[AEAJR (Ed)]

I love my BHZ and use it more than any other eyepiece, but I do have other eyepieces. Last night I decided to leave the BHZ in the case. I was using my Orion XT8i Intelliscope, but was using it manually, no computer.

I pulled out my 2" Explore Scientific 25 mm 70 degree, no longer available, ES 82 8.8 and 6.7, Meade 5000 SWA 5.5 and HD60 4.5, for a zoomless night with Orion. This is how I used to observe before I had a zoom.

The ES 82s and the Meade 5000 are really nice eyepieces and I always enjoy using them BUT last night I was reminded why I have become a zoom junkie. Swapping is a pain. Selection of eyepieces becomes part of the observation process taking my attention from the target.

Perhaps if I tended to stay with one target a long time I might feel differently, but I tend to observe for 5-15 minutes then move on in most cases. That involves moving between higher and lower mag to find the best view or to help with the hopping for each target.

Before I had the zoom eyepieces this never bothered me, it was just how it worked. Swapping was even fun, trying this and trying that. But not anymore.

Now I have known the convenience of the BHZ and how the eyepiece now disappears in my observing. I don't think about FL or FOV, I don't think about the eyepiece at all. I focus on the targets and move in or out at will with no thought to the eyepiece. My attention is on the target, not the equipment.

It was a fun exercise, and I have no intention of selling my eyepieces, but the BHZ will be back in the focuser most of the time going forward. This might not be your cup of tea but it is certainly mine.

"Hi, my name is Ed and I am addicted to the BHZ. I have no intention of kicking the addiction and intend to addict others."


Edit: I should have noted that I would normally use the BHZ in a 2X barlow to be in the same range as the ES 82s and the Meade eyepieces I mentioned. Also, I tend to use the BHZ mostly in the 18 to 8 mm range/9 to 4 mm barlowed. The 20 to 24 mm tends to be a transition range, moving from target to target but I don't typically spend much time in that range observing.