Recommended a budget 1.25 eyepiece

[johnnyp]

I recently acquired a 2inch diagonal and a Skywatcher 28mm let eyepiece. Having never used a 2inch eyepiece before, I have fallen in love with the big eye glass on the let. 

I prefer 1.25inch accessories though as my scope balances better with them. Any thoughts on a low power 1.25 with big eye glass and pleasing views ?...I'm not exactly spoiled with the Skywatcher let so I'm easily pleased.

Budget up to around £150

Many thanks 

John 

[Don Pensack]

4 minutes ago, johnnyp said:

I recently acquired a 2inch diagonal and a Skywatcher 28mm let eyepiece. Having never used a 2inch eyepiece before, I have fallen in love with the big eye glass on the let. 

I prefer 1.25inch accessories though as my scope balances better with them. Any thoughts on a low power 1.25 with big eye glass and pleasing views ?...I'm not exactly spoiled with the Skywatcher let so I'm easily pleased.

Budget up to around £150

Many thanks 

John 

 

You already own a 24mm Baader Hyperion, which has the largest true field possible in a 1.25" eyepiece.

It's field is as wide as a 1.25" barrel allows.

Longer focal lengths in 1.25" will have the same true field, but narrower apparent fields.

There is no larger field nor larger lensed 1.25" eyepiece for low power. 

 

You can get a wider apparent field and larger lens at a bit higher power.

One example would be the Baader 17.5mm Morpheus, though it doesn't meet your price requirement.

 

You can get larger lenses and a larger true field from a 2" eyepiece, but it will almost assuredly be heavier than the LET, which is a real lightweight.

Might I ask if you are looking for a wider true field, a wider apparent field, a larger lens (for more eye relief).  What is it you seek?

Perhaps then people could advise you better.

[cajen2]

Any decent Plossl would do a job for you and not cost much - my personal favourite is the Vixen NPL 30 mm. The only problem is the rather narrow FOV (50°). A wide FOV low power 1.25" EP is like hen's teeth. You could try an Explore Scientific 24mm 68°.

Edited December 10, 2022 by cajen2

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, johnnyp said:

I recently acquired a 2inch diagonal and a Skywatcher 28mm let eyepiece.

Do you have another scope besides the Skywatcher Heritage 130P in your sig?  There's no use for a 2-inch diagonal in it.

5 hours ago, johnnyp said:

I prefer 1.25inch accessories though as my scope balances better with them. Any thoughts on a low power 1.25 with big eye glass and pleasing views ?...I'm not exactly spoiled with the Skywatcher let so I'm easily pleased.

Big eye lens eyepieces equates to big prices.  Your Skywatcher Heritage 130P is demanding on eyepieces at f/5.  Low cost eyepieces don't generally play well with f/5 scopes.

Up your budget, and I can recommend the Morpheus, Pentax XW, and Tele Vue Delos lines.

[Don Pensack]

3 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Any decent Plossl would do a job for you and not cost much - my personal favourite is the Vixen NPL 30 mm. The only problem is the rather narrow FOV (50°). A wide FOV low power 1.25" EP is like hen's teeth. You could try an Explore Scientific 24mm 68°.

He already has a 24mm Hyperion, which has a wider field stop than the Explore Scientific 24x68.

 

[cajen2]

25 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

He already has a 24mm Hyperion, which has a wider field stop than the Explore Scientific 24x68.

 

Ok, fine, so what 1.25" EP fits the criteria?

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, cajen2 said:

Ok, fine, so what 1.25" EP fits the criteria?

Not every question posed on here has an answer.

I will admit I was surprised by how cheap the 24mm Explore Scientific 68° is in the UK, £132.50 or $162.41 USD after conversion and before VAT.  The same eyepiece is ‎$269.99 here in the US, so the thought never crossed my mind to recommend it since the cheapest of the line is $219.99 before tax in the US, making it £215 after converting to GBP and adding in VAT.  This would be well above the OP's limit of £150.

Regardless, the 24mm ES-68 does not have a big eye lens and is very difficult to use with eyeglasses as a result.  The 24mm APM UFF is much better in this respect and has a 37mm diameter eye lens.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Louis D

[cajen2]

But as your esteemed fellow American has pointed out, he already has a 1.25" 24mm Hyperion.

ES also do a 30mm 52° 1 25" but no great advantage over a decent Plossl.

Edited December 11, 2022 by cajen2

[Mr Spock]

How about the new StellaLyra 24mm Ultra Flat? £119 and fits the bill.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-eyepieces/stellalyra-24mm-ultra-flat-125-eyepiece.html

 

[Don Pensack]

4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

How about the new StellaLyra 24mm Ultra Flat? £119 and fits the bill.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-eyepieces/stellalyra-24mm-ultra-flat-125-eyepiece.html

 

But, it has a field stop 1mm smaller than his 24mm Hyperion, and about the same effective eye relief.

So unless he's looking just to switch for the sake of switching ,or because there is something about the Hyperion that bothers him, it doesn't make sense, since the 2" LET experience simply isn't available in a 1.25" format, only in other 2" eyepieces.

[Mr Spock]

3 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

But, it has a field stop 1mm smaller than his 24mm Hyperion, and about the same effective eye relief.

So unless he's looking just to switch for the sake of switching ,or because there is something about the Hyperion that bothers him, it doesn't make sense, since the 2" LET experience simply isn't available in a 1.25" format, only in other 2" eyepieces.

The Heritage 130 is f5, so the Hyperion will have poor edge correction. Best to get rid of the Hyperion and get something better corrected. The 130 at f5 will have a fair bit of coma, no reason to add to it with a poor eyepiece.

[Moonlit Knight]

Have you thought about a SW Aero? Not expensive and rather good at the price I thought. You can get them in 30, 35 and 40 mm. TS service sell them under their own brand 

[Mr Spock]

5 minutes ago, Moonlit Knight said:

Have you thought about a SW Aero? Not expensive and rather good at the price I thought. You can get them in 30, 35 and 40 mm. TS service sell them under their own brand 

They are all 2", so of no use to him 

[Mr Spock]

16 hours ago, johnnyp said:

I recently acquired a 2inch diagonal and a Skywatcher 28mm let eyepiece.

Curious - why do you have a diagonal with a 130 Heritage? Are you talking about a different scope?

[johnnyp]

1 minute ago, Mr Spock said:

Curious - why do you have a diagonal with a 130 Heritage? Are you talking about a different scope?

Hi yes. I no longer own the heritage . I have a Skywatcher 72ed 

[johnnyp]

24 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

The Heritage 130 is f5, so the Hyperion will have poor edge correction. Best to get rid of the Hyperion and get something better corrected. The 130 at f5 will have a fair bit of coma, no reason to add to it with a poor eyepiece.

I no longer the Hyperion 24mm. My sig is out of date. Not sure how to change it on my mobile. I no longer have the heritage either. As for eyepieces, I have a bst 12mm, A 25mm plossl and a 2inch 28mm let.  

[Mr Spock]

6 minutes ago, johnnyp said:

Hi yes. I no longer own the heritage . I have a Skywatcher 72ed 

Knowing that would have helped...!

[johnnyp]

I much prefer correctly oriented views also, so am using a 1.25inch stellamira 1.25 amici diagonal. I'd go for a 2inch amici but my scope just doesn't balance as well.

[johnnyp]

2 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Knowing that would have helped...!

Apologies. Can't see my sig on my mobile 

[johnnyp]

8 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

How about the new StellaLyra 24mm Ultra Flat? £119 and fits the bill.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-eyepieces/stellalyra-24mm-ultra-flat-125-eyepiece.html

 

Yes I've seen this one. It looks alot like the 24mm APM uff. Do they come from the same factory I wonder ? 

[Mr Spock]

Just now, johnnyp said:

Do they come from the same factory I wonder ?

Yes 

[Louis D]

If you're only going to use 1.25" eyepiece for reasons of balance on a small scope, I'd get a quality 1.25" diagonal to further reduce the loading at the back of your scope.  A 2" diagonal adds a lot of weight in my experience with the GSO dielectric.

[Louis D]

If you're going to insist on using that relatively heavy 2" diagonal, rather than simply exclude 2" eyepieces due to balance reasons, how about giving an upper limit on eyepiece weight you'd be willing to allow for?  I've got a 12.5mm APM Hi-FW that weighs 555 grams, so not exactly a lightweight despite being a 1.25" eyepiece.  There are some lighter weight 2" eyepieces out there like the 40mm Lacerta ED at 501 grams that perform well at f/6 and cost under £150.

[Mr Spock]

Not really under £150 when you add €15.50 shipping, 3.9% payment fees, import duty and 20% VAT 

[Don Pensack]

Well, the advice changes a lot when you know the details.

The eyepiece most likely to meet his requirements would be the Stella Lyra 24mm Ultra Flat Field:

--large eye lens

--long eye relief

--low power

--good performance/well corrected at f/5

--large field stop diameter for maximum field

--not excessively heavy

--in his price range.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Don Pensack