Whats in your Eyepiece case?

[daz]

Mine consists of:

Meade 4000 32mm

Meade 4000 26mm

Meade 4000 20mm

Meade 4000 15mm

Antares Elite 10mm

Antares Ortho 7mm

Revelation 2" 32mm

Revelation 2" 26mm

Orion Shorty 2x Barlow

Antares 5x Barlow

Antares 1.6x Barlow

ND 25% filter

ND 13% filter

Various colour filters

1.25" UV/IR Blocker

2" UV/IR Blocker

1.25" UHC-S Filter

1.25" OIII filter (well, on the 25th I will )

1.25" IR Pass filter (ditto)

SolVue Solar Filter (ditto)

Would dearly love some of the WA Meade 5000's

[Kain]

I ain't got any really fancy named ones as I'm abit cheap (Actually a broke at the moment lol) I Have

Revelation Super View 26mm EP (2") - My Fave EP in my collection

Moonfish 15mm 80 degree FoV Ultrawide - Won in comp here (Also a fave of mine)

20, 10, 4mm Kelner EP's that came with my Tasco

20mm Plossl (Nameless) Really good EP this, I use this when taking moon shots!

Seban 6.5 Super Plossl (50 Degree FoV)

Also got a 3 nameless Eps, 25mm LER, 20mm Plossl and a Super 10mm

Filters I have

Meede moon filter Arthur gave me

Sodium filter Arther gave me

Moon Filter thats green that came with the tasco.

Not a great collection of brand names, but they do well for me

Kain

[russ]

My eyepiece is almost empty:

Antares Elite 20mm

Antares Elite 15mm

Burgess/TMB 9mm Planetary

Celestron Ultima 2x barlow

Antares 1.6x barlow

And i need to sell two of those, so only 3 pieces in my collection.

Russ

[Stardust]

Well here goes

Televue 20 & 32 mm Plossl The 20 came with the scope, but I don't rate it much

3-6 zoom

8-24 zoom

2x barlow

Pentax XL 7, 10.5 & 28mm Love these

Pentax XW 14 & 20mm and these

Vixen LV 9 & 15mm

Meade srs4000 15mm

Cemax 25mm bargain £16 off ebay, just gonna cost me £400 odd to get a PST to go with it!

When I have time I plan to do some side by side tests and thin things down a bit

Dave

[GordonCopestake]

Some nice eyepieces there Dave, why dont you rate the 20mm TV Plossl?

[Andrew*]

To be quite frank, I think this thread could be so much more interesting for everyone with a little effort and imagination. I personally don't get much of a kick reading the makes and focal lengths (and occasionally FOVs) of numerous people's eyepieces. I don't know what many of them are, but would like to, so just having the names is a bit dry. Perhaps people could comment a little more on each EP (credit to those who do) so we can build up a knowledge base of the most enjoyed EPs. This would be very helpful for everyone choosing new EPs, and would be interesting to see if people find a particular EP brilliant on one scope or for a particular type of object and the same EP pants in other settings.

With this kind of detail, with time and a little effort (I would be glad to do this) someone could make up a chart of the best EPs for everyone's needs, which would be an invaluable source for any beginner.

Am I making a good point here, or am I just being fussy?

I realise that I didn't comment on my EPs, but I haven't tried any others so don't have the experience to comment. Saying they're all fantastic (which from my POV, they are) might mislead someone with higher standards.

Okay, rant over!

Andrew

[GazOC]

For Andrew

I've got a set of Baader Hyperions as my 'main' set because they are a good, reasonably priced, widefield eyepiece that (most importantly) work well in short f# scopes and a set of orthoscopics because, although they have a narrow FOV, they are amazing value as planetary eyepices as you can pick them up for £20 S/H.

I use the orthos for planets and the Hyperions for pretty much everything else (double stars and some globs notwithstanding).

[Andrew*]

thanks Gaz, I appreciate that. For my new f/5 scope, I might well like a couple of new EPs. How about a wide one for Milky Way scanning - say a 40mm and a very powerful one for planets - say a 3mm or 5mm ortho?

What are your recommendations guys? I thought this one for 40mm - http://tinyurl.com/wkn5k . (Zeffer, don't suggest the Axiom again, because I DON'T have 200 quid to spend on an EP, stunning though it may be on the C8!!)

Andrew

[Stardust]

Gordon, hard to explain, the 20mm Plossl almost had this effect of the stars splaying out. Just wasn't a pleasant view.

My favs are the 10.5 Pentax, very sharp and contrasty. 3-6 Nagler is great as my refractors are fairly short 400mm & 600mm and they take it very well. The 8-24 is for travel and daytime spotting.

Andrew, that idea of what and why people are using certain eyepieces in a given scope is a great one. I'd be happy to pass on what has worked for me. Also on the subject of your 40mm, One of the guys at Telescope house said the Revelation 40mm (Or what ever thier longest one is) is the best one in the series. This he said was very good, the others were good. Hope that's of some help.

DAve

[Stardust]

Andrew

Just checked that link for the 40mm Celestron. I've had 2 people recomend this one to me as being a good buy. Missed one on ebay a couple of weeks back, went for about £25 arhh

Dave

[John]

Gordon, hard to explain, the 20mm Plossl almost had this effect of the stars splaying out. Just wasn't a pleasant view.

That's interesting - I have recently taken delivery of a TV 20mm Plossl and mine is excellent - pinpoint stars from edge to edge in my F6.9 Megrez 90. I wonder if your example has problems of some sort ?.

Of my collection of EP's perhaps the most interesting are the Japanese Widescan III's - 13mm and 20mm. These have whopping 84 degree fields of view (more than most Naglers) and they perform very well given what they cost 2nd hand - about 30% of the cost of a 2nd hand Nagler equivilent. In my F6.9 scope stars are pinpoints across about 80% of the field and then get a bit "seagull-like" but nothing too objectionable. In an f10 scope they are even better with the definition only falling off in the last 10% of the field. The light transmission through these things is really excellent - a little better than my TV plossls I reckon despite the extra lens element. They really give you a taste of that "spacewalk" feel that Naglers sell on - but at a much, much lower cost. The build quality is pretty good as well - as good as Tele Vue but with screen printed rather than engraved lettering.

If you have an F7 or longer scope and one of these crops up at a good price, say £40-£50, I would recommend it. They were overpriced when new though at £125 or so IMHO. I notice that Chinese clones of these are now appearing on e.bay and elswhere - I'd be interested to see how these perform - they could be great bargain ultrawide field EP's.

John

[John]

thanks Gaz, I appreciate that. For my new f/5 scope, I might well like a couple of new EPs. How about a wide one for Milky Way scanning - say a 40mm and a very powerful one for planets - say a 3mm or 5mm ortho?

What are your recommendations guys? I thought this one for 40mm - http://tinyurl.com/wkn5k . (Zeffer, don't suggest the Axiom again, because I DON'T have 200 quid to spend on an EP, stunning though it may be on the C8!!)

Andrew

I've just picked up a 2inch Orion Optiluxe 40mm which has a 62 degree field for £45. When I get a clear night I'll jot down some notes on how it performs - in my Megrez 90 it will give a 4 degree true field at 16x magnification - so it's definately a wide one !.

John

[russ]

Andrew, steer clear of the Celestron E-Lux range. They've taken a right battering on Cloudynights and Excelsis. A poor range of eyepieces by any standard. People seem happier with the standard Celestron Plossls. Although my Celestron 32mm Plossl performed well in the Intes at f10 but was only average to slightly below average in the f6 ZS66.

I've stuck hard and fast to the Celestron Ulitma/ Orion Ultrascopic/Antares Elite/Parks Gold ranges of eyepieces. Simply superb. Sharp across the field in both the f6 and f10 scopes. Nearly as sharp and contrasty as an Orthoscopic but without the pain. Only have a 52degree AFOV but it's a superb view, not softened.

Russ

[Andrew*]

thanks all for the wave of wise advice. So Dave suggests the E-Lux, but Russ advises me to stay clear of it, though neither of you have used them. Has anyone had any direct experience of it to clarify? Russ and John, the EPs you have recommended sound nice, and therefore expensive. Can you give me an estimate of the price I can expect to pay for these? I've googled the C ultima, but to no avail. Is the general idea that if I go for a 40mm, I should get it with a 2" fitting?

I've just got a nasty feeling that I've entirely taken over this thread. Maybe I should start a new one.

But I rather like the idea of building up a secure knowledge base of EPs. I have very limited knowledge myself, but that I can get from you guys. If you all start re-listing your EPs, and state how they perform and of course their price, I can start to collect the data.

Thanks again all for taking my point. To a newbie, a list of names that I haven't heard of is not in the slightest bit enlightening.

Andrew

[FLO]

Andrew,

Buy two Plossls - 10 and 25mm (ish). Then a barlow and one 2" eyepiece around 30mm. Make them the best you can afford.

Easy

[SteelRat]

32mm Televue (1.25") plossl does it for me. Second hand off the ads for a cool £45. One went not long back on fleabay for £40. Lovely eyepiece and works dead good (technical term) in my T100r. It replaced my 32mm Celestron plossl which was the last ep I kept hold of from my old Celestron accessory set. The celestron one was real nice for my standards but the TV is better. All my ep's are second hand Andrew and that's saved me pots of cash to contribute something toward the bills. New is nice, and there's discounts to be had with the nice kind traders here on SGL - keep yer eye out fer bargains 8)

[Andrew*]

Thanks SR - I'll look out for the TV, and I already am looking at all the possibilities as we type.

Steve - look earlier in the thread and you'll see that I already have what you suggest and I am more than content with them. Now I just need the widefield and a good 9mm that I can triple for planets, or just a straight 3-5mm

Andrew

[Stardust]

I'll have to get that TV 20mm Plossl out again and give it another whirl, haven't used it his year, could be my wonky eyes.

Can't see that happening anytime soom though, very foggy here in Dover.

DAve

[FLO]

Now I just need the widefield and a good 9mm

Ah well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad

[John]

I've stuck hard and fast to the Celestron Ulitma/ Orion Ultrascopic/Antares Elite/Parks Gold ranges of eyepieces. Simply superb. Sharp across the field in both the f6 and f10 scopes. Nearly as sharp and contrasty as an Orthoscopic but without the pain. Only have a 52degree AFOV but it's a superb view, not softened.

Russ

I agree with Russ - these are very good eyepieces and not too expensive used either - there were 3 on astro buy and sell recently for about £25-£30 each. They are as good as Tele Vue Plossls and the range is more extensive - they do a 35mm in the 1.25 inch size which gives a 49 degree field - it's not like looking down a narrow tube like 40mm 1.25 inch EP's. At the other end of the scale the 5mm is pretty decent as well.

John.

[Brass n glass]

I agree 100% as well. I have an Antares 5mm and a 15mm branded Baader Eudiascopic, but they all come out of the same anonymous Japanese factory apparently. I believe they use five elements instead of the conventional Plossl's four. Like orthos, they often get ignored because they're quite cheap, so people tend to assume wrongly that they're probably not much good.

[paul schofield]

Contents on signature. May need a bigger case soon me thinks. Although I am now very happy with my collection. Clear skies one and all.

[swamp thing]

Blimey! this threads first post is by Methuselah it's so old.