Can you recommend a good 12.5mm (or thereabouts) eyepiece?

[StuartT]

Reading the excellent post on this topic by The Warthog, it looks like I have a gap in my eyepiece collection at around 12.5mm.

Ricochet recommended I try a wide angle and suggested Explore Scientific's 82° range. They don't seem to have a 12.5mm, but I might go for the 14mm?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Edited March 6, 2021 by StuartT

[Tiny Clanger]

You will get more helpful replies if you say how much you are willing to spend ...
Heather

[KP82]

There is a BST 12mm in the Sales/Trade section atm. It's one of the best budget eyepieces.

[Tiny Clanger]

10 minutes ago, KP82 said:

There is a BST 12mm in the Sales/Trade section atm. It's one of the best budget eyepieces.

There was ... it sold (after being unsold for far longer than they usually are on here because of a slightly optimistic asking price ...)

Alan at sky's the limit has stock : https://skys-the-limit-108154.square.site/shop/1-25-bst-starguider-ed/8

But if the OP is seriously considering an ES 82 , they may want to spend more ...

[KP82]

5 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

There was ... it sold (after being unsold for far longer than they usually are on here because of a slightly optimistic asking price ...)

Alan at sky's the limit has stock : https://skys-the-limit-108154.square.site/shop/1-25-bst-starguider-ed/8

But if the OP is seriously considering an ES 82 , they may want to spend more ...

I remember I saw it yesterday and was surprised to see it was still there this morning. BSTs usually don't last more than 30 mins here.

If the OP is seriously considering an ultra wide in £150 - £200 territory, a 12.5mm morpheus would be a good choice.

[Tiny Clanger]

10 minutes ago, KP82 said:

I remember I saw it yesterday and was surprised to see it was still there this morning. BSTs usually don't last more than 30 mins here.

If the OP is seriously considering an ultra wide in £150 - £200 territory, a 12.5mm morpheus would be a good choice.

The original asking price on that was £36, Alan has them brand new and in stock for £43 plus P&P, so not much of a saving, which I think is why it lasted longer than the usual few minutes ! 🙂

Heather

[StuartT]

Thanks all. 

Apologies, I should have said that I don't mind spending over £100.

I'll check out the 12.5mm Morpheus

[Tiny Clanger]

1 minute ago, StuartT said:

Thanks all. 

Apologies, I should have said that I don't mind spending over £100.

I'll check out the 12.5mm Morpheus

In which case , as Arthur D. said,the world's your lobster !

And I have nothing useful or specific  to add, only admiring such expensive toys from afar 🙂 but I'm sure plenty of other folk will have suggestions based on actual experience !

Heather

[StuartT]

8 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

In which case , as Arthur D. said,the world's your lobster !

🤣

Just bought the 12.5mm Morpheus

Thanks peeps. I've only been here a day and already I've learned masses. You lot are SO friendly and helpful!

 

[John]

4 minutes ago, StuartT said:

🤣

Just bought the 12.5mm Morpheus

Thanks peeps. I've only been here a day and already I've learned masses. You lot are SO friendly and helpful!

 

Congratulations - excellent eyepiece !
 

Your others might not seem so good now ....... it's a sort of domino effect

 

[Pixies]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Your others might not seem so good now ....... it's a sort of domino effect

And then suddenly, your scope is the limiting factor......

[StuartT]

uh oh... surely you're not suggesting this is an endless process of buying newer and better toys... ?

🤣

[Ricochet]

1 minute ago, StuartT said:

uh oh... surely you're not suggesting this is an endless process of buying newer and better toys... ?

🤣

It could be, but by starting with a 12.5mm Morpheus, you might well never need another 12.5mm eyepiece again, well, until you find out about binoviewers that is. 😉 (Although in seriousness, I think the Morpheus range might be a touch too wide for that.)

Your Plossls could well be in danger though.

[StuartT]

4 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

Your Plossls could well be in danger though.

So are Plössl eyepieces basically entry level, economical eyepieces? A bit like the 'kit lens' on a camera?

[Ricochet]

1 minute ago, StuartT said:

So are Plössl eyepieces basically entry level, economical eyepieces? A bit like the 'kit lens' on a camera?

The equivalent to the "kit lens" is probably the MA eyepieces supplied with some scopes so Plossls are a step up from that, perhaps a "good kit lens". once you get the Morpheus the most obvious differences you will see will be the wider field and the greater comfort due to the eye relief, especially compared to the 6.7mm Plossl. You might also notice the coatings are a bit better and it seems more transparent and that the stars near the edge of the field hold their shape better, although at f10 this last one might not be very obvious as f10 is kind on eyepieces. If you had an f5 scope (or get one in future) it would be very obvious.

[StuartT]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

The equivalent to the "kit lens" is probably the MA eyepieces supplied with some scopes so Plossls are a step up from that, perhaps a "good kit lens". once you get the Morpheus the most obvious differences you will see will be the wider field and the greater comfort due to the eye relief, especially compared to the 6.7mm Plossl. You might also notice the coatings are a bit better and it seems more transparent and that the stars near the edge of the field hold their shape better, although at f10 this last one might not be very obvious as f10 is kind on eyepieces. If you had an f5 scope (or get one in future) it would be very obvious.

Thanks. The Plössls were supplied with my telescope I think. 

I only heard about the concept of 'eye relief' the other day. Something to do with how close your eye has to be to the eyepiece to see everything. I'm surprised that's an issue as I have not been aware of that. But obviously you guys know far more than I!

Does low eye relief end up being uncomfortable then? What's the practical disadvantage?

Edited March 6, 2021 by StuartT

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, StuartT said:

Does low eye relief end up being uncomfortable then?

Essentially, that is it. At very low eye relief the distance is so short that your eye lashes brush the lens each time you blink, which can be off putting. Also, it seems more tiring to hold position over a low relief eyepiece than a long eye relief eyepiece with a correctly sized eye cup. Being relaxed and not tired at the eyepiece allows you to observe more detail in the object you are looking at. 

[Louis D]

19 hours ago, StuartT said:

So are Plössl eyepieces basically entry level, economical eyepieces? A bit like the 'kit lens' on a camera?

Besides MA, there are Ramsden, Huygens, and Kellners which are typically lower than Plossls in the pecking order of eyepieces.  They're the designs typically packaged with "department store" scopes for $20 to $40 for an entire telescope package.  Here's an image showing various simple eyepiece designs and their spot diagrams which show how well they display a star at various points within the field and with different f-ratio scopes.

In this next diagram, you can see how as eyepieces get more complex, correction gets better farther and farther off axis.  Your Morpheus falls into the more complex, modern design category similar to Nagler or Speers Waler.  You will need to click on the image to expand it.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Louis D

[StuartT]

14 hours ago, Louis D said:

Besides MA, there are Ramsden, Huygens, and Kellners which are typically lower than Plossls in the pecking order of eyepieces.  They're the designs typically packaged with "department store" scopes for $20 to $40 for an entire telescope package.  Here's an image showing various simple eyepiece designs and their spot diagrams which show how well they display a star at various points within the field and with different f-ratio scopes.

@Louis D would you be able to point me to where these diagrams came from? I need the legends to explain them (e.g. what F e and C mean and how the colours mean). Thanks

Edited March 7, 2021 by StuartT

[jetstream]

23 hours ago, StuartT said:

So are Plössl eyepieces basically entry level, economical eyepieces?

I hold the Televue Plossls in very high regard, you'll see

[faulksy]

23 hours ago, StuartT said:

uh oh... surely you're not suggesting this is an endless process of buying newer and better toys... ?

🤣

you had better believe it

just dont go down the green and black root. than less its chocolate

[StuartT]

14 minutes ago, faulksy said:

the green and black root

what's that?

[faulksy]

1 minute ago, StuartT said:

what's that?

televue. i was going to suggest them but you went baader . which are very good apparently

[John]

2 minutes ago, faulksy said:

televue. i was going to suggest them but you went baader . which are very good apparently

Wicked man

[vlaiv]

31 minutes ago, StuartT said:

@Louis D would you be able to point me to where these diagrams came from? I need the legends to explain them (e.g. what F e and C mean and how the colours mean). Thanks

https://www.telescope-optics.net/

very comprehensive material on amateur telescope optics.

F, e and C are Fraunhofer lines - often used in optics to denote particular wavelengths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunhofer_lines

F is hydrogen beta line

e is mercury 546nm line

C is hydrogen alpha line