Skywatcher SP 32mm Plossl - any opinions?

[rwg]

I'm thinking of getting one of these as a finder/wide field eyepiece - as far as I can work out, they give pretty much the widest true field of view possible in 1.25".

Does anyone who has one of these comment on whether it's a useful (and comfortable) eyepiece for them. I'm particularly interested in whether it's usable with spectacles - being a long focal length plossl, it should have reasonable eye relief, but sometimes plossl designs seem to have the eye lens buried some way down the eyepiece body, meaning that a lot of the eye relief is used up just getting to the level of the top of the eyepiece.

cheers,

Robin

[John]

The eye relief of a 32mm plossl is around 20mm I think but you are right, the eye lens is often recessed by a cm or so which is a pain for spectable wearers. It's a pity the Meade 5000 plossls are more expensive than the standard variety - their eye cup twists up and down so adjusting your access to the eye relief.

[steve_bham]

ive got the 32mm and 40mm that i use on my 6" SCT. Great EP and i wear glasses. Because my scope is F10 they work very well in it.

What scope you going with the EP?

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have a SW 25mm SP and a Celestron 32mm Plossl. I wear glasses for watching tv,driving but i never wear them for observing. When i try to observe using the stated EPs and glasses i just cant see anything. I find a "sweet spot" but have to hold my head completely still or i lose it. I put this down to my inexperience with observing while wearing glasses.

I LOVE my 32mm EP, but I think the SW EPs are better quality.

[Astro_Baby]

I have tried the SW 32mm and 40mm Plossls and they do look and feel very nice. Cant comment overmuch on the views as the weather was atrocious. I Had them on loan for a bit but decided in the end to get the Vixen NPL PLossl. Its constructions feels a bit plasticky but I just found it more comfortable to use.

[rwg]

Thanks for the comments - I think I will probably get one of these as they aren't too costly. Rother Valley Optics currently has them reduced to £26.99.

I must admit that I prefer the twist eyecups - I have a Paradigm EP 15mm eyepiece with that style and it's great. Mind you, I'm looking for the small size of the plossl too - I currently tend to grab my boring SW 20mm kit EP when aligning the scope for imaging rather than using my 21mm Hyperion - just because the SW EP is small & light. The scopes I mostly use are the Nexstar 102 (f/6.5) and the Skymax 127 (f/13), so nothing ultra fast to worry about.

I must admit I could probably get away observing without glasses - I'm not *that* astigmatic, but I don't like taking them on and off constantly and then holding them or putting them down while using the EP - just doesn't feel right to me.

thanks again,

Robin