Best eyepiece for Lunt 50/B400.

[tico]

Hello. 

I've one solar telescope Lunt 50 B400, and I like know which eyepiece can be a good candidate for this solar scope. 

Maybe a single ep. With a wide angle? 

Maybe a good zoom ep. ?

Thanks. 

tico

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

14 minutes ago, tico said:

Hello. 

I've one solar telescope Lunt 50 B400, and I like know which eyepiece can be a good candidate for this solar scope. 

Maybe a single ep. With a wide angle? 

Maybe a good zoom ep. ?

Thanks. 

tico

 

In my Coronado SolarMax-II 60 mm, and before that in the Lunt LS35THa) I use a William Optics 7.5-22.5 mm Zoom II EP. It is no  longer made, but you can get clones, like this one from Omegon:

https://www.omegon.eu/eyepieces/omegon-premium-7-5mm-22-5mm-zoom-eyepiece/p,33244

The Lunt 7.2-21.5 is also good, but has an eye relief that is just too short for me with my glasses.

A wide angle EP is a bit useless, as the 4 mm blocking filter basically restricts your practical FOV. This is why the narrow FOV of the zooms at their longer end is not a problem in this case. Chromatic aberration is also not a problem.

[johninderby]

I found the best solar Ha zoom is the Pentax XF zoom. As good as an ortho eyepiece but a zoom. Price varies wildly though so pays to shop around. Not good for regular nightime observing but  perfect for Ha.

https://www.microglobe.co.uk/pentax-65-195mm-zoom-eyepiece-smc-xf-series-p-4507.html

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by johninderby

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

4 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I found the best solar Ha zoom is the Pentax XF zoom. As good as an ortho eyepiece but a zoom. Price varies wildly though so pays to shop around. Not good for regular nightime observing but  perfect for Ha.

https://www.microglobe.co.uk/pentax-65-195mm-zoom-eyepiece-smc-xf-series-p-4507.html

 

I considered this one as well, but the eye relief is too tight for those who need to wear glasses. If you don't need glasses this should be a top notch EP

[Peter Drew]

Another vote for a zoom eyepiece for single unit use.  I use binoviewers these days though.    🙂

[Highburymark]

The Pentax deal currently being offered by Microglobe is an absolute steal. The very best solar eyepiece available, with perfect zoom range for £149 is the cheapest I’ve ever seen it. It’s in a different class to the Lunt zoom, for less money. 

[tico]

But, I have used  the Lunt zoom ep. And... For My Eyes it've a black out effect enormous!! 

Tico

 

 

[niallk]

Hi,

I use a TS cheaper equivalent to the Lunt zoom in my LS50DS.

I also use a 15mm TV plossl, and I have an cheapo TS barlo lens I can screw on for an additional ~1.5x.  Works really well, but these days I use the zoom for convenience.   It's good across most of its range,  but not at max zoom / 7mm setting.

I have also used my Pan24 + 2.5x PM for great views.  My N7T6 kidney beans.  I have 1.25" 6/8/10 Ethos but no advantage and more weight.  The plossl is the best imho!