Eyepiece advice please for a complete novice.

[BobInYorkshire]

 

I’m an absolute complete newbie to astronomy.

I got my first telescope yesterday, a Skywatcher Evostar 100 ED, it takes two inch lenses but there are a couple of reducer adaptors included.

It came with a 28mm eyepiece but I’d be grateful for recommendations as to what else I should buy.

I’ve no specific need, I just want to see stars and planets as best I can and will eventually get into the astro photography side of things.

Cost isn’t too big an issue and I’d rather pay for something decent once than buy cheap and buy twice.

Many thanks in advance.

Bob

[Zermelo]

That's a nice scope, and investment in decent eyepieces will not be wasted.

I presume the 28mm you mention is this one? In which case, I doubt at £29 that it will be anything special (and that's quite normal for eyepieces bundled with scopes, even expensive scopes).

One question: yes, the scope can take 2" EPs, and they deliver nice, wide fields (and your scope is F/9, so it would benefit from this when used on the largest targets). But they cost quite a bit more than 1.25", so are you happy to spend the extra? (you can still spend huge sums on an exceptional 1.25" if you really want to!)

[BobInYorkshire]

25 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

That's a nice scope, and investment in decent eyepieces will not be wasted.

I presume the 28mm you mention is this one? In which case, I doubt at £29 that it will be anything special (and that's quite normal for eyepieces bundled with scopes, even expensive scopes).

One question: yes, the scope can take 2" EPs, and they deliver nice, wide fields (and your scope is F/9, so it would benefit from this when used on the largest targets). But they cost quite a bit more than 1.25", so are you happy to spend the extra? (you can still spend huge sums on an exceptional 1.25" if you really want to!)

Thanks for your reply.

I’m happy to spend decent money but I don’t want to waste money either so 1.25” will be fine, I just need some idea of what are the best options and I can buy them over a few months so cost isn’t as  important as getting the right ones.

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, BobInYorkshire said:

Thanks for your reply.

I’m happy to spend decent money but I don’t want to waste money either so 1.25” will be fine, I just need some idea of what are the best options and I can buy them over a few months so cost isn’t as  important as getting the right ones.

In which case you're likely to buy something I haven't any experience of (yet), so I'll leave you to play with the big boys and girls.

Though I'll offer one beginner's perspective: based on my reading of previous reviews, in my mind I have a rough scale of cost/performance :-

- under £20: don't

- under £100: a large number of people recommending the BST Starguider range (with the possible esception of the 25mm) for a decent medium/wide FOV that you probably won't beat in this range. Various decent plossls for the same money or slightly less.

- £100 to £150 : opens up the field to quality wider field options like the Explore Scientific 82 degrees, or the narrower Vixen SLVs.

- £150 to £200: much support for the Baader Morpheus range in widefield

- big £££: various TeleVue ranges, the more exotic of the Explore Scientifics, and more, some of these offering ultrawide FOVs.

(Prices have gone up quite a bit in the last year or two; these are new prices - second hand is roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of new)

My impression (again, a beginner's view) is that:

- the more you spend, the less incremental improvement you see (though this is obviously very subjective and also, as your experience develops, that extra performance will become more noticeable to you)
- there is perhaps less consensus to be had among the more expensive ranges than with the budget end

Also, an F/9 scope is reasonably forgiving on eyepiece designs, so you wouldn't need to avoid those EPs that come with caveats about faster scopes (say, F/6 and below). That also means that you won't necessarily get all the benefit of any (sometimes quite expensive) correction in an eyepiece design that might have been done to help them perform in faster scopes. Though of course, you won't be sticking to just an F/9 'frac, will you? 🙂

Finally, don't ignore zooms, which can be very handy. Of course, they also range hugely in price:

Hyperflex 7.2mm-21.5mm, a very good cheaper option at £85

Tele Vue 3-6mm Nagler 50º at £367, quite a different beast

 

[BobInYorkshire]

42 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

In which case you're likely to buy something I haven't any experience of (yet), so I'll leave you to play with the big boys and girls.

Though I'll offer one beginner's perspective: based on my reading of previous reviews, in my mind I have a rough scale of cost/performance :-

- under £20: don't

- under £100: a large number of people recommending the BST Starguider range (with the possible esception of the 25mm) for a decent medium/wide FOV that you probably won't beat in this range. Various decent plossls for the same money or slightly less.

- £100 to £150 : opens up the field to quality wider field options like the Explore Scientific 82 degrees, or the narrower Vixen SLVs.

- £150 to £200: much support for the Baader Morpheus range in widefield

- big £££: various TeleVue ranges, the more exotic of the Explore Scientifics, and more, some of these offering ultrawide FOVs.

(Prices have gone up quite a bit in the last year or two; these are new prices - second hand is roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of new)

My impression (again, a beginner's view) is that:

- the more you spend, the less incremental improvement you see (though this is obviously very subjective and also, as your experience develops, that extra performance will become more noticeable to you)
- there is perhaps less consensus to be had among the more expensive ranges than with the budget end

Also, an F/9 scope is reasonably forgiving on eyepiece designs, so you wouldn't need to avoid those EPs that come with caveats about faster scopes (say, F/6 and below). That also means that you won't necessarily get all the benefit of any (sometimes quite expensive) correction in an eyepiece design that might have been done to help them perform in faster scopes. Though of course, you won't be sticking to just an F/9 'frac, will you? 🙂

Finally, don't ignore zooms, which can be very handy. Of course, they also range hugely in price:

Hyperflex 7.2mm-21.5mm, a very good cheaper option at £85

Tele Vue 3-6mm Nagler 50º at £367, quite a different beast

 

Thanks once again, I’m intending to drive to Rother Valley Optics one afternoon and get their advice (they’ve supplied my scope and mount) but I’m hoping to have a rough idea myself before I turn up.

[Tiny Clanger]

1 hour ago, Zermelo said:

In which case you're likely to buy something I haven't any experience of (yet), so I'll leave you to play with the big boys and girls.

Though I'll offer one beginner's perspective: based on my reading of previous reviews, in my mind I have a rough scale of cost/performance :-

- under £20: don't

- under £100: a large number of people recommending the BST Starguider range (with the possible esception of the 25mm) for a decent medium/wide FOV that you probably won't beat in this range. Various decent plossls for the same money or slightly less.

- £100 to £150 : opens up the field to quality wider field options like the Explore Scientific 82 degrees, or the narrower Vixen SLVs.

- £150 to £200: much support for the Baader Morpheus range in widefield

- big £££: various TeleVue ranges, the more exotic of the Explore Scientifics, and more, some of these offering ultrawide FOVs.

(Prices have gone up quite a bit in the last year or two; these are new prices - second hand is roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of new)

My impression (again, a beginner's view) is that:

- the more you spend, the less incremental improvement you see (though this is obviously very subjective and also, as your experience develops, that extra performance will become more noticeable to you)
- there is perhaps less consensus to be had among the more expensive ranges than with the budget end

Also, an F/9 scope is reasonably forgiving on eyepiece designs, so you wouldn't need to avoid those EPs that come with caveats about faster scopes (say, F/6 and below). That also means that you won't necessarily get all the benefit of any (sometimes quite expensive) correction in an eyepiece design that might have been done to help them perform in faster scopes. Though of course, you won't be sticking to just an F/9 'frac, will you? 🙂

Finally, don't ignore zooms, which can be very handy. Of course, they also range hugely in price:

Hyperflex 7.2mm-21.5mm, a very good cheaper option at £85

Tele Vue 3-6mm Nagler 50º at £367, quite a different beast

 

I'll second all of that !

Like Zermelo, I only read about the expensive stuff though, At a little under £100 OVL Nirvanas get good press too , I'd love to report on the one I bought a couple of weeks ago, but .... constant cloud 😞 .

A lot of kit is out of stock everywhere at the moment, so you may have plenty of time to ponder your choices !

[Zermelo]

7 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I'll second all of that !

Like Zermelo, I only read about the expensive stuff though, At a little under £100 OVL Nirvanas get good press too , I'd love to report on the one I bought a couple of weeks ago, but .... constant cloud 😞 .

A lot of kit is out of stock everywhere at the moment, so you may have plenty of time to ponder your choices !

Yes, the Nirvanas are as wide as the ES82s, but quite a bit cheaper.
I'd be interested to see what you think of them compared with the Starguiders.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Bob in Yorkshire - advice for people like you can be found at

Eyepieces - the very least you need.

in the  Getting Started -general advice section of this forum.

generally a set of three eyepieces of differing focal lengths is required.  The actual focal lengths will depend on the focal length and maximum useful magnification of your scope.  The degree of benefit you will get from exotic eyepieces rather than Plossls depends on the focal ratio of your scope.

You could get a budget Zoom eyepiece to determine what focal length you find most useful in practice.

What is your budget for fixed Fl eyepieces? £50 per eyepiece? £75? £100 £200? £400?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

6 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Yes, the Nirvanas are as wide as the ES82s, but quite a bit cheaper.
I'd be interested to see what you think of them compared with the Starguiders.

So will I !

I thought, buy it, (a 16mm) if I don't think it is a significant improvement, I can send it back . I think the cloud cover is intent on staying until the return window closes though ...

[BobInYorkshire]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Bob in Yorkshire - advice for people like you can be found at

Eyepieces - the very least you need.

in the  Getting Started -general advice section of this forum.

generally a set of three eyepieces of differing focal lengths is required.  The actual focal lengths will depend on the focal length and maximum useful magnification of your scope.  The degree of benefit you will get from exotic eyepieces rather than Plossls depends on the focal ratio of your scope.

You could get a budget Zoom eyepiece to determine what focal length you find most useful in practice.

What is your budget for fixed Fl eyepieces? £50 per eyepiece? £75? £100 £200? £400?

 

Thanks for your input Cosmic Geoff,

I don’t really have a figure in mind but the scope and mount have cost me well over £2,000 so it would be silly to not spend extra on decent eyepieces to compliment that, I could always buy them one at a time so I’d say up-to £150 each but I could stretch to more if necessary.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by BobInYorkshire

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @BobInYorkshire and welcome to SGL. 

I may not be the best qualified to give the best advice, but depends on what you wish to observe. For DSO’s then wide field. I have two TeleVue Nagler’s [as per my signature] images below. They give 82deg. AFOV. They are expensive, but the views are worth it.

 

I find this SkyWatcher 28mm is good value…

and is actually quite good compared to some budget e/p’s that are supplied with some ‘scopes.

I used to be anti-zoom e/p. I own a 7-21mm which was sent in error from an overseas astro-outlet. It was to much hassle to send it back for a replacement 8-24mm… so I decided to keep it. It does me for those ‘grab & go’ sessions or when I travel with a few fixed length e/p’s and minimum weight in a backpack/rucksack and with a small Maksutov, a photography tripod & ball head and/or small manual alt-az mount.

[Zermelo]

5 minutes ago, Philip R said:

I find this SkyWatcher 28mm is good value…

and is actually quite good compared to some budget e/p’s that are supplied with some ‘scopes.

 

I stand corrected 🙂

[Louis D]

Maybe I missed it above, but do you have significant astigmatism (above 1 diopter CYL) in your observing eye?  If so, you'll probably want long eye relief in your lower power eyepieces so you can wear your eyeglasses at the eyepiece.

[Zermelo]

2 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Maybe I missed it above, but do you have significant astigmatism (above 1 diopter CYL) in your observing eye?  If so, you'll probably want long eye relief in your lower power eyepieces so you can wear your eyeglasses at the eyepiece.

yes, or ones that accept Dioptrix (=more £)

[Louis D]

3 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

yes, or ones that accept Dioptrix (=more £)

But that requires one on each eyepiece if you don't like moving them between eyepieces.  Also, they don't do well if you tip your head to look at the edge of ultra to hyperwide eyepieces.  The cylinder corrector needs to be perpendicular to your eyeball, not the eyepiece, so correction is best only when looking at the dead center of the view.  Lastly, you still need to put your glasses back on to look up at the sky if you're in the object hunting phase.  For all these reasons, I stick with a dedicated pair of distance corrected eyeglasses with the lowest index material possible to minimize CA.  I'd get them made in glass if I could locate a place still willing to do it.

[BobInYorkshire]

59 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Hi @BobInYorkshire and welcome to SGL. 

I may not be the best qualified to give the best advice, but depends on what you wish to observe. For DSO’s then wide field. I have two TeleVue Nagler’s [as per my signature] images below. They give 82deg. AFOV. They are expensive, but the views are worth it.

 

I find this SkyWatcher 28mm is good value…

and is actually quite good compared to some budget e/p’s that are supplied with some ‘scopes.

I used to be anti-zoom e/p. I own a 7-21mm which was sent in error from an overseas astro-outlet. It was to much hassle to send it back for a replacement 8-24mm… so I decided to keep it. It does me for those ‘grab & go’ sessions or when I travel with a few fixed length e/p’s and minimum weight in a backpack/rucksack and with a small Maksutov, a photography tripod & ball head and/or small manual alt-az mount.

Thanks Philip I’ll check them out, the SW28mm was actually supplied with the telescope.