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eyepieces, eyepieces, eyepieces lol

Jed.

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Jed.

Jed.

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I've spoke to quite a few people on here now and got some great advice with eyepieces but still yet to decide what to buy for my dob 200p.

I dont know the different in quality between cheap eyepieces and medium to expensive eyepieces so the least thing i want to do is purchase a medium priced eyepiece and find that its not much better than a cheap one and/or buy an expensive eyepiece when i could have got pretty much the same quality out of a cheap one

Is there a major different between cheap / fairly price / and expensive eyepieces?

I want to observe planetary and dso's and i don't mind spending up to to around £200 on a few eyepieces!

Thanks

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John

John

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The differences get less as the price rises. There is a significant difference between the eyepieces supplied with a scope and those which cost £40 - £100 each. Above £100 each the differences become less obvious and beyond £200 an eyepiece the differences are very small. This is a generalisation of course but I think it more or less holds good.

In the sub £100 range the TMB Planetary eyepieces and their clones seem to offer the best value for money. Tele Vue plossls are around £60-£70 and are highly thought of as well. Both these types will perform much better than the standard supplied eyepieces.

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xboxdevil

xboxdevil

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I decided that for me it was better to work through cheapo ones then upgrade and upgrade again as and when I felt I would benefit, my rationale for this was so I could appreciate the difference between both ends of the scale. At it's simplest the cheapo ones are duller, suffer more glare and have less contrast and often have a narrower field of view and less eye relief. For Planets you see less detail and the view appears to be more washed out.

I think it's a great idea to buy a few types of second hand ones so you can appreciate the difference in budget, standard & premium plossl's, ortho's and planetaries then you can start looking at the high end stuff and really feel like you've earned it :-)

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Jed.

Jed.

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iv been looking at the hyperions, as their fairly pricey i could probably only purchase 2 to start with maybe 3 eyepieces at a push! so i want to choose the right sizes (mm) to start with, what would you recommend?

If I had the money id buy the set haha!

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John

John

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Tagging onto this question if I may...

I have the standard Celestron eyepiece kit to use with a 900 mm 4" ED refractor. To get better planetary views (at optimum magnification for planetary work) what would be the best eyepiece to go for?

Many thanks

Hi - hope you don't mind but can I suggest you start another thread for your question ?.

It's going to get a bit confusing if we start addressing a different topic !.

Thanks :)

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Jed.

Jed.

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the second site is great thanks for that one!

iv been reading a lot on the hyperions and decided that they are for me ! im going to buy 3 of them for now so were talking £280/90 -- ouch lol

6mm

13mm

21mm

At the moment i do observe the planets a lot but i know i will start observing dso's more and more as time goes on so i think these are for me!

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John

John

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I was just reading your comparison review 'which is very useful indeed' so am i right in saying that you can fine tune the 8mm eyepiece to a 5mm eyepiece John?

You can combine the Hyperion fine tuning rings with most (but not all) of the Hyperions to alter the focal length. Here is a link to a chart of the combinations:

http://www.optcorp.com/pdf/Baader/FineTuneRingChart.jpg

However, while it's relatively easy to do in the comfort of ones home, in the dark, with gloves on, I think it would be a different proposition. You are effectively opening the eyepiece up so that dust / moisture can get in, which has it's risks of course.

So it's a neat feature in concept but perhaps not quite so practical in real life operation.

I'm not a regular Hyperion user so it would be interesting to see what someone who has more experience of using them feels about this feature.

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John

John

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oh I see, due to the fact I could damage the interior of these eyepieces I think I will leave them closed! would I find a barlow of any use with these eyepieces?

Yes, a good quality barlow lens will work quite nicely with them although one good enough to do them justice may cost almost as much as another Hyperion would.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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if you don't wear glasses then you cannot go far wrong with Baader Genuine Orthos. These are my preferred eyepieces for planetary/lunar and double stars. They seem to transit more light and give a much crisper view than most of my other eyepieces.

about £70 new but £40-50 used.

they have a narrow field (40 degrees) but really that's not a problem for planetary etc. even with manual dobs.

not that I disagree with the other comments above of course!

the 'problem' with eyepieces is that there's so much choice, difference of type and range of price that it's so hard to choose if you have not tried them. personally I'd always urge anyone to try before they buy if they can. only then can they tell whether eyepieces will suit their 'optical discretion', scope, preference re eye relief/field of view etc and also of course budget.

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sixela

sixela

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iv been looking at the hyperions, as their fairly pricey i could probably only purchase 2 to start with maybe 3 eyepieces at a push! so i want to choose the right sizes (mm) to start with, what would you recommend?

If I had the money id buy the set haha!

17mm (almost the same true field as the 21mm, which has a smaller apparent field of view) plus a tuning ring to take it to 13.1mm. That has got to be your first one.

It's not that you are going to be changing the focal length often, but it does let you choose the focal length depending on the objects you are going to be observing (and depending on the filters you are going to be using often) before you pack things.

I've done it with gloves at night during a session but my advice is to do it over the booth of the car and not in the field, or you will be dropping things. Don't worry too much about dust in the eyepiece; as the eyepiece open up there easily, it can be cleaned. DO practise removing the field doublet at home first, because some Hyperions open at other places and will spill lenses if you unscrew the wrong thing!

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Jed.

Jed.

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im literally about to order the baader hyperians 8mm 13mm and 21mm its costly but worth it in my oppinion! i do want to do abit of dso's too though do you think these will be good to use for both?

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