opinions on a getting new eyepieces?

[jakevn (Jake)]

Hey guys i own a bt-202b dobsonian telescope, recently purchased about 4 weeks ago.

I have been using a 30mm Superview (2″) Fully Multi Coated Eyepiece – 68° Field Wide Field, for alot of my nebula's ive been viewing. I absolutely love the field of view on this eyepiece. Could anyone recommend an eyepiece like this under 15-20mm to buy at a budget around $100-$150?


thank you

[dannat (Daniel)]

why not try the 15mm or 20mm superview if you like them, $59 at andrewscom

[Benjamin (Ben)]

Might be pushing the budget but explore scientific eyepieces were great for me when I had my 8" Dob. I only used the 82° line and thought the 6.7mm, 11mm and 18mm were the best in that series. I had to get mine form the US at the time (Agena Astro or Eyepieces etc.) and shipping used to be about US $25. All a bit more expense now than when I got mine but they do have sales every now and again? Maybe some will turn up second hand here or on Cloudynights?

[astro744]

I'll second the 15mm Superview too. My son has one and it is his favourite eyepiece in his ST80. You'll have to spend a lot more to get better.

You'll love the Moon with it and globular clusters too. Also $59.00 at Bintel.

[AEAJR (Ed)]

I have spent the last two years trying and buying and looking through other people’s eyepieces and barlows in a wide range of telescopes. Mine range from 50 mm to 203 mm aperture, 350 mm FL to 1900 mm FL across refractor, Newtonian and Mak. I have looked through but never owned an SCT.

I have come to the following approach for your consideration.

* 1 or 2 low power wide field eyepieces (30 to 40 mm for 2" or 32 mm Plossl for 1.25" )
* Zoom for the midrange - 24 to 8 mm (Zoom is my most used eyepiece in all of my telescopes)
* Barlowed zoom for the high range adding some single wide field eyepieces over time if the need is there.
* Wide AFOV, over 60 degrees, are helpful in manual tracking scopes but may be a luxury in GoTo and motorized tracking scopes.

I never expected the zoom eyepiece to become my primary eyepiece, but it has.

* The Celestron is good and comparable to my Plossl eyepieces but the Baader Hyperion is great and comparable to my Explore Scientific eyepieces
Watching doubles split as I rotate the barrel is wonderful

* One filter serves over a wide range of magnifications, no screwing and unscrewing to try other eyepieces. The Baader is a 1.25" zoom but it has its own 2" collar so, in my XT8i 2” focuser I can move from my 2" low power eyepieces to the zoom and a wide range of magnifications without playing with adapters.

* Moving smoothly from and between small changes in magnification helps when seeing is not the best

* Sharing the view with others is easier, especially in my manual tracking Dob - I can hand it over at low mag so it stays in the view longer, and then have them zoom back in to whatever magnification works best for them rather than for me.

* Kids love the zoom

* My eyepiece case has been greatly simplified


Zoom – My most used eyepiece

Higher Budget – I have the earlier version of this one. If you tend to buy eyepieces over $150 each then consider the highly recommend and highly praised Baader Hyperion Mark IV Click Stop 8-24 Zoom. $280 or $380 with matching barlow. This would likely be your most used eyepiece. This is a very high quality eyepiece. I have links to discussion where people have stopped using their single FL eyepieces and just use this one.
http://agenaastro.com/baader-8-24mm-...e-2454826.html


Lower Budget - I have this one - really like it. If you tend to buy eyepieces $80 or lower then consider the Celestron 8-24 Zoom. $60 – Good quality and very versatile. Not as good as the Baader but about 1/4 the price for the more budget minded astronomer.
http://agenaastro.com/celestron-8-24...-eyepiece.html


zoom eyepiece review - Includes the Celestron Zoom
http://www.chuckhawks.com/comparison_zoom_eyepieces.htm

Baader Hyperian Mark III Clickstop zoom review
http://www.weasner.com/co/Reviews/20...ece/index.html

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

I second the 15 and. 20mm SV,s ,these are the bargain of the century .

Having heard all about them I outlay 'd the sum of $120 and grabbed both from Andrews just to compare them to my Panoptic,s of 15 and 19mm and I will say at 1/7th the cost of the TV,s they perform easily 90%optically ,,,, don't know how they do it for the price?
Amazing!!!.

Anyway these will do you proud for years and I hardly lost any money selling them on here , they sold very fast as people are looking out for these .

My 5 c and I hope it helps.

Brian.