Essential eyepiece set for life after decade of observing

[janoskiss]

After a decade of being an astute visual observer, having tried most gear on offer, and having shown the night sky to many thousands of people with attention to what works for them and what works for me I was ready to rationalise my EP collection. So this is the final cut (for scopes up to 12" aperture at any f-ratio):

30 mm Parks Gold Series (or equivalent)
12 mm Pentax XF
8.5 mm Pentax XF
1.25" FMC Japanese fully baffled long barlow - Orion Ultrascopic branded

I still don't have the 30mm GS. I have an Antares Elite 25mm instead, which will do nicely till I have the cash to splash. If need be, I'd also add a good shorty barlow (e.g., Celestron Ultima) for scopes that need it to reach focus.

My criteria were: high optical performance, a versatile range of magnifications, comfort for me and everyone else, a generous field of view, in an easy to manage, lightweight and compact package. Price was also a factor - but it turns out that even if money was not an issue, I'd still go the same way.

Please share your thoughts.

[David Niven]

Nice.
The 8.5 and 12mm Pentax are indeed excellent and they are a steal for less than $200!
They are my favorite ep too and they come with Lant hanum glass.

[Steffen]

It is amazing (and I've come to that realisation myself only recently) how few eyepieces one needs to be happy. For me it's two, with a third or forth in the wings for special situations.

Cheers
Steffen.

[Max Vondel]

A good selection of eyepieces that won't break the piggy bank.
I'm also a great fan of the Pentax XF series and use 2 x Pentax 8.5 XF in a binoviewer.
I tend to use cheaper eyepieces for public viewing.
Good onya for promoting our wonderful hobby
;)

[GrahamL]

Hi Steve
Aside a strange recuring theme of buying short focal length orthos and selling them at a loss because of poor eye relief

I use a similar spread in my 12" and find the 3 work well enough
the 8.5xf I've never thought to sell as its such a good little ting :)
I am quite liking a 32 tv plossl atm to.

I guess the pentax barlows alright ?

graham

[dannat]

I concur, I like as lightly higher mag so have
19mm Siebert 70deg
10mm baader class ic ortho
6mm baader classic ortho

The other thing I like about your set steve is they are relatively light weight-something I always look for, especially in focal lengths below 20mm

I also now use a unitron 40mm as have acquired an etx125 OTA

The parks gold series are also celestron ultima, Antares elite ! Orin ultrascopic & several other names. Very clean ep, an ortho with the view of a plossl

[janoskiss]

Steffen, you're right, less is often more. But it takes years to figure out what one wants.

Peter / Max, what binoviewer do you use?

Graham, yes the XFs barlow very nicely.

Daniel, it's a shame that all those Parks GS equivalent EPs are longer made. Besides the 25mm, I also have the 15mm Elite (which is a keeper as well because it's such a nice little EP).

[knightrider]

Steve, are all your eyepieces 1.25"? What scope are you coupling them with?

[FlashDrive]

Great Eyepieces the Orion Ultrascopic's/ Parks / Celestron Ultimate's.

I have both the Orion Ultrascopic 35mm and 15mm Eyepieces.

Recently acquired a 30mm and 15mm Plossl made in Japan...and these were the pre- Ultimate's version.

These are the rare original made in Japan 30mm and 15mm plossl Eyepiece. Essentially the pre celestron ultima 30 and 15 eyepieces before celestron called them the ultima line. One of the finest if not the best plossl ever made with large eye lens and great eye relief. Great eyepieces and very rare. These particular eyepieces were sold in Germany as the Eudiascopic.

These are VERY nice indeed....and they are keepers.

Flash.....:D

[janoskiss]

Nice EPs Flash. I wish I had the 30 and 35mm. The 35mm is a clever one with the focal plane outside the barrel, allowing for wider AFOV than is normally possible for a 1.25" EP.



I had many EPs over the years, both 2" and 1.25". Now I mostly prefer compact lighyweight 1.25" EPs as they are easier to manage especially at big events.

But I do have a 30mm 2" 80-degree FOV Chinese EP (same as Moonfish), which I use a fair bit in a very good baffled Japanese long 2" barlow, where it performs brilliantly as a 12mm - great contrast & sharp off axis. Put it this way: I do not miss my old 12mm Nagler T4! But without the barlow it's pretty crappy in faster scopes (lots of off-axis astigmatism). Also in regular (not so long) 2" barlows it's only so-so.

Scopes I use include a 10" f/4.7 Saxon (Skywatcher), a 6" f/10 Intes Mak, a divine 6" Tak in the observatory at La Trobe Uni and a 12" Meade SCT also at LTU. I also have an 8" f/4 but the coating on the primary is showing its age.

[knightrider]

Interesting to see what's worked well for others.

I have a fairly simple eyepiece set, but having never compared to expensive eyepieces I can't tell if I'm missing out. I'm happy with the views they give, and I can't imagine the quality or clarity becoming marginally better.