Eyepiece advice...

[smulx]

I had quite a few questions so I put them all in the same thread, but it seems it was too long so people couldn't be bothered reading it all. So, I'll split it up so I'm just looking for advice on a few EP's for now.

I'm getting a SW 8" Dob soon and I'm not sure if the EP's that come with it are any good. I didn't want to waste my money on an EP kit knowing that they aren't very good quality, so I was looking for a few decent ones to start off with. Was thinking about..

Skywatcher PanaView 2" eyepieces 32mm - £75

Baader Genuine Orthoscopic 12.5mm - £72

Skywatcher ED Deluxe 2x two-inch Barlow Lens - £57

These ones along with the 10mm and 25mm that come with the scope should give me a good variety. Went for the 12.5mm BGO so I can use it with the barlow and have a high mag option, whereas if I got something like an 8mm, the mag would be too high when doubled. One thing that I wasn't sure about, I noticed that these EP's have really good reviews, but a very small FOV. Is this the best value for money or would I be better off buying something different?

Only reason for choosing that Barlow was because it was more expensive than the standard ones so I assumed it must be better. I plan to get a lot of use out of it as I can't afford lots of EP's, so wanted a good quality one.

Do these choices look okay? Not sure if the money would be better spent on something else. Don't want to end up missing something and ending up without an important magnification.

Thanks.

[Helen]

What do you like to look at? are you more into planets or deep sky? This will make a difference on recommendations.

You ask about narrow field of view, given you're getting a Dob, a wider field might be more useful as you won't need to nudge the scope so often then.

Helen

[smulx]

I'm interested in everything really. Maybe DSO's a bit more than planets though if I had to choose. I wouldn't mind have to nudge the scope a bit more frequently if the reward was a better quality view, which I've read the BGO will provide. Would you suggest I go for something different?

[kidlands]

Seems a pretty good choice to me (I'm no expert) as you can see my EP's give me good coverage.

I have the Panaview 32mm for my DSO's, the Baader 17mm for the midrange and with the fine tuning rings will give me 13mm and 10mm. I then have the WO SPL 6mm for planetary viewing.

Dont know much about the orthoscopic EP's, I would probably go for a 12mm TMB planetary.

The barlow lense is a good one and will drop a 12mm into the 6mm planetary viewing zone, very handy.

Thats my input, feel free to correct me anyone.

[Moonshane]

I agree with the Baader GO 12.5mm. this really is a superb EP. OK the field is a little narrow but it still takes almost a minute for a planet to transit the field in my scopes (and they are 1600 focal length). in yours it would give about 100x. a nice mag.

the view is sharper than my 13mm Ethos on planets in my view which is a remarkable thing to say although it IS a specific planetary EP. this will barlow well as the eye relief if about 10mm so at about 20mm will still be OK.

I am not sure the Panaview would be as good in the barlow though (if that's what you intend) as it has 24mm of ER already and this would double approx to 48mm with the barlow. might create problems. it should be good from what others say on its own though although a little soft at the edges, still decent for the money.

personally, I am happier with more EPs than barlows and I'd spend the money on another EP, perhaps as suggested one of the TMB 'clone' planetaries (maybe from Skies the Limit), perhaps a 7mm giving 171x in your scope would be decent.

you tend not to need as many EPs for wider field rather at the higher mags and hence, I am currently filling in some 'gaps' as the seeing recently has made me realise that to get the best from nights of observation, you need to have a few options. this is the reason I recently bought the 12.5mm BGO as the 11mm plossl was a little high mag for some nights on Jupiter.

once you have your first few EPs (the 25mm with the scopes is apparently usually OK but not the 10mm but see for yourself) then see what 'gaps' emerge from continued use before you make further decisions.

I'd suggest a Telrad and possible a right angled finder as being great choices to assist you in finding things in the first place; as well as some decent maps and maybe Stellarium (free download).

[smulx]

I've been looking at telrad's, I think I'll probably invest in one of them.

Would a 7mm really be worthwhile when I could just barlow the 12.5mm?

I didn't realise the barlow would also double the ER. That 32mm might not be such a good idea then. Not sure what I should do about the low mag option now as I'd really like to be able to use a barlow with it. hmmm

[peteftm]

I ain't had my new scope a week and i'm looking at loads of extras for it! It's a bottomless pit this hobby :-)

[pvaz]

Take it easy! Listen to what I say, don't do what I did!

[Astro_Baby]

I'd advise buy nothing until you have some eyetime in with the EPs that come with the scope - only then will you know what you want. The EPs that come with the scope arent the worlds greatest but they aren't as bad (at least IMHO) as some people would suggest.

The Panaviews are nice for the price and will give decent widefiled with lots of contrast.

I fond for deep sky I mostly use my Panaview for open clusters and my Naader Hyperion 13mm for more dense objects like globulars.

The next most used EP is my 5mm Hyperion but I never find the view very comfortable with it. I have a TMB Planetary II (cost about £30 2nd hand) which I havent had a chance to use yet.

I also have a TAL Plossl in 10mm which provides good views for the price. I have a huge amount of EPs that have yet to be tested out.

What you like can be very different to what others like so I would suggest get some eyetime in and get out to a view viewing evenings where you can use other peoples kit and get a fell for what you like.

[smulx]

I suppose it is better to just wait and see how I go with the 10mm and 25mm. I might get the Barlow at the same time just so I have a bit more variety.

One thing I am curious about now though... would the 40mm of eye relief when using the Panaview with a Barlow make it a useless combination?

[pvaz]

I suppose it is better to just wait and see how I go with the 10mm and 25mm. I might get the Barlow at the same time just so I have a bit more variety.

One thing I am curious about now though... would the 40mm of eye relief when using the Panaview with a Barlow make it a useless combination?

I found my Nagler 31T5 very hard to use when barlowed, but it's doable.

My personal opinion is: unless a barlow allows you to save a significant amount of money you are better off with individual EPs. 4 or 5 EPs are all you'll ever need. 32mm, 15mm, 9mm and 5mm would be my choice in focal lengths. Keeping it on a budget I would get a couple of 70º FoV EPs for the 32 and 15mm and some TMB or Orthos for the 9 and 5mm.

[John]

One thing I am curious about now though... would the 40mm of eye relief when using the Panaview with a Barlow make it a useless combination?

I think Tele Vue recommend a special additional lens system called a Panoptic-barlow interface to address that issue:

Tele Vue Optics: Barlows

[pvaz]

I think Tele Vue recommend a special additional lens system called a Panoptic-barlow interface to address that issue:

Tele Vue Optics: Barlows

Yeah, that's what I got as I already had a bigbarlow and the Pan. Int. was made for it. In fact the combination works as a powermate.

It solved it, but adds another 500g on top of the Nagler's 600 or so grams. I reccon my focuser will need replacement in a year or 2 and my alt friction pads had to be tighten or my dob would nose dive.