Few high quality or lots of things?

[wavelandscott]

This is a question I have been thinking about...

While I recognize that the answer will be different for each individual I will pose it anyway...

I now completely undersand the desire to have one of everything...but I wonder...(some would say wander too!)

Which is better...obtaining fewer "high quality" (read expensive)accessories that can last a lifetime and be used in a variety of scopes...or

Churn through a lot of "budget" pieces of gear...

My humble thoughts tend to lean to the fewer high end pieces...with a plan to acquire 1 or 2 (maybe more wife allowing) top end things over a longer period of time...

but, I can clearly see the fun in naked consumerism...buying something new on a regular basis..although not spending as much money each time.

So what do you think?

[gbeal]

Heck, what a question. But I'll wade in and make a clown of myself.
I subscribe to both.
I love Zeiss gear, and have three scopes, and a swag of accessories, some costing a little, and other (yeah alright most of them) costing a heap.
I have a Tak Mewlon, again an expensive scope, and Tak eyepieces, ditto.
I do however like to buy, try, and sell later, and the cheaper stuff is good for this. I have tried quite a few cheaper eyepieces, but normally recall the views of the more expensive ones. This leads me to sell the cheaper ones, and try others, and so it goes on.
I firmly believe you get what you pay for in astro gear. What determines your taste is your budget, and your aspirations.
As long as you are having fun, who cares, it is always good to be out at night, just looking up.
Gary

[Dave47tuc]

This ? is hard and everyone will have his or her say.
Mine is don't worry to much what the person down the road has!

It has taken me 20 years+ to get what i think is a great set of eyepieces. I would still change one or two :confuse3:

As for telescopes just enjoy the one you have. I have looked through some of the best telescopes in the world!

I finally got over "I wish i had". Now i enjoy what i have.:)

Best.

:astron:

[beren]

I guess understanding and knowing where you are on the evolutionary scale of "backyard astronomy" can help in equipment purchasing , the more you use your existing gear the better off you will be in determing if a new accessorie will be beneficial to you as you progress. Purchases that ive made have "been the best i could afford "at that time , for the most part a simple cardboard tube newtonian with a set of plossl eyepices have been my tools and ive been content with that . With a little experiance comes stronger commitment and maybe a desire to purchase higher end stuff , while i was happy with my eyepieces looking through widefeild eyepieces for instance is very rewarding personally . Looking back at the time i brought my simple reflector i could have extended myself and brought a scope with more gizmos and gadgets but in the scheme of things maybe my experiance at the time didnt warrant such a purchase . On the other hand the purchase of one premium eyepiece has been very satisfying and i would gladily keep it and give up my others. In the end know where you stand , know your budget , do your research and be content.

[wavelandscott]

Aragon (and others),

This is a very individual thing...

I like your comments and largely agree I think equipment is something that you need to grow into that is why I think a few well made (thoughtful) choices acquired over time will be more rewarding...

Give a man a fish and feed him for the day...teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime...or something like that...

I find the idea of "earning" through effort to be an appealing concept...that is one of the reasons that I've started with a Dob and not a whiz bang goto thingamajig...I am sure that they are nifty too, just not the thing for me today...

[rumples riot]

My feel is that buying a few items that are of good quality, yes you do get what you pay for, is the right way to go. Good quality stuff produces good quality results. Items that are of lesser quality will usually produce lesser results. So I think that getting a whole lot of cheap stuff will inevitably lead to disappointment and finally will need replacing. Or at worst will lead you to leave the hobby.

Anyway, thats just what I think.

[ving]

lets see. there is no right answer i think so heres my answer...

provided you are starting out.. get some cheapies and then later buy a good one. but still there are some very good cheapies by companies like GSO so you may be content with them :)

[Late_Cretaceous]

I tend to agree with ving.

Starting out with the less expensive items is a good way to see how much time, effort, and money you really are willing to put into a hobby in the long run. If after a few years you find yourself still interested and wanting more then go ahead and purchase the best that money can buy.

That being said, quality should always come first no matter how much money you have to spend. If all you can afford is a few hundred $$, then make sure you are getting the best optics available for that price. My philosophy is that in some cases, you can pay 200% more for some items that give a 10% improvement in performance. In such cases, only the most dedicated and discriminating hobbiests will find benifit in spending the extra money.

[Starkler]

Another way to look at it is if you buy quality and later leave the hobby, you can always sell later and recoup much of your costs, whilst cheap crappy stuff will be very hard to sell for anything more than a token value.

Theres nothing wrong with using a few good quality plossls and a good barlow and can keep an observer happy for years.

Where money gets wasted is on cheap eyepieces that try to emulate properties of expensive eyepieces but at a budget price.
They invariably end up doing nothing very well and you are better off to stick to good plossls.

Also cheap barlows are a waste of money as the poor coatings cause horrible ghost images and likely also suffer from false colour. These problems make them next to useless for viewing the planets, where good contrast is everything.

[Xero]

Hmm, I feel I should toss a few pennies in here...

As a young (started at 13, now 22) observer, I started out with a 60mm refractor with some of the cheapest, non-standard sized EPs and Barlow you would ever want to have a nightmare of, but it worked for my budding intrest. Recently I purchased an Orion SpaceProbe 130ST on sale for about $250. It has 2 Plossl EPs and I purchased the Shorty 2x Barlow. With just those items (cheap but good) I have no need to buy expensive accesories. But when the time comes I prolly will get some better EPs + barlow. I guess it just depends on what you need to do. If you go out every clear night and make detailed logs and take pics, maybe you should go for the expensive stuff. Otherwise stick to mid-priced items with good reviews you should be good to go!

How many pennies was that... ( i'm saving for a new car )

[ballaratdragons]

What kind of car Xero, Meade, Celestron or Guan Sheng? lol

[Xero]

A pretty 18" Dob.

[ballaratdragons]

:driving: An 18" Dob will cost more than a car!

Once you go over 12" you are talking mega-bucks:eek: (unless you make your own scope).

[ballaratdragons]

Hey Xero,

You can set yourself up for many years with a 8" or 10" Dobber, a few Plossls, a short Barlow, and probably a couple of 2" EP's all of good quality and keep the price under $1000.