Best value wide angle eyepieces?

[starscy]

What are the best value wide angle eyepieces (with a focal length between 25mm and 40mm) currently available in the UK market that perform reasonably well in a fast Netwronian?

[John]

Oh thats a difficult one !. It all depends on the trade off's that an individual is prepare to accept. Do you mean wide angle (ie: 65 -70 degrees) or ultra wide (ie: 80 - 100 degees) ?.

[Chris H]

Moonfish ep's get a good review and I have read that they work well at F5, not sure where you would get one from in the UK. Other than that I use a Skywatcher Nirvana 28mm eyepiece in my F4.7 Dob and it is excellent FLO sell them for £245

[russ]

Moonfish ep's get a good review and I have read that they work well at F5, not sure where you would get one from in the UK. Other than that I use a Skywatcher Nirvana 28mm eyepiece in my F4.7 Dob and it is excellent FLO sell them for £245

Unfortunately the Moonfish 80deg is possibly the worlds worst eyepiece at F5......we are talking real ugly field of view. Great at F10 though, good for the SCT.

Nirvana is a really nice eyepiece for the money. Almost a Nagler for a lot less.

[citaylor]

Ah, is the question "best, value" or "best value"?

Ie, the best cheap ep's or the ones that are the best value for money...

[magic77]

I was in this Dilemma not too long ago.....After lots of research and lots of help from members here i had narrowed it down to....

1.Skywatcher Panaview 2" 32mm

2.Adler optic Skarp 2" 32mm

3.Williams optics SWAN 2" 33mm

I didnt want to spend too much either, but also i didnt want to have to compromise....In the end i went for a 32mm TeleVue Plossl...Its been a fantastic eyepiece.....

[John]

There is a saying:

"cheap / wide angle / works really well in fast scopes - pick any two"

I'd agree 100% with Russ on the Moonfish - I used to have the Japanese Widescan III that the Moonfish was a clone of and even that one was poor in scopes faster than F/7.

Personally I think the Nirvana's that Chris mentions perform very well - near premium performance at about 60% of the price of brands like Tele Vue.

I've also been impressed with the Skywatcher Aero ED wide angles.

[tomw28]

I've not got any but the Baader Hyperions are meant to be good. At £90ish they're not cheap but a lot cheaper than some of the alternatives. The FOV isnt as wide as others (68 degress) but wide enogh for many. They also give a range of focal lengths with the fine-tuning rings.

Tom

[WayBig]

What to you mean by wide?

there were some good offers on meade 5000 SWAs recently (68degrees I think) and UWAs which I think are 82degrees. There were some threads on here a month or so back.

[starscy]

They don't have to be ultra wide, but they have to be at least a little wider than eyepieces such as Plossls.

[sixela]

Meade SWAs (search "wide fishes") from astroshop.eu

Explore Scientific 82° eyepieces from US dealers who ship to the UK (e.g. Meade Telescopes, Celestron Telescopes and Telescope Accessories - OPT Telescopes, which uses UPS to ship things rather than USPS->ParcelFarce if you select the correct shipping option). The models up to 14mm are only $99 (plus shipping, 4.2% import duties and VAT).

[Chris H]

Moonfish ep's get a good review and I have read that they work well at F5

Have checked what I read, it was a thread on the forum from 2006 and the contributor who said it worked well at F5 is a banned user so maybe we can take what he said with more than a pinch of salt. Ignore what I said about the Moonfish.

How about a Televue Panoptic 27mm ep, currently £266 at Telescope house but starting on Feb 9th they have 20% of making them real good value for money.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The Meade UWAs are 82 degrees, but not much cheaper than Naglers over here. I am intrigued by the 85 deg Carl Zeiss 30 mm sold by APM. They are slightly weird-looking EPs, having been removed from some Carl Zeiss instrument and converted to 2" mount. They are about 65% of the cost of a Nagler. They may be an older Zeiss design, so they may not match a Nagler performance-wise, but even older Zeiss kit is usually very good.

[GazK]

I've not got any but the Baader Hyperions are meant to be good. At £90ish they're not cheap but a lot cheaper than some of the alternatives. The FOV isnt as wide as others (68 degress) but wide enogh for many. They also give a range of focal lengths with the fine-tuning rings.

Tom

I second this - I just bought the 17mm hyperion and a 28mm extension ring which turns it into a 10.8mm. Took it out last night and in my f/5 scope it is fantastic - sharp almost to the edge - but what really blew my socks off is that £9 for the ext ring gives you a 10mm which performs just as well. Even more, you can unscrew the bottom element and it becomes a 22mm! Only trubs is I cant achieve sharp focus on that one, but that's just a spacer mod away...