High Power EP Recommendations

[steve_bham]

Ive got some good low power to medium power EP and want to buy some good high power ones. But im confussed which ones to go for! From my other thread it was suggested that Orthos are the kings for high power planet viewing, my only concern is the tight eye relief.

Can you recommend some other good EP's that you have used?

Steve

[John]

I've just posted on your other thread suggesting the TS Planetary HR's or William Optics SPL's - both have good eye relief.

[Astro_Baby]

I have the Baader Hyperion in 5mm and dislike it a lot. Eyerelief is good but it tends to kidney bean easily. I also have had some Plossls which I dilsiked even more. The Plossl experince has kind of put me off othos because of the eyerelief issues.

[TopHouse]

I have the Baader Hyperion in 5mm and dislike it a lot. Eyerelief is good but it tends to kidney bean easily. I also have had some Plossls which I dilsiked even more. The Plossl experince has kind of put me off othos because of the eyerelief issues.

In contrast I have the 8mm hyperion and love it. Horses for courses I suppose. I wear glasses so the hyperions suit me nicely.

[steve_bham]

I have the Baader Hyperion in 5mm and dislike it a lot. Eyerelief is good but it tends to kidney bean easily. I also have had some Plossls which I dilsiked even more. The Plossl experince has kind of put me off othos because of the eyerelief issues.

Hi Mel,

What do you use for high power?

[Astro_Baby]

Well te highest power I can run to Steve is the 5mm Baader Hyperion. To be honest sky conditions have only ever been really good enough to use it a few times.

It doesnt like Barlows generally speaking. I tried a few Plossls but I find eyerelief to be a problem.

By the way the 8mm Baader might well be great (my 13mm is) but the 5mm in my opnion is a duffer.

5mm in my scope gets me x200 and I have only ever exceeded that on two occasions.

What I would say for the Baader is it is slightly better bahaved in the F10 refractor than it ever is in the F5 reflector - aha I hear people say 'well what do you expect in a fast scope' and its a fair point but I find its an ill behaved EP even in my Nexstar 4 which is F13 !!!

I couldnt see me going below 5mm myself.

[TopHouse]

I've got the tuning rings for my 8mm which take it down to 6, 5 and 4.3mm Had a go with all the lot and had my best ever views of mars with both rings in at 4.3mm, could be the 5mm is the duffer in the range. Still waiting to have a play with my 32mm panaview, the purchase of which was inspired by yourself Mel. Think for my birthday i might hint at the 17mm hyperion ;o)

[John]

... Still waiting to have a play with my 32mm hyperion, the purchase of which was inspired by yourself Mel...

I can't see a 32mm Hyperion listed anywhere - is it the 31mm Aspheric that you have ?. If so, it sounds an interesting eyepiece from the description on the First Light Optics website.

[Mr Spock]

I'm using a Vixen NLV 4mm. It is very sharp and contrasty with 20mm eye relief. They adjustable eyecup is perfect for getting the right position. This gives me x300 on my 250mm Newt and is my most used eyepiece.

I also have a Meade 4000 6.4mm Plossl (x188). That's nice and sharp but the eye relief is too small for me. I'll be getting a 6mm Vixen as soon as funds allow.

[TopHouse]

I can't see a 32mm Hyperion listed anywhere - is it the 31mm Aspheric that you have ?. If so, it sounds an interesting eyepiece from the description on the First Light Optics website.

Typo now corrected, it's a 32mm Panaview.

[themos]

6mm Lunar/Planetary Eyepiece Comparison - Review

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have used the Vixen LVs previously (7 and 9 mm), and they worked well on my C8 (good eye relief, sharp, no kidney beaning). I now use a Radian 8mm and it is slightly superior in on-axis contrast and sharpness, but clearly superior in edge sharpness and field of view (at a considerably higher price). The Burgess TMB planetary EPs also have a good press, although I have not used them myself.

I personally would not go below 7mm on an F/10 instrument (more magnification, but not more detail), even though theoretically a 5mm would still be OK. The skies rarely if ever support that kind of magnification.

[russ]

A 7mm or 8mm TMB Planetary should be a nice fit your scope. Neither should be too taxing for the scope and the 8mm especially should be useable most nights of the year. I've not owned a TMB Planetary at those focal lengths but the 5, 6 and 9mm i did own were all excellent, no reason to believe the 7 and 8 wouldn't be too.

Russ

[steve_bham]

Ive been looking at the radians might give one a go and see what it looks like

[wulfrunian]

What's your budget Steve? I bought a Pentax XW 5mm second hand on here, for about the same price as a new Radian. If we ever make it to the farm on a clear night you can try it out

[steve_bham]

What's your budget Steve? I bought a Pentax XW 5mm second hand on here, for about the same price as a new Radian. If we ever make it to the farm on a clear night you can try it out

Cheers for that, fingers crossed this saturday as want to try my new mount out! My budget is about 150-200

[wulfrunian]

I can actually make this Saturday, so here's hoping! After the Wolves - Man U teatime game anyway

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Pentax XW are supposed to be great by all accounts. However, 5mm on a 6" F/10 SCT gives 300x magnification: you will need really good seeing on Saturday to make the most of it. on a 10" F/4.8 it is almost the ideal planetary focal length.

[themos]

A lot of people caution against too high a magnification. But my eyesight is not great (low acuity, I guess) and I NEED something pretty big to look at if I'm going to see detail.