Eyepiece for an eyepiece

[oreed]

OK so I am looking at purchasing a 25mm Plossi 1.25inc eyepiece.

I have been looking at the Vixen NPL, Celestron Omni series (but don't do 25mm) or Celstron X-cel?

Any thoughts out there?

cheers,

O.

[CGolder]

25mm BST Explorer is a good eyepiece, owned one and liked it a lot.

For a budget range of eye pieces, they couldn't be more highly recommended, big step up from standard plossl's

Never used the X-cels

Astro baby did a review recently on the vixen which is good reading in the review section

[John]

The Tele Vue plossls are excellent - they cost a little more than some but you do get what you pay for.

[russ]

The Tele Vue plossls are excellent - they cost a little more than some but you do get what you pay for.

The TV 25mm would be a keeper and great investment, especially secondhand.

The Omni Plossl was okay but not brilliant. Certainly not as good as the Nexstar Plossl or one of the GSO Plossls.

The BST Explorer (Paradigm) would be a better bet than the cheap Plossls but currently they are unavailable until April. So secondhand would be the only option.

[oreed]

Thanks all. I see the TeleVue (TV) is around £80 could anyone recommend any secondhand sites.

[E621Keith]

Thanks all. I see the TeleVue (TV) is around £80 could anyone recommend any second secondhand sites.

Astrobuysell and flea bay. TV eyepieces hold their value well, so don't expect them to be cheap.

[oreed]

Any thoughts on x2 Balows? I was looking at the Celestron 'Omni' X2 Barlow but thought about the Celestron 2x Ultima, I know it is double the price but is it worth it?

[John]

The Ultima barlow is much better than the Omni, in my opinion. If you don't want to spend that much on one, the TAL barlow is also of good optical quality.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have 30mm Vixen NPL. Its a fantastic EP. The views are crisp right to the edge and the contrast between light and dark is amazing......so its great for hunting DSO's with.

I also have 4mm Omni which i am impressed with when i use it to observe the moon (not often because conditions have to be perfect for such a small EP). It was a bit more then i wanted to pay for (60 euro brand new). Probably not the best investment i have made.

The TAL barlow is a great bit of kit. Its cheap(ish) but works really really well.

[AlexM]

I got the ultima barlow and it's a nice bit of kit. Robust and does the job. Worth the cash in my opinion.

[brantuk]

I'd agree with those extolling the Celestron Ultima. Also the Orion Shorty barlow which I understand is the same as the Ultima and equivalent in performance. So you have a choice if you see one or other cheaper.

[jleach29]

Do be careful with the shorty barlow lenses if your scope does not have enough inward focus travel it will end up as a nice paperweight, or you will have to buy a low profile focuser like i did.