Single eyepieces or set of?

[James333]

Hey everyone, I have just got in from an amazing night on Goonhilly downs, people might know it as it is where the big satelite communications base is in Cornwall on the Lizzard.

It was amazing, my best night yet since I got the scope, the Orion nebula was absolutely stunning, I look at it everytime im out but this tile it was so massive, dust arms spread out for miles!

Saturn was good but I know it could be better, as my eyes had really got used to the Cornish dark sky, I could see what seemed like millions of stars, and I could make out the double star in ursa major with ease with the naked eye.

I then noticed a dusty looking area, moved my scope to it to reveal my first open cluster, it looked great, i then found another cluster by eye and it turned out to be the beehive cluster I think, it again looked great, especially as I found them by eye and didnt use books etc, it was almost like discovering them:rolleyes:

Anyway, im looking to get some eyepieces for my skywatcher 200p, I have read that the 25mm is ok but the 10mm is pretty dire. I want to spend around £150 but dont know whether to get someting like the revelation set that one the sky at night test or individual ones?

What about the Celestron Eyeopener Eyepiece and Filter Kit

It is about £160. it would be good to get a set with the filters too, how are these rated? Can I get a better selection if I choose my own?

Many thanks, James

[Barry W]

Hi James,

I think the more experienced of the folks here might tell you to go for quality vice quantity. If you haven't got one yet, a good Barlow might be a wise investment (it will effectively double your lenses). from my memory of different posts, you should be able to get a Barlow and one other quality EP within your price range.

Cheers,

Barry

[PhillyDee]

I bought the same kit for my Celestron 80SLT, I now have a skywatcher 200P and am still using the same eyepieces. Admittedly, ive never used any others.

[James333]

Can someone explain the differences, is there that much difference, I need to weigh up the pros of having a good selection to play with to having just one or two, I have a barlow that came with the scope. I do like the idea of a set with a case as I dont like putting the ep's in my pocket too!

Thanks

[Sam]

James,

I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. I was using the eyepieces that came with my scopes and then bought some barlows, first a shorty 2 X barlow and then a Tal 3 X. Thiese both suited me for a little while then I got a Celestron set - like the one you mentioned which is pretty good, they work well on both my 8" and my 16". The best eyepiece I've got thought is a Meade 4000 series 2" eyepiece which is marvellous and certainly beats the pants of the other ones. The problem is budget and there's almost no limit to what you can spend on an eyepiece. I think the celestron set will see you right for a while as they have a good range of eyepiece sizes in that set, the filters are useful (especially the moon filter) and the barlow is pretty good.

I have found though that I haven't used the 4mm, only occasionally used the 6mm (mainly for splitting the double double in Lyra), I've used the 9mm sometimes. I've used the 15mm and the 32mm the most and this has covered DSO's quite well (and Saturn, Venus and Jupiter). Hope that helps.

Sam

[kniclander]

I would get one or two decent e/ps rather than a set. IMHO you start getting a noticeable step up in quality from about the £60 mark (new) over the basic stuff. Also, (and this might just be me) I tend to use mostly two e/ps - a 32 mm that gives me about 40x for fuzzies and finding things and an 8mm (120x) for planets and close ups and the moon. I have others in between but I don't use them too much. Plus a barlow would be useful.

i have never used a really premium e/p but I suspect, like most things, as you spend more, the marginal improvement diminishes.

[roundycat]

If I ever go visual I usually use TeleVue of which I have two Radians and Two Panoptics. I also have a 2.5x Powermate. If you go for a set and they turn out not to be much good you will not be able to off load them for a decent price. Many visual observers say that the eyepiece is the most important bit, much like imagers spend all their money on a decent mount. Have a careful look around the s/h market for top quality eyepieces and don't be tempted to buy a set just because they look good in a case. You can get a case from B&Q for fifteen quid.

Dennis

[acey]

I agree, it's better to have two or three really good ones than a set of OK ones. I use TeleVue plossls, for a number of years I found just the 20mm and 8mm enough for my scope (an 8" F6). I recently got a 12" flextube and find the 11mm ep very good with it. The 32mm is great for low power views with all my scopes. Comparing with cheaper ep's, you see the difference in things like the amount of detail and colour on planets - factors that are distinct from, and more important than, the size of the image.

A set may be a good investment if you're making a substantial saving over the cost of individual ep's, but you'll possibly end up doing all your observing with the 2 or 3 that best suit your scope.

My advice would be to invest in one quality ep and take it from there. You'll naturally want to start with high power (short focal length) - don't go too high.

Andrew

[PhillyDee]

I do intend to get a decent high FOV 2" eyepiece once funds are available for some nice widefield views, but until then, my celestron set will have to do!

[Tiny]

I have a lot of eyepieces but still find a 2" 37mm wideangle and a couple of zoom televues actually do as good a job as a whole box of eyepieces. Between 24 and 8 (say) to change magnification is a matter of moving the click stop barrel on the eyepiece without removing the eyepiece from the scope. It's a lot less fiddly than juggling eyepieces in the dark.

[The Warthog]

I have bought and sold more than twenty eps to end up with the set I have now. Like Kniclander, I don't use much. I have a 24mm Speers-WALER which I use as my search ep, and I put in a 7.5mm SW for a better look. If I want to get even closer, I have a 4.3mm W70. All these, and my 2x BArlow are from Antares. I bought the Celestron kit, and it served me well while I was sorting out what I wanted my ep kit to be.

The W70 is a nice ep, very sharp, and about twice the price of a Plossl, but much more comfortable to use than a similar sized Plossl.

You can't go far wrong with any of the kits, and having a kit will give you a decent set of eps to use while you make up your mind about what your kit will be in the end.

[MeerkatinBKK]

I bought the Celestron kit at the same time I bought my first scope. There aren't any other astronomers around me to try their different eyepieces, so I thought it would at least give me the opportunity to explore a fairly complete spread through the magnifications for the price of a single "premium" e/p. Also, being a newbie, I didn't have a true idea of what sort of targets would give me the most pleasure in viewing.

To that end it has lived up to its expectations perfectly. I've now got a good idea of the upgrade path I want to go down to a couple of "quality" e/ps to suit my viewing preferences, and these cheaper ones will still be used for letting the neighbours' kids view through without worrying so much if they get their muddy paws on the glass! The filters (well at least the moon one) and barlow are getting much use too.

My only slight disappointment was that the AFOV of the kit 32mm (at 44°) hardly gives me any wider view than the 25mm 52° that came included with my scope, so I snapped up a second-hand Celestron reducer (recommended) and will look for a wider-field e/p down the line.

Hope this helps,

Nick

[James333]

thanks so much for the replies:)

I think im going to go for a few good quality ones then. I'll start a new thread too, to discuss what would be good for my preferences:)

Again, many thanks