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Long Eye Relief eyepieces?

Jaffa007

By Jaffa007
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Jaffa007

Jaffa007

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Can someone enlighten me on Long Eye Relief eyepieces?

I already have a 10mm & 25mm S.P. Skywatcher [came with scope], and was wondering if these L.E.R. eyepieces are worth getting, as I wear glasses. I don't have a problem viewing through the 10mm, I just take off my glasses. But it does become a bit of a pain, on/off/on/off to do stuff.

Would one be better than an equivalent 'standard' Plossel eyepiece [the type that came with scope]?

Thank's for any advice.

James

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  • 2 weeks later...
iancandler

iancandler

Posted
Posted

Im not immpressed with the LER I had (2mm) it gave a very grainy image.

I have been immpressed with the Antares W70 series eyepieces though. The eye relief is pretty good and the image is crisp and clean. I have then in 14mm 8.6mm and 5.7mm. I have also recently tried the baader hyperion 3.5mm The eye relief isnt as good as tha Antares but the image quality isnt to bad, plus with the right T ring you can direct couple your digital camera/camcorder.

For a purely visual eyepiece I would either go for the vixen lanthanum or if your on a budget the Antares w70 series. Give one a try first though.. if your in my area you are more than welcome to try one of mine sometime.

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GazOC

GazOC

Posted
Posted

Ian, would you say the Antares is "better" (sorry I know its a vague term) than Hyperion? I've got a 17mm Stratus (Hyperion clone) and I think it's a cracking EP for the money esp. in fast scopes. I was thinking of getting a few more over the summer but if the Antares are better I may re-think.

BTW have you seen the adjusting ring for the Hyperions? I posted a thread on it somewhere.....

Gaz

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iancandler

iancandler

Posted
Posted

It depends what you want it for gaz..

The hyperion has the dual fitting format being both 2" and 1.25" but its a beast of an eyepiece, bigger and heavier than my celestron 2" 40mm. Also its great for the connectivity etc via the twin threads on it but optically I keep going back to the antares w70's I have.. In fact looking at Jupiter last night I got a much better view through the antares 5.7mm than I did the hyperion 3.5mm. I haven't tried the hyperions in the larger sizes though.

I wish antares did the W70's in smaller sizes. A 4mm and 3mm or 3.5 and 2.5 would be great as long as they could keep the same level of contrast.

I would try one of the antares and see what you think.. Im sure james/maria would do one on sale or return for you or something.

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted

NEWS FLASH - forget all other eyepieces and try one of the Burgess/TMB Planetary eyepieces.

I bought one Wednesday, tried it last night. Simply superb. One of the best views of Jupiter i've ever had. Contrast is amazing. But more amazing is the edge to edge sharpness even when used in my f5 Newtonian. I had the motors off and just let Jupiter drift across the field. It was beautiful and sharp and in perfect focus across the entire field.

It's also the most comfortable eyepiece i've ever owned. Twist up eyecup like the Pentax, you can get it perfect. Exit pupil is 0.8mm, a tad below the desired 1mm but it really doesn't matter.

Compared it to my 9.7mm Meade 4000, 10mm Orion Sirius Plossl and barlowed 18mm Ortho. Shame I still didn't have the 19mm Panoptic to barlow. I reckon it would run it close!

Best of all, it's only £69. I intend to sell all my high to medium power eyepieces and replace them with these TMB's.

Russ

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GazOC

GazOC

Posted
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Ian,

I was going to try to get the Hyperion sizes down to 12mm or 8. I'm pretty settled on orthos for planets/Moon/globs.

Russ,

I've been hearing good things about those TMBs on CN, they had issues with the 6mm(?) but thats all sorted.

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted

Gordon,

I would put the TMB closer in performance to the TV Radian than the TV Plossl. I have the TV 20mm Plossl, I'll barlow it in the TV barlow tonight and see how it fairs against the TMB. I Personally don't think it have a chance.

The TV Plossl wasn't my first or second choice. I was holding out for a secondhand Orion Ultrascopic or Celestron Ultima as they are without doubt superior to the TV Plossl. But one never came up.

Gaz sounds like you're sorted anyway.

Russ

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

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I'm suprised to hear that Russ, i look forward to your comparison. I had a discussion on cloudy nights and many people there recommended both the TMB/burgess eyepieces as well as the TV plossls. A few rated the TV over the TMB but i have no direct experience. Once i have my astro coffers refilled eyepieces are next on my list....

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The Warthog

The Warthog

Posted
Posted

You might want to consider the Celestron X-Cel series as a budget alternative in long eye relief eps. They all have 21mm of eye relief, and a big piece of glass to look through. I own three of them, the 5, 8, and 12.5mm models. I have a small issue with kidney-beaning, especially when they are Barlowed, but this is just a matter of holding your mouth right when you are looking through them. I am very happy with these eps.

Ian, you would be much happier with a 5mm ep barlowed than with the 2.5. With the Barlow, you retain the eye relief of the longer ep. Part of the secret of the X-Cels is that they have a built-in 2x Barlow.

I may eventually replace my X-Cels with the more expensive Ultimas, but for now I am perfectly happy to use the X-Cels.

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

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I had a set of X-cels the 5,10 and 18mm versions. I was pleased with them but found the kiddney beaning far too much of a distraction. Plus when put against my standard plossls i didn't see much of an advantage. I sold the x-cels and put the money into other gear.

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