Eyepieces and focal reducers

[DannyL]

I have a Skymax 127 and would like to use a focal reducer for wider views. However, I read somewhere recently that the focal reducer simply reduces the size of the image in this scope without actually making the field of view any wider. Has anyone any direct experience to share?

The second point is I'm using the eyepieces that came with the scope ( and some previous ones) but they are all the sort supplied with the scope. I notice these tend to be worth around £15 each

My question is, is it realy worth paying say, £180+ for a Nagler or something similar as reviewed in last month's Sky at Night mag?.

The same question could be asked about more expensive Barlows and star diagonals.

I would love comment from anyone who has made these expensive changes and can still remember if the improvement was worth the outlay

[russ]

Certainly no need to spend big money on an eyepiece like a Nagler. The good news is your scope will work beautifully with budget widefield or ultra widefield eyepieces.

As for the reducer. Well i've never used one for visual but did adapt my 127 to take the Celestron/Meade f6.3 reducer and it did indeed reduce the focal ratio from f12.1 to f7.6 and provide a wider field for imaging. But only with a small chip CCD.

How it will work for visuals i don't know?

Russ

[brianb]

The field of your scope is essentially limited by the baffles ... you can make the field smaller & you might even get stars out to the field stop but there will be severe fall off in illumination when using a longish focus eyepiece. Please don't try visually estimating variable stars with this sort of setup.

Focal reducer might be useful to get low powers for more contrast, despite the vignetting.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I used a Focal reducer on my C8, which is fine so long as you have a small field stop in your EP, or indeed a small CCD. The usable FOV of the scope changes in these cases, and the field becomes flatter. However, using a 35mm SLR, you get severe vignetting.

[DannyL]

Thanks for the help, its given me something to think on