My eyepieces journey - ended up with 3 eyepieces for two telescopes + Barlows

[AstralFields]

Everything started of course, with the 10mm and 25mm Super Plossls I got with my first telescope ever, 8" Sky-Watcher.

I was no expert (duh) but that 10mm was horrible to use, had to really push my eyeball to see anything. The 25mm was not bad but the field of view was a bit low even compared to my binoculars.

Off I went shopping.

I went to AliExpress and discovered the 'red lines' Orion Expanse clones, I bought the 15mm and immediately it was clear, it was so much better than the stock Plossls and it was cheap, just 30$. On the same day I bought all of them , the 6mm, 9mm and 20mm.

I also discovered 2" eyepieces. I bought the 32mm Meoptex Kellner for 45$ and I totally loved it. Bought the 40mm and 26mm as well.

Then I discovered a Zoom Eyepiece, SVBony 7-21mm , bought that one as well. I also got some Barlows 2x , 3x. 

My box was getting smaller and heavier, and dealing with so much stuff, after the novelty wore off was becoming 'not fun at all'. Anyway, life was good for a while and I happily observed the entire Messier catalog with my 8" f/6 DOB.  I started noticing something interesting. For the majority of objects the 32mm 2" and the 15mm 1.25" was the ideal combo. At times I would use my Zoom to dial in other magnifications or simply use it with the 3x Barlow on the planets. The views were better than the 6mm or 9mm fixed eyepieces.

I found using budget eyepieces for a beginner/intermediate user absolutely fine and made a video on it:

But then everything changed with one simple fact, going from f/6 to f/5 and having a much bigger/brighter telescope.

All the stuff that was 'good enough', suddenly was 'not good at all bro' and paired with my increasing experience and desire to see an even better image was causing me to re-evaluate the whole situation. Also dealing with a box of eyepieces and dust caps was becoming a real annoyance.

The decision was made. Box has to go away, I bought two expensive / semi-expensive eyepieces in my favorite focal length and everything else was sent away. No exceptions.

I also bought myself a nice bag that stores three 2" eyepieces only with space for 5 more 1.25" .. and kept my Barlows as they were providing better views than the fixed budget ones. 

I also did a deep-dive on what is the actual difference between premium vs budet here:

Spoiler alert , everything went away except for these three:

Sky-Rover 30mm 2" - The best eyepiece in the world

AngelEyes 14mm 1.25" - A nice premiumish Panoptic clone , very similar to the Baader Hyperion

SVBony Zoom 7-21mm - this little guy is amazing. Maybe I replace it with the Hyperion Zoom in the future.

Barlow 2x , 3x - because Barlows are totally awesome and underestimated.

That's it.. jury is still out on something around the 10-11mm. Maybe an Explore Scientific or a Morpheus.. the bag will fit one more.

[Megawatt]

Morpheus is excellent, once you get used to the eye placement. 

I find I do the bulk of my observing in the 7-9mm range with my f/5 reflector. Having a tracking mount certainly helps.

[LondonNeil]

Is that sky rover 30mm the same as the stellalyra uff? I know it's available under multiple names. 

[John]

7 minutes ago, LondonNeil said:

Is that sky rover 30mm the same as the stellalyra uff? I know it's available under multiple names. 

I believe that "Sky Rover" is the branding that the manufacturer Kunming United Optics use when they are not producing the items for another branding, for example, Stellalyra.

 

 

 

[PeterStudz]

I totally agree with you on Barlows. I use mine all the time and are essential for me.

And especially as a beginner I agree on budget eyepieces. The important thing is to get out and observe. There’s so much to learn and the best way is to actually do it. Rather than spend time worrying about your eyepieces. Last week was a good example - for me a wonderful night with superb transparency. I had so much fun that I didn’t think about my eyepieces, which certainly could be called “budget”.