Choosing my first eyepieces

[Levdr]

I just read the excellent piece on how to choose eyepieces and learned a lot (and took notes... I did! ). What I don't know yet is which brands to stay away from. Or better yet: which brands offer fairly good optics for fair prices?

Or, are maybe those ep sets worth considering? FLO has two that fall into my price range:

The Celestron eyepiece set for £ 159.00, or one from Revelation for £ 125.00. The latter one appears to be a pretty decent set that I read a few nice things about. It was also Sky at Night's "Group Test Winner". Now I know the programme and love watching it, but does this test mean anything?

Both sets come o.a. with 5 eyepieces:

The Revelation set: 9, 12, 15, 20, 32 mm.

The Celestron set: 4, 6, 9, 15, and 32 mm.

Is one range better than the other?

Both sets come with 2x Barlow and filters. The Revelation set also includes a T-adaptor.

Or should I forget about buying a set altogether and buy these things one at a time?

Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you in advance!

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Levina

ps: I think I may have posted this in the wrong section. If so I apologize.

[kniclander]

what e/ps do you already have? i would be inclined to avoid buying a set of cheapie e/ps; instead, spend the £££ on one or two better ones and build up slowly. If you tell us what you have, i'm sure you will get some recommendations to replace them and/or fill the gaps.

[jgs001]

I've moved it over to the Equipment Help section for you. I can't comment on those sets though sorry, I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can help.

[The Warthog]

You did, but someone will move it, so don't worry. After I had used a pair of Kellners for about five years, I bought the Celestron kit that you describe. It is a good place to start, although the 4mm was a trial to look through because of the short eye relief (the distance at which you have to hold you eye to see stuff.) The Barlow was fairly decent and the filters are OK, but they are only colour filters, not LP or UHC filters which you can use for Deep Sky Objects. I still have the 32mm as a fall back ep if my 24mm wide angle gets foggy, and I use the filters on the Moon and Planets frequently.

I eventually sold all the other eps as I replaced them with others, but I still use the box as my ep kit. I had to cut new holes for some of the larger new eps. There was really nothing wrong with the kit eps; I just got to a point where I could afford better ones. They were all fairly easy to sell, except the 4mm. Poor thing, nobody wanted it. I think I may have it still.

I'm not sure what scope you have, but I would go with the Revelation kit, based on my own advice. It's a nice range of lengths, and with the Barlow you can get down into the 5 - 10mm range if you need to. It will serve you well until you can afford fancier eps.

[Doc]

Levina what scope will these be used in...

Reason I ask is that both sets will be pretty good in slower scopes such as F8 upwards say. But if you have a fast scope say F5 for example I would invest in better quality eyepieces.

[Levdr]

Thank you mod John for moving it.

Hi Warthog, I remember you from the article on eyepieces. Really great stuff. Thank you for that.

It is disappointing that the filters in the eyepiece set are just colour filters. I thought to use them for DSOs.

Hi Doc! The scope I'm going to buy is the Skywatcher 80mm ED refractor on the Celestron CG-5 mount.

Okay, so from what I understand is that the Celestron Set would not be a bad choice for now. But, if I were to buy, say, just 3 eyepieces to start with, which would you advice then? I would think a high power ep, a low power ep and something in between? But with this scope which would be a good choice? Both in range as in brand and price?

All these questions. Your help and advice is much appreciated.

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Levina

[Doc]

Your scope is a F7.5 with a FL of 600mm so if you got something like a 38mm Skywatcher panaview it comes in 2" fit and has a 70° FOV:

It will give you.....

A field of view of 4.43° and a mag of x15.8 which would make an excellent wide field scope. Even the exit pupil would be good at 5.06mm

Skywatcher - Skywatcher PanaView 2" eyepieces

[The Warthog]

The ep that Mick is suggesting will give you wonderful wide-field views. As a 'standard' set of eps I would suggest 6, 18, and 25mm for DSO's with this scope. The 38mm ep fits very nicely at the end of that sequence, too.

[Levdr]

Thanks Doc. That sure looks good.

I just thought of another thing. I'm most interested in some (poor man's style) photography. Does that influence the choice of eyepieces at all, or is it irrelevant?

Also, I saw some zoom eyepieces. Is that recommended or should I avoid those?

Thanks again!

edit: Hi Warthog. You posted when I was writing the above. Thanks you for your advice. Okay, so now it's just a matter of buying those (any particular brand, not too expensive?), or go for the Revelation Set after all. Decisions decisions... Life of a beginning stargazer is rather complicated...

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Levina

[Doc]

Zoom eyepieces like the Baader 8-24mm would be great in your scope and the good thing about these are in cuts down on the number of eyepoieces you have.

Negative points are the FOV is narrower and maybe they loose a touch of contrast over standard eyepieces.

In theory you could just use the 38mm Panaview and a 8-24mm zoom.

I'll leave the photography side for someone else as thats not really my forte.

[The Warthog]

If your budget is limited, I would suggest you get either a kit like the Revelation kit,or a selection of Plossl eps, and then save up for better eps one at a time, and replace your Plossls witht he new eps as the new eps come into your possession. If you are patient, you could have a set of Pentaxes, or Televue eps in a couple of years, but the Plossls will get you started on the road.

[Doc]

Agree 100% with WH on this one.

[Levdr]

Right, seems like good advice. I think I will buy the Revelation Kit then. It's on sale at Harpers at the moment, for £ 99,99. Unfortunately deliveries to the UK mainland only. Bummer. It seems that buying in the UK is jinxed somehow! Couldn't get the Celestron 80mm ED from FLO, can't get anything from Harpers. Grrr... Still, the normal price for the eyepiece kit isn't bad either. In any case I know what to get now, so thank you very much Warthog and Mick for your help (not to mention your patience ).

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Levina

[Levdr]

Ignorant as I am in these matters, I thought 'plossl' were a brand name, but it isn't (I read the Wiki on eyepieces and am a bit better informed now about the different optics in eyepieces). My problem now is that all these brands have plossls, but some are more expensive than others. Is there a lot of difference in optic quality between the different brands, or is it just the brand name that makes it more expensive? If not, which brands should I be looking at?

And then there are also 'super plossls'. What on earth are those?

I'm sure it will pass, but at the moment I feel quite the village idiot...

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Levina

[The Warthog]

The naming of eyepieces is up to the manufacturer. Although there is a standard for what a Plossl is, the manufacturer can make improvements that give a slightly larger FOV, more eye relief, etc. Some manufacturers just call their plossls 'super plossls' to make you want to buy them. Antares had two lines of plossls, both about the same in performance, but one was better constructed, hence 'super plossl.' The oness that hang around the bottom of the price list for the major manufacturers are good plossls, often all made in the same Chinese factory with different labels on them. Despite this pedigree, my Celestron 32, and the 15 which I sold, are excellent plossls, and the others are good. I'm sure the Revelation kit is about the same.

Celestron didn't sell the kit plossls over the counters of scope shops, except in the kit, but the kit is still a good deal, and gives you more than your money's worth.

Just looking at the eyepieces in the kit with respect to your scope, I think the Revelation kit is better for you.

[Levdr]

Okay, I understand. Thank you for clearing that up. I had already made up my mind about the Revelation Kit, but I was just looking around a bit more (actually looking for a shop on the continent here that has the kit in stock) and that raised questions.

Thank you again for your help.

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Levina

[red dwalf]

hi Levina,

i have the older set of Revelation eyepieces and find then very good, i also believe that the Celestron and the Revelation sets are made by the same factory just different names on the boxes, i also have a 4MM eyepiece and find that i never use it as it is just to much magnification. don`t think you can go to much wrong with the Revelation set

[Levdr]

Hi red dwalf,

I was thinking the same thing about those sets. They just seem so similar. There is a slight difference in price though. The Revelation Kit is the cheaper one, and that's fine with me...

Thanks!

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Levina

[Levdr]

As a follow up: earlier today I ordered the Revelation Set from Telescope House, as I couldn't find it in any of the shops here. Boy were they quick to respond! And my Skywatcher 80mm ED & CG-5 is underway as well. These are exciting times!

[Levdr]

Guys, I've been looking at the Skywatcher Panaview 38mm, but I haven't found any shop over here that has it in stock. But I can buy the WO SWAN 40mm with 72º for € 89.00. Would that be a good alternative to the Skywatcher?

[Doc]

Guys, I've been looking at the Skywatcher Panaview 38mm, but I haven't found any shop over here that has it in stock. But I can buy the WO SWAN 40mm with 72º for € 89.00. Would that be a good alternative to the Skywatcher?

WO make great eyepieces so I think if thats the one you can get, go for it.

[Levdr]

Thanks Mick. Will order it right away.

[symba]

Thanks to Lavina's query about eyepieces, it has answered my exact same query too.

I will go for the Revelation kit for my Sky Watcher 150P EQ3-2 newt, which I haven't unpacked yet.

[Levdr]

Hi symba,

I'm glad that the thread was helpful to you too.

I just bought the WO 40mm SWAN eyepiece, but the Revelation Kit is doubtful. It is nowhere to be found over here, so I have to buy it in the UK. However, it seems that UK shops simply do not want customers from the European continent. They are truly awful! They don't reply to emails (FLO), to messages left on answering machines (FLO), or they respond by email (Telescope House) or by pm on a certain forum (FLO), promise this and that and you never here from them again (TH and FLO). So I think I have to rethink the Revelation Kit. I am now thinking of buying a pair of inexpensive Vixen plossls, say a 6mm and a 20mm. With the SWAN that'll have to do for a little while. I will also buy a Barlow though (which has to be as cheap as possible - looking around for that now) and with that I can at least get some idea of the ranges in between (I think) and later on, will know better what to buy for real (so to speak).

I would love to know how you like the Kit though!

[symba]

Hi Levina,

Yes, I am tempted to go for the Revelation kit. I am sorry that e-tailers in the UK do not cater well for Europe, and as far as messages are concerned, I also get message replies very late, even though I'm in the UK. When I order, then they call me very promptly.

With regards to your barlow lens, I spent considerable time doing research on the Internet and as far as I've read, do not buy a cheap barlow.

I have heard about GSO which apparently manufacture for Meade, perhaps someone on this thread can update us on GSO super plossl's as a GSO kit, is apparently cheaper than Revelation kit.

As far as I know, GSO are the ones that produce the Revelation kit ?

I have also thought about getting plossl's individually, however it turns out to be expensive.

I think Revelations are the best way to go. I'll learn from experience, usually by tripping up.

By the way, good choice on the refractor. I love them. I wanted to go for a 6" refractor, but it would cost around £800.

I will update you accordingly.