Best budget plossls?

[milkyjoe]

Hi.

I need some advice about plossls. I need a few but don't want to spend a fortune on them so that discounts the likes of Baader and Televue! What other plossls are out there that are good value for money and provide sharp, crips, good contrast views?

Thanks,

Richard.

[Mr Spock]

Vixen NPLs are good, not too expensive either:- Vixen

[SimonR]

I've been looking for the same thing. I came across this review, comparing Televue, Brandon and GSO plossls. The GSOs come out of it quite well;

http://www.brayebrookobservatory.org/BrayObsWebSite/HOMEPAGE/PageMill_Resources/Comparison%20test%20of%20TVPlossl%20vs%20Brandon.pdf

[mallorcasaint]

I've just bought the Revelation Eyepiece Set (£127) from FLO and I'm very pleased with the quality and performance.

Eyepiece Sets - Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece kit

[twotter]

I like my GSO & Meade 4000 plossls, though the GSOs are a little bit nicer

[John]

Are the Revelation plossls the same as GSO's ?

With the exception of the logo printing they certainly look the same.

[Dave-Ryan]

You should be able to pick up the Meade 4000 series plossls on ebay for around £20 each. I have a full set of these and are good value for that price.

[jamespels]

Are the Revelation plossls the same as GSO's ?

With the exception of the logo printing they certainly look the same.

Yep, been digging into this quite a bit. Revelation seems to be a GSO brand (along with many others!)

[SimonR]

To be fair, the original question was - what is the best budget plossl? - and the review I quoted above only tested one brand of 'budget' plossl against the classier types. The GSOs come out of it quite well, considering their price, but there may be other brands that do as well. Also, although the author doesn't mention it, his results for the TeleVues are consistently good while the GSO results, mostly good, are a bit more variable. But what it does suggest is that you can get a very good eyepiece without having to go to a 'Rolls Royce' brand.

The 32mm in the Revelation set, with the special photographic adaptation, does look remarkably like this GSO one:

GSO GSO 32-PI 32mm Super Plossl visual & Photo-imaging eyepiece

[bombassa]

Hi

I'll give a vote for the Vixen NPL.

[John]

I tried a few of the Celestron Omni plossls a short while ago ( the 9mm, 6mm and 4mm). While not in the Tele Vue class, for their cost I thought they put up decent images. The field stop edge on the 6mm was a bit soft but the glass and coatings seemed good and I did not notice undue ghosting or more than a little light scattering around bright objects. First Light Optics are doing Omni's for less than £20 each with their current promotional offer.

[russ]

John, they were okay those Omni Plossls, although i sold them on again because i raided the Astroboot for the Silvertops which were definitely better. Also replaced the 6mm Omni with a 6mm Nexstar Plossl and that too was better.

We have also got the Skywatcher Super Plossl 20mm, which is excellent. And the Orion Sirius Plossl 17mm, which is also excellent.

The Meade 4000 9.7mm we have is okay but not as good as the 10mm Silvertop or Orion Sirius 10mm. I think the Orion is another GSO re-brand.

[AWR]

I'll add another vote for the Vixen NPL plossls. I REALLY like my 15mm.

Andrew

[John]

John, they were okay those Omni Plossls, although i sold them on again because i raided the Astroboot for the Silvertops which were definitely better. Also replaced the 6mm Omni with a 6mm Nexstar Plossl and that too was better.

We have also got the Skywatcher Super Plossl 20mm, which is excellent. And the Orion Sirius Plossl 17mm, which is also excellent.

The Meade 4000 9.7mm we have is okay but not as good as the 10mm Silvertop or Orion Sirius 10mm. I think the Orion is another GSO re-brand.

Are those the chinese / taiwanese sivertops Russ or the Japanese Vixen / Celestron ones ?.

The former are pretty nice and the latter excellent

I always used to like the Japanese Meade 3000 series - better than the 4000's IMHO although the lens edges were not blackened on them. I tried to sell a few some years back and could only get peanuts for them

[russ]

Just the Chinese ones sadly John. The Japanese Vixen jobs go for a bomb and are snapped up. But the cheap ones do the job better than most of the cheaper plossls around.

[nightfisher]

i have a 32mm gso and love it for wide field, i also have the 2 tal plossl ep`s that came with the 100rs and they are really good

[Nice But]

Are the Skywatcher plossi's any good. The EP's that come with the 130EQ aren't the best so a set of Plossi's are the next upgrade...... going on warthog's excellent post I need a 7.5/20/26 and a 2 x barlow !!!!

[mallorcasaint]

The Revelations are GSO's I believe. The 32mm is a cracking piece of kit for the price. I was using my revelation ep's tonight up at the NLO and they performed extremely well. It is all very well promoting expensive ep's, and we would all love the best, but for a good, quality starter kit the Revelations from FLO are hard to beat.

[Parus major]

I tried a few of the Celestron Omni plossls a short while ago ( the 9mm, 6mm and 4mm). While not in the Tele Vue class, for their cost I thought they put up decent images. The field stop edge on the 6mm was a bit soft but the glass and coatings seemed good and I did not notice undue ghosting or more than a little light scattering around bright objects. First Light Optics are doing Omni's for less than £20 each with their current promotional offer.

Yes, I've bought a few from different places when I first got my scope and though I've not been convinced to the claim that the prices ever reached the RRP of £60, the stickers on the boxes being £45 means they're more than fair at the twenty-odd quid Rother valley and FLO have them for. I agree about the 6mm but I did find the 15mm to be good in my scope.

[bombassa]

i have a 32mm gso and love it for wide field

Thank you I have been looking at this and will try one now.

[milkyjoe]

Does anyone know where I can get hold of some meade 3000 series plossls please, I have the 25mm and it's excellent? :-D

Thanks.

[Jimmy Stix]

Arrrrrrrrrrgh! Stop! Stop! Stop!

I now want some Plossl's and I can't afford any at the moment. I know I have only just got my scope but you all make them sound so good. I think I have the disease in a chronic form now!

[milkyjoe]

Plossls are good my friend. I've yet to see what radians/nagglers are like, but I would need to remortgage by house to be able to afford a set! lol

[John]

Does anyone know where I can get hold of some meade 3000 series plossls please, I have the 25mm and it's excellent? :-D

Thanks.

I think it's going to have to be used I'm afraid - they are out of production now.

You might try a "wanted" ad on the Astro Buy & Sell website - it's surprising what's out there if you ask

[Moonshane]

As much as I love my wide field eyepieces, when looking at the moon, planets or double stars, I much prefer plossls and orthoscopics. tracking helps, especially at higher magnifications but I was looking at the moon last night at 250x + and Saturn at 228x+ with a 50 and 40 degree field with a manual dob and it's straight forward to track manually. that said, I am building (or planning anyway) an equatorial platform for my dobs which will help.

I have bought good quality eyepieces but recently also used some cheaper ones (like a plastic 20mm Kellner in a standard Skywatcher Barlow) and the quality was reasonably acceptable.

Not that I have tried them all but for me there are very few truly terrible eyepieces these days and every one of them has some benefits which overcome the negatives, be it cheap price or being able to actually see something you couldn't without it!