Wide Angle E.P.

[phil_the_bassist]

Morning!

I'm after a decent low power, wide angle lense...something like a 32mm plossl.

I was wondering what my options are, I've got a Celestron AstroMaster 130 with 1.25" ep, and somewhere between £20-£40 to spend.

What do you guys think?

[The Warthog]

Most brand-name 32mm Plossls are good performers in that price range. I have a 32mm Celestron from the ep kit as a backup in my ep box. It is a good little ep.

[John]

I agree with Warthog - a 32mm Plossl would suit very well. The Meade 4000 series are pretty good and can often be picked up well within your price range.

John

[phil_the_bassist]

I've been looking at the 32mm Plossl's in the Celestron, Antares and GSO ranges, do you think the Meade the best of the bunch?

Also, I'm half tempted to save a bit more and go for the televue 32mm plossl at around £80, would I be able to see a marked improvement compared to the above brands?

[John]

I've been looking at the 32mm Plossl's in the Celestron, Antares and GSO ranges, do you think the Meade the best of the bunch?

Also, I'm half tempted to save a bit more and go for the televue 32mm plossl at around £80, would I be able to see a marked improvement compared to the above brands?

If you could find one of the original Japanese Meade 4000's then I'd go for that over the other brands you list. Otherwise they are all Chinese / Taiwanese 32mm Plossls, some from the same factory probably and they will all perform pretty much the same. I had an Antares 32mm Plossl a while back and it performed very nicely.

Go for fully multicoated rather than just coated or multicoated optics if you can.

John

[acey]

The Televue 32mm plossl is outstanding and worth saving for:

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/77721-televue-32mm-plossl-best-eyepiece-ever.html

Andrew

[Macavity]

Having searched long and hard, and made several "samey" purchases, of this ilk, I conclude that: "you pays your money..." etc. But considering the, albeit venerable, Plossl is not conventionally "wide angle", you might ALSO look for that more elusive critter, the 24mm 70 Deg e.p. E.G. The small-ish Hyperion 24mm / 68 deg AFoV exploits the maximum TRUE field of view, will "look" wide angle, and may have advantages of higher magnification, contrast etc. Sadly, since I last looked, Hyperion prices have risen...

Aside: Failing that, I do have a spare 24mm W70 Antares (8-element 70 deg) that is "new" (but cosmetic anodising marks) IMO a solid and useful taste of true "wide-angle". I'd consider £30-40 a reasonable offer, to give a £60-70 e.p. a worthy, home...

As an "unbiased" view, I suspect a high class Plossl would show you 50 deg AFoV that was pretty sharp right to the edge. A 70 deg wide angle would extend this, but at cost of some edge blurring. This may be less important for DSOs etc. Swings and roundabouts.

[The Warthog]

I quite like my 4.3mm W70. That's a nice offer he's making.

[jnp]

Phil,

I opted for Meade 4000 for its wider 52 Field of view, compared with 44 of the Celestron Plossl. I have the same scope and know it's not easy to decide

John

PS from older post - I always prefered Stanley Clarke to Mark King

[The Warthog]

I have the discontinued 24mm Speers WALER from Antares, which has the same 67º field as the W70. It is equivalent to the 32mm 52º Plossl in terms of actual field.It is a lovely ep for finding objects. I would go for the 24mm W70, but you can't go too far wrong with a Meade 4000 or even a regulat 32mm Plossl.