Eye pieces

[Nat1975]

Hello.

This is my first post on here. I am patiently waiting for a delivery of a Skywatcher evostar 80ED pro and need some advice on what eyepiece to buy. 

I want to order a Baader VIP modular 2X Barlow lens and their Baader Hyperion eyepiece set of 2 inch/ 5mm, 10mm, 17mm and 24mm.

My question is.

Is this a good choice for the scope I've bought (focul length 600mm F7.5) or is there a better option if I'm going to invest the £££££ on eyepieces and a Barlow lens.

Appreciate the replies.

Nat.

[PEMS]

Hyperons are reported as good, or fair, down to f/6 think others have said f/7 or slower, I guess that means the work at f/6 just considered as useable not good. So direct answer is should be OK on your f/7.5. The problem could come later if you changed scopes and went faster like f/6. When they could be not the best.

Hyperons seem to get talked of a lot but not really sure that people purchase them in the same proportion. I additionally have the vague idea that Baader may use a fractionally different pitch for the threads. Meaning you have to purchase their filters etc. In honesty I am not sure it is Baader that do this but check first.

Seems a little strange that an eyepiece that costs around the £100 mark does not perform better on faster then f/6 scopes. BST's and X-Cel's are reported as good to F/5 and are around half the cost. No idea about the Barlow.

I would also go for the 5mm, 8mm, 13mm and 24mm.

 

[KP82]

Unless you're going to use the fancy features (e.g. afocal imaging) offered by the Hyperions, you'd be better off with BST starguiders which are 40% cheaper and perform just as good if not better. You will have to sacrifice a little fov, but you probably won't notice it most of the time. For ~£100 68 degree eyepieces if you have the budget, ES68 and Vixen LVW (discontinued, so have to look for used) are better choices.

My recommendation would be to get the BSTs to cover most of the focal range, then get 1 or 2 ultra wide eyepieces for the beautiful widefield views offered by your ED doublet. ES82 and Baader Morpheus are good choices that won't break the bank.

Edited January 1, 2021 by KP82

[Nat1975]

Thanks for the replies, really appreciate them.

Eye relief is a factor as the wife wears glasses, some of the reviews on the ES82's say eye relief isn't great. 

What concerns me most is the F/7.5 of my scope and if the eyepieces will work well with it. This is something I don't understand.

I do like the look of the ES82's though.

[KP82]

30 minutes ago, Nat1975 said:

Thanks for the replies, really appreciate them.

Eye relief is a factor as the wife wears glasses, some of the reviews on the ES82's say eye relief isn't great. 

What concerns me most is the F/7.5 of my scope and if the eyepieces will work well with it. This is something I don't understand.

I do like the look of the ES82's though.

f/7.5 is considered a medium to slow focal ratio, so almost every eyepiece on the market will work well on it.

The BSTs have an average eye relief of 16mm which should be enough for glass wearers. ES68, Vixen LVW and Baader Morpheus all offer good eye relief. But you'll be disappointed with those 82/83 degree eyepieces (e.g. ES82, TV Nagler) as the eye relief on those while better than plossl is insufficient for glass wearers.

[Nat1975]

Really appreciate the advice.

 

Cheers.

[Louis D]

I'd classify f/7.5 as mid-speed.  f/10 and above is slow while f/5 and below is fast.  That leaves f/5.6 to f/9 as mid-speed.  Eyepieces that do poorly in fast scopes just off axis do better in mid-speed scopes, but are still suffering in the outer field.  Those same eyepieces will look quite good in slow scopes across most of the field.  By f/15, just about all eyepieces perform very well.

[Louis D]

What's your total budget for eyepieces if we're going to help you spend your money? 😄

[Nat1975]

6 hours ago, Louis D said:

What's your total budget for eyepieces if we're going to help you spend your money? 😄

About £400 ish......

Idealy I'd like 3 or 4 eyepieces to cover most situations and from a brand than I can add to when the finances allow.

[mikeDnight]

I think you'd love the Baader Morpheus. You could afford two and stay within your budget, but they barlow beautifully, so if you choose carefully you'll have 4 magnifications. The 17.5mm is a top class must have eyepiece!

[Nat1975]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I think you'd love the Baader Morpheus. You could afford two and stay within your budget, but they barlow beautifully, so if you choose carefully you'll have 4 magnifications. The 17.5mm is a top class must have eyepiece!

I like the look of those. From their range, what 2 sizes would you buy and if I could stretch to 3 different sizes??

[Lemmy Caution]

Am very happy to find this discussion as I am also a newbie waiting for an ED80 Pro and so am in the same position of wondering what eyepieces to go for, also which would work well with glasses wearer. I was thinking of the Baader hyperion zoom to start out with as an easy way of finding objects then zooming in, which can be bought with a dedicated barlow. As I thought that even if expanding with some fixed length eyepiecves in the future, this would still be a useful piece of kit. I've put the links below. Any advice or opinions welcome as to whether this is a good first eyepeice to go for?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/baader-hyperion-zoom-barlow.html

[Nat1975]

2 hours ago, Lemmy Caution said:

Am very happy to find this discussion as I am also a newbie waiting for an ED80 Pro and so am in the same position of wondering what eyepieces to go for, also which would work well with glasses wearer. I was thinking of the Baader hyperion zoom to start out with as an easy way of finding objects then zooming in, which can be bought with a dedicated barlow. As I thought that even if expanding with some fixed length eyepiecves in the future, this would still be a useful piece of kit. I've put the links below. Any advice or opinions welcome as to whether this is a good first eyepeice to go for?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/baader-hyperion-zoom-barlow.html

Be interesting to know how you get on with it. Mines not due for 4 weeks or so.

[mikeDnight]

4 hours ago, Nat1975 said:

I like the look of those. From their range, what 2 sizes would you buy and if I could stretch to 3 different sizes??

Having owned and loved an Equinox 80ED, I know just how good it can be.  The 17.5mm is a spectacular eyepiece but it barlow well to give you a near 9mm. If I were to buy three I'd buy the 17.5mm, 9mm and 6mm. The 9mm would give you a 4.5mm when barlowed, and the 6mm will give you a 3mm. They are very lightweight so won't unbalance your scope, but their large eye lens and great eye relief makes them a joy to use. 

[Nat1975]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Having owned and loved an Equinox 80ED, I know just how good it can be.  The 17.5mm is a spectacular eyepiece but it barlow well to give you a near 9mm. If I were to buy three I'd buy the 17.5mm, 9mm and 6mm. The 9mm would give you a 4.5mm when barlowed, and the 6mm will give you a 3mm. They are very lightweight so won't unbalance your scope, but their large eye lens and great eye relief makes them a joy to use. 

I'm leaning towards not buying a Barlow and just buying a 17.5mm, 9mm and a 4.5mm Baader Morpheus.

Would the 4.5mm be too much or could the 80ED pro cope and is the gap between 9mm and 17.5mm too large?

 

[KP82]

34 minutes ago, Nat1975 said:

I'm leaning towards not buying a Barlow and just buying a 17.5mm, 9mm and a 4.5mm Baader Morpheus.

Would the 4.5mm be too much or could the 80ED pro cope and is the gap between 9mm and 17.5mm too large?

 

You will be fine with a 4.5mm on an 80ED. 133x is still a reasonable magnification for this scope and good for observing Jupiter.

Edited January 2, 2021 by KP82

[John]

The 80ED's that I've owned in past were barely breaking sweat at 133x. The optics can go up to 200x on the right targets.

 

[mikeDnight]

3 hours ago, Nat1975 said:

I'm leaning towards not buying a Barlow and just buying a 17.5mm, 9mm and a 4.5mm Baader Morpheus.

Would the 4.5mm be too much or could the 80ED pro cope and is the gap between 9mm and 17.5mm too large?

 

I don't think the gap is too large. The 17.5 will offer up beautiful star fields, while the 9mm will give you a dark sky background which will help enhance the appearance of nebulae etc. It's only when you get to the shorter focal lengths that you need focal lengths close together. The 4.5mm should be good too! The ed80 can give some terrific views of the Moon & Planets so push the power when the seeing is good.☺

[Nat1975]

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I don't think the gap is too large. The 17.5 will offer up beautiful star fields, while the 9mm will give you a dark sky background which will help enhance the appearance of nebulae etc. It's only when you get to the shorter focal lengths that you need focal lengths close together. The 4.5mm should be good too! The ed80 can give some terrific views of the Moon & Planets so push the power when the seeing is good.☺

That's handy! I ordered a 17.5, 9, and 4.5 a couple of hours ago.

Thanks to everyone that offered advice. Appreciate it, cheers.