Which Eyepieces?

[groberts]

In an attempt to broaden my interest in astronomy and occasionally share my hobby with the family and grandchildren (who are already interested), I recently acquired a Starfield 102 f/7 refractor.  I intend to use it for some of the larger / brighter DSOs and variable stars etc but especially for the family and therefore expect the planets, moon and solar will be their most favorite targets.

As we all know in the UK, it's not been the best for clear skies recently but I have managed a couple of short sessions using the Starfield and after a gap of 10-years have enjoyed getting back to observing, though,not surpringly I still struggle with some of my eyepieces to get the best of views, almost certainly because I wear spectacles and in most cases  (I suspect) find the FOV and eye relief inadequate. My signature below lists my current eyepieces, of which I really only get on with the 20mm & 32mm plossls and the Ultra-wide + Long eye relief 6mm.

I would appreciate any recomendations for maybe a couple of other eyepieces that would improve my viewing, bearing in mind the above objectives and problems (planets and spectacles).  I believe since I last did any observing there are some very good eyepieces now available that might be better suited to my needs?

Graham 

        

Edited April 11 by groberts

[Mr Spock]

You already have the Svbony 3-8, which would have been my recommendation for planets. If you are sticking to 1.25" fitting, then the 24mm UFF would be my next choice along with the 15mm. That will give you x30, x48 and the range x89 to x238.

[groberts]

Thanks Michael - any in particular?

Only recently got the Svbony 3-8 and, despite glowing reviews, have so far been disappointed - I think the FOV + eyepiece is a problem for me.

Graham 

[John]

Pentax XW's and Baader Morpheus have very good performance, generous eye relief and a wide AFoV. The Svbony 3-8 zoom is very good optically but the eye relief is too short for many glasses wearers I would think (I'm not one).

 

[Mr Spock]

I use the 30mm StellaLyra UFF and it is excellent. So is the rest of the range from the reports I've read.

[Don Pensack]

9 hours ago, groberts said:

In an attempt to broaden my interest in astronomy and occasionally share my hobby with the family and grandchildren (who are already interested), I recently acquired a Starfield 102 f/7 refractor.  I intend to use it for some of the larger / brighter DSOs and variable stars etc but especially for the family and therefore expect the planets, moon and solar will be their most favorite targets.

As we all know in the UK, it's not been the best for clear skies recently but I have managed a couple of short sessions using the Starfield and after a gap of 10-years have enjoyed getting back to observing, though,not surpringly I still struggle with some of my eyepieces to get the best of views, almost certainly because I wear spectacles and in most cases  (I suspect) find the FOV and eye relief inadequate. My signature below lists my current eyepieces, of which I really only get on with the 20mm & 32mm plossls and the Ultra-wide + Long eye relief 6mm.

I would appreciate any recomendations for maybe a couple of other eyepieces that would improve my viewing, bearing in mind the above objectives and problems (planets and spectacles).  I believe since I last did any observing there are some very good eyepieces now available that might be better suited to my needs?

Graham 

        

Graham,

Here are some suggestions:

Baader:  Morpheus eyepieces--all focal lengths

APM: Ultra Flat Field 30mm/24mm/18mm (also available as Celestron Ultima Edge, Meade UHD, Stellalyra UF, Tecnosky UF, Svbony UF, Sky Rover UF, Altair Astro UF, etc.)

Pentax: XW 70° all

Tele Vue: Plössl 25mm and longer;   Delite--all;   Panoptic 27mm and longer;   Delos--all;  Nagler--30mm, 22mm

Long Perng UW/Orion LHD/Stellalyra UW 80/Founder Marvel: all ,but only IF the eyecup is removed and a shorter substitute eyecup is used

Vixen: SLV--all, NPL--any of >25mm

Explore Scientific: 92° 17mm/12mm;   82° 30mm (barely);  68° 40mm/34mm/28mm;  62° 40mm/32mm/26mm;  52° 40mm/30mm 

 

My personal favorites are the Morpheus eyepieces in my 102mm f/7 apo.

Just really easy to use with glasses on.

Edited April 11 by Don Pensack

[Louis D]

I would add the 22mm Omegon Redline to Don's list.

The discontinued Celestron Axiom LX 31mm, Meade 5000 UWA 30mm, and original mushroom top ES-82 30mm are all more eyeglasses friendly than the optically identical modern ES-82 30mm.  However, you have to hunt the classifieds and various online marketplaces to find used or new old-stock versions of them.

[groberts]

A brief thank you for the suggestions, which are much appreciated. 

This weekend will now be spent trawling through the details.

Graham

[RT65CB-SWL]

What is your budget? There are a couple of TeleVue Radian’s in the for sale section.

I have and use the 6 & 8mm and they are very good.

[groberts]

10 hours ago, RT65CB-SWL said:

What is your budget? There are a couple of TeleVue Radian’s in the for sale section.

I have and use the 6 & 8mm and they are very good.

Thanks - without wishing to be flippant, budget is not the issue here it's getting a couple of eyepieces will really transform my viewing with the Starfield. IMO I'm sure that FOV and eye relief are a problem for me, so want to make sure whatever road I go down this time those issues are dealt with.

As a matter of interest, is there a zoom eyepiece that might do the trick, thus provide greater flexibility?

Graham 

[groberts]

On 11/04/2024 at 11:59, Mr Spock said:

You already have the Svbony 3-8, which would have been my recommendation for planets. If you are sticking to 1.25" fitting, then the 24mm UFF would be my next choice along with the 15mm. That will give you x30, x48 and the range x89 to x238.

Thanks Michael - how do you arrive at numbers quoted?

Graham

 

[John]

58 minutes ago, groberts said:

Thanks - without wishing to be flippant, budget is not the issue here it's getting a couple of eyepieces will really transform my viewing with the Starfield. IMO I'm sure that FOV and eye relief are a problem for me, so want to make sure whatever road I go down this time those issues are dealt with.

As a matter of interest, is there a zoom eyepiece that might do the trick, thus provide greater flexibility?

Graham 

The only zooms that I have owned / used that offer a wide field of view and image quality that really does match or exceed excellent fixed focal lengths are the APM 7.7mm - 15.4mm super zoom:

APM Telescopes. APM Super Zoom Eyepiece 7.7mm to 15.4mm with 1.25" connector and filter thread (apm-telescopes.net)

and the Leica ASPH 8.9mm - 17.8mm zoom used with an adapter:

APM Telescopes. Leica Zoom eyepiece Vario 8.9 - 17.8 mm ASPH. - 1.25" (apm-telescopes.net)

The Svbony 3-8mm zoom offers great optical performance but may not be regarded as having a wide angle of view at 56 degrees.

 

 

 

Edited April 13 by John

[John]

55 minutes ago, groberts said:

Thanks Michael - how do you arrive at numbers quoted?

Graham

 

Divide the focal length of the scope by the focal length of the eyepiece.

 

[Second Time Around]

I'm a great fan of zooms and have used 5.

The best is the APM Super Zoom, that I found even better than the Baader.  It has a constant 66 degree field of view.

I haven't tried the very expensive Leica though.  This is because it doesn't accept a Televue Dioptrx astigmatism corrector that I prefer to wearing glasses.  Both the Baader and the APM accept a Dioptrx, although the eyecup of the Baader revolves when you zoom, making it fiddly.

Neither have I tried the Svbony 3-8mm as there would be insufficient eye relief for me.  Instead I prefer the APM plus a Barlow.

[groberts]

2 hours ago, John said:

Divide the focal length of the scope by the focal length of the eyepiece.

 

Yes I get that  - but don't see how the eyepieces suggested + the Starfield 102 f/7(FL 714mm)  (+ Powermate?) results in the magnication numers quoted

[groberts]

56 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

I'm a great fan of zooms and have used 5.

The best is the APM Super Zoom, that I found even better than the Baader.  It has a constant 66 degree field of view.

I haven't tried the very expensive Leica though.  This is because it doesn't accept a Televue Dioptrx astigmatism corrector that I prefer to wearing glasses.  Both the Baader and the APM accept a Dioptrx, although the eyecup of the Baader revolves when you zoom, making it fiddly.

Neither have I tried the Svbony 3-8mm as there would be insufficient eye relief for me.  Instead I prefer the APM plus a Barlow.

If I may, a couple of questions:

1. What's the eye relief of the APM?

2.  Looking around, I see that using the AMP as 1.25" can be a problem - any thoughts?

Edited April 13 by groberts

[Mr Spock]

On 11/04/2024 at 11:59, Mr Spock said:

You already have the Svbony 3-8, which would have been my recommendation for planets. If you are sticking to 1.25" fitting, then the 24mm UFF would be my next choice along with the 15mm. That will give you x30, x48 and the range x89 to x238.

714 / 24 = 30
714 / 15 = 48

714 / 3-8 = 238 - 89

55 minutes ago, groberts said:

Yes I get that  - but don't see how the eyepieces suggested + the Starfield 102 f/7(FL 714mm)  (+ Powermate?) results in the magnication numers quoted

 

[Second Time Around]

On 13/04/2024 at 15:42, groberts said:

If I may, a couple of questions:

1. What's the eye relief of the APM?

2.  Looking around, I see that using the AMP as 1.25" can be a problem - any thoughts?

1.  Ernest in his bench tests measured the eye relief at a constant 17mm, i.e. about the same as a 25mm Plossl.  For comparison he measured the Baader Mk IV to be 10-15mm, and the Svbony 3-8mm to be 6.5-9.5mm, both depending on the focal length.

Incidentally, I didn't buy the Svbony 3-8mm because of the short eye relief.  I prefer to Barlow my APM zoom, especially as  Barlows somewhat increase the eye relief.  

2.  Whether it's a problem will depend on the amount of infocus of a given scope.  There's no such problem with either my 72mm ED refractor nor my 10in OOUK Newtonian.  I haven't tried it on my 4 inch achro yet.

One thing to note is the amplification factor of Barlows varies from eyepiece to eyepiece according to the position of the field stop.  With the APM zoom it's particularly increased.

I have several Barlows including the Revelation in your signature.  Here are the amplification factors I measured:

As 1.25 inch cell only 1.97x

As 2 inch cell only 1.77x

I couldn't test the complete Barlow as the set screw was too long.  I haven't got round to replacing it as I have other Barlows I can use when I want greater amplification.

 

Edited April 16 by Second Time Around

[Don Pensack]

3 hours ago, groberts said:

If I may, a couple of questions:

1. What's the eye relief of the APM?

2.  Looking around, I see that using the APM as 1.25" can be a problem - any thoughts?

1. 18-20mm over the range.

2. Correct.  It's focal plane is very high in the eyepiece.  It will be easier to focus in most scopes if used as a 2" eyepiece.

It is usable as a 1.25" eyepiece if you have the large amount of in-travel required to get it to focus (it's over an inch).

The field stop in the eyepiece only requires a 1.25" barrel, so there is no difference in the image or apparent field if used as a 1.25".

[Ratlet]

I'm a big fan of the svbony 3-8mm but if you wear glasses I'm not surprised you don't get on with it.  Very tight on the eye relief.  I'll still rather use my starguiders for DSO as it's just more comfortable.  I also find it brighter.  Only 60° fov.

The Morpheus are winners though, although they are quite heavy compared to other 1.25" eyepieces, but they are very comfortable with glasses.

[bosun21]

Another 👍 for the Baader Morpheus range of eyepieces with the addition of the 24mm and 30mm UFF(Stella Lyra, APM etc). All great eyepieces with a comfortable eye relief and respectable FOV.

[Andy ES]

Morpheus 👍 very impressed with these.

[Louis D]

As everyone on here knows, I'm a stickler for long eye relief.  However, I typically only observe planets with my Svbony 3-8mm zoom, so I just roll my gaze from side to side as the planet transits the field of view.  That, and the exit pupils associated with 3mm to 8mm are sometimes small enough (scope dependent) that I can get away with observing without my eyeglasses.

If you're looking for that "WOW" factor in a long eye relief eyepiece while observing DSOs, I highly recommend the 12mm and 17mm ES-92s.  They are so wide that I can only take in the left to right view with my eyeglasses.  The top to bottom view is taller than my eyeglasses.  The top of the field stop is actually above my eyebrow line.  It's a very immersive view that is sure to please.  They have 17mm of usable eye relief, which means lightly resting your glasses on the folded down eyecup if you have deep set eyes.  They are exceptionally well corrected to the edge as well.

Edited April 14 by Louis D

[groberts]

21 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

714 / 24 = 30
714 / 15 = 48

714 / 3-8 = 238 - 89

 

OK I see you now were including the SVBONY, thought it was just the StellaLyra UFF!  I need to spend some more time with the SVBONY but at the moment it might be in the Classifides soon - finding thr eye relief too short with spectacles.

   

[Louis D]

11 minutes ago, groberts said:

OK I see you now were including the SVBONY, thought it was just the StellaLyra UFF!  I need to spend some more time with the SVBONY but at the moment it might be in the Classifides soon - finding thr eye relief too short with spectacles.

   

It just depends on the use case if you can live with its tight eye relief.  Try keeping it around for planetary observing where quickly changing focal lengths depending on second to second seeing conditions is a huge plus.  It's fine then because you don't need to take in the entire field of view at once as you might for lunar or starfield observing.  With eyeglasses, you lose some outer field.  Even without eyeglasses it's difficult to take in the outer field at the shorter focal lengths without tilting your head.

Sure, you could Barlow an APM Super Zoom, but that combo is huge in comparison.  It would be similar to me choosing to use my Speers-Waler 5-8mm zoom: