mind are such as ES68 34mm or 40mm. Or for a bit more money Pentax XW 40mm or Panoptic 35mm or 41mm.

Thanks a lot.

I understand the zoom is "on top" but for my wife plug-n-play trumps perfection.  Also I can see some people writing they use the zoom to "dail-in" the best eyepiece to use for the day and subject.

Had not thought the more narrow view would negate using the 32mm. I was thinking 16mm (with the 2x Barlow) gave a better spread than 20mm for a 40mm. So you are going to cost me some money with that ES68 or Pentax (they cost almost the same @B&H Photo)!

However, the 24mm I included is also 68° like the 40mm (70° for the Pentax) - so should I just drop it and use a wide 40mm with the Televue 2x Barlow?

Edited October 8, 2020 by Mai Ai Bing

[Viktorious]

55 minutes ago, Mai Ai Bing said:

Thanks a lot.

I understand the zoom is "on top" but for my wife plug-n-play trumps perfection.  Also I can see some people writing they use the zoom to "dail-in" the best eyepiece to use for the day and subject.

Had not thought the more narrow view would negate using the 32mm. I was thinking 16mm (with the 2x Barlow) gave a better spread than 20mm for a 40mm. So you are going to cost me some money with that ES68 or Pentax (they cost almost the same @B&H Photo)!

However, the 24mm I included is also 68° like the 40mm (70° for the Pentax) - so should I just drop it and use a wide 40mm with the Televue 2x Barlow?

I hear you about the zoom. I started out with just a zoom and have since built up a collection of fixed focal lengths. The zoom has been kept nonetheless and still gets use when observing (showing) with friends and family!

Just to clear up some issues: you listed a 1.25" Barlow so won't be usable with the 2" eyepieces. Also at those focal lengths you'd have to look at focal extenders (Powermate if TeleVue) to avoid vignetting.

 

But okay, before we continue with suggestions, give us some more background.

Viewing with glasses, i.e. need long eye relief? 

Tried various degrees of afov before and know what you prefer (~70, ~80, ~100)?

Much light pollution or will it be taken to a dark site often? 

[Viktorious]

Here's an active thread from CN for a C9.25 (so can be applicable). I like the suggestions from Don Pensack (Starman1) at post #17. He's also active on this site and has tons of experience (runs an eyepiece shop in the US) 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/732486-c925-suggested-eyepieces/

 

As a side note /comparison with that post. I just ordered the APM XWA 20mm and 13mm for my f/4 Newt (much harder on the eyepiece). 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Viktorious

[Mai Ai Bing]

25 minutes ago, Viktorious said:

I hear you about the zoom. I started out with just a zoom and have since built up a collection of fixed focal lengths. The zoom has been kept nonetheless and still gets use when observing (showing) with friends and family!

Just to clear up some issues: you listed a 1.25" Barlow so won't be usable with the 2" eyepieces. Also at those focal lengths you'd have to look at focal extenders (Powermate if TeleVue) to avoid vignetting.

 

But okay, before we continue with suggestions, give us some more background.

Viewing with glasses, i.e. need long eye relief? 

Tried various degrees of afov before and know what you prefer (~70, ~80, ~100)?

Much light pollution or will it be taken to a dark site often? 

Thanks for your thoughts - and for the warning against getting stuck with the 1.25 Balow!

No glasses right now - but that may come one day...

Newbie - so have no preference. But people seem to think wider is better(??). Will be looking at a broard range of objects, planets, DOS (star, and nebula). Planets important when viewing from house due to light pollution (see below),

Much light polution around our house / dark when going to the dessert ~10-12 days a year / pitch dark ~5-8 days viewing when we go to a remote absolute zero light area.

 

[Mai Ai Bing]

30 minutes ago, Viktorious said:

Here's an active thread from CN for a C9.25 (so can be applicable). I like the suggestions from Don Pensack (Starman1) at post #17. He's also active on this site and has tons of experience (runs an eyepiece shop in the US) 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/732486-c925-suggested-eyepieces/

 

As a side note /comparison with that post. I just ordered the APM XWA 20mm and 13mm for my f/4 Newt (much harder on the eyepiece). 

Checking it!

[Viktorious]

Wider isn't necessarily better per se, but it's more immersive for sure!

Don't know what your favorite object might be, just picked Orion Nebula. Here's an example of what you'd get with the ES68 40mm and a set of 20/13/9mm of the APM/Lunt/TS/WO XWA, Stellarvue Optimus, or Skywatcher Myriad (all 6 are the same optically, just different branding). 

That would be a nice set according to me. Then perhaps a Barlow to get 6.5/4.5mm from the 13/9mm, but those magnifications and exit pupils would require excellent seeing conditions (maybe even forget trying 4.5).

[Mai Ai Bing]

Great illustration! People seem to think 9mm is only for very exceptional nights with the 8" Edge HD?

[globular]

I have the same scope and use my 9mm easily and often.  At 237x mag and 0.86 exit pupil I don’t see why that should be pushing the limits of an 8” Edge HD.

At the moment with Mars I’m using a zoom down to as low as 6mm very successfully too. This is 355x mag and 0.57 exit pupil.

The nice thing with a high power zoom is that you can dial in to the magnification that the conditions support.

[Viktorious]

45 minutes ago, Mai Ai Bing said:

Great illustration! People seem to think 9mm is only for very exceptional nights with the 8" Edge HD?

In my personal experience (with my C9.25 and now 10" Newt), up to around 300x is "worth having". As in, it isn't too rare that the seeing is good enough for that type of magnification. Meaning for the C8edge that would be around 7mm, so a 9mm would definitely get some use. That's also why I wrote above "perhaps a Barlow", it would maybe only see use with the 13mm (6.5mm) and thus perhaps not be used enough to justify the buy.

(If you're also getting the zoom, you have an extra eyepiece that can cram out that last mm should it be needed.) 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Viktorious

[Mai Ai Bing]

So ditch the 11 for a 9 and go 9-14-24-40 +2xPowermate ?

[Viktorious]

2 hours ago, Mai Ai Bing said:

So ditch the 11 for a 9 and go 9-14-24-40 +2xPowermate ?

I think either would be good. On one hand the 9 maybe wouldn't be "Barlowed" as often as the 11, but on the other hand the 11 can be replaced by the 24 with 2x, and the 9 by itself will be used a lot for planetary. 

The 40 will be used every time for initial wide field view, and even more use at darker skies (in light pollution the large exit pupil will suffer, background will be bright). For the larger nebulae. The 14 will be used for some DSOs and some solar system stuff. The 9 mainly solar system. 

For DSO the 24 is probably going to be the most used, it's in the magic region of 2-2.5mm exit pupil (background darkens so contrast increases). DSOs will be beautiful in this! This is probably the eyepiece I would spend most money on. 

Are you only able to shop from b&h (not as in only but with decent shipping and such)? I was curious to see what choices you have and what a good mix of brands could be 🙂. 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Viktorious

[Mai Ai Bing]

9 hours ago, Viktorious said:

I think either would be good. On one hand the 9 maybe wouldn't be "Barlowed" as often as the 11, but on the other hand the 11 can be replaced by the 24 with 2x, and the 9 by itself will be used a lot for planetary. 

The 40 will be used every time for initial wide field view, and even more use at darker skies (in light pollution the large exit pupil will suffer, background will be bright). For the larger nebulae. The 14 will be used for some DSOs and some solar system stuff. The 9 mainly solar system. 

For DSO the 24 is probably going to be the most used, it's in the magic region of 2-2.5mm exit pupil (background darkens so contrast increases). DSOs will be beautiful in this! This is probably the eyepiece I would spend most money on. 

Are you only able to shop from b&h (not as in only but with decent shipping and such)? I was curious to see what choices you have and what a good mix of brands could be 🙂. 

Thank you for persevering with all my questions! Learning a lot here and certainly avoid a mistake or two. I can buy from more or less anywhere in the US. My biggest problem is that it seems difficult to find any single supplier that can ship the whole "set" at a competitive price. B&H have some stuff on sale right now, so that's why they are my preferred option. I also used them a lot in the past together with Amazon.

[Viktorious]

3 hours ago, Mai Ai Bing said:

Thank you for persevering with all my questions! Learning a lot here and certainly avoid a mistake or two. I can buy from more or less anywhere in the US. My biggest problem is that it seems difficult to find any single supplier that can ship the whole "set" at a competitive price. B&H have some stuff on sale right now, so that's why they are my preferred option. I also used them a lot in the past together with Amazon.

Okay. Well wherever you buy it from, here are the suggestions that I would look into more (which you already seem to have read up on based on your initial choices - good!). All are highly regarded even for faster scopes and will be even better at f10. 

At 24mm the Panoptic is probably the best choice (it's great). If you're feeling more premium ($$$) you can increase the afov staying with TeleVue. Either 22mm Nagler (T4, 82°) or 21mm Ethos (100°).

9 and 14mm: For these two I would personally go the "cheaper" route since reviews show that they compete with the best at shorter focal lengths. That would be the Baader Morpheus (9 - 14) or ES82 (8.8 - 14). Not at B&H would be the 100° eyepieces I mentioned before in 9 and 13mm. For more money would be the TeleVue Delos, Nagler, or Panoptic. 

At 40mm, looking at the prices at b&h, it's between the Panoptic 35mm or Pentax XW 40mm according to me (better than ES68 34 or 40 and similar price). 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Viktorious

[Mai Ai Bing]

2 minutes ago, Viktorious said:

Okay. Well wherever you buy it from, here are the suggestions that I would look into more (which you already seem to have read up on based on your initial choices - good!). All are highly regarded even for faster scopes and will be even better at f10. 

At 24mm the Panoptic is probably the best choice (it's great). If you're feeling more premium ($$$) you can increase the afov staying with TeleVue. Either 22mm Nagler (T4, 82°) or 21mm Ethos (100°).

9 and 14mm: For these two I would personally go the "cheaper" route since reviews show that they compete with the best at shorter focal lengths. That would be the Baader Morpheus (9 - 14) or ES82 (8.8 - 14). Not at B&H would be the 100° eyepieces I mentioned before in 9 and 13mm. For more money would be the TeleVue Delos, Nagler, or Panoptic. 

At 40mm, looking at the prices at b&h, it's between the Panoptic 35mm or Pentax XW 40mm according to me.

Thanks again. Expect to order next week and will leave a post here with the end result. Accessories run up but my wife is clear - and its her birthday present: "We get what it takes", so also getting a LUNT Solar Scope for daytime viewing. 🤩 (Of course lucky we have the choice)

[Mai Ai Bing]

This is what we ended up with: 

Explor.Sc. 68 / 40mm  2"

Explor.Sc. 82 / 24mm  2"

Explor.Sc. 82 / 14mm  1.25"

Explor.Sc. 82 / 8.8mm  1.25"

Televue Powermate 2x  2"

Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Mark IV zoom

Full set of Baader Dielectric Diagonal 2" clicksystem w/parts to manage the lot.

With the Powermate it gives us the following options with the fixed lenses:

40 / 24 / 20 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 8.8 / 4.4

Expect this will serve us well (for starters if I am to believe the eyepiece collectors on SGL 😅).

Thanks a lot for tips and thoughts!

 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Mai Ai Bing