Zoom eyepiece for a beginner?

[Indio]

Hi all,

Can you give me your thoughts on zoom eyepieces. I recently bought my first telescope, a Skywatcher 150/1200 and would like to add more flexibility to the bundled 10 & 25mm eyepieces.

I have been looking at the Vixen LV Series 8-24mm Zoom and the Baader 8-24mm Hyperion Zoom MKIII.... Is the baader worth the extra cash over the vixen?.. thoughts?

[miker]

Hi Indio, have a look at this thread on Cloudy Nights.:welcome:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/501284-best-8-24-zoom-eyepiece/?hl=+8#820824=&page=2

Michael

[dannat]

the vixen does provide nice views with the limitd fov, there are similar ep's lke it around for cheaper. you may want to try the cheap seben zoom to see if zooms are for you. the baader has a wider fov at the long end -but then again most don't use zooms at the 24mm end, this ep (http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/item/55962-olivon-125-8mm-to-24mm-zoom-eyepiece/) would also be a great starter zoom, sheldon the seler is also great to deal with -that ep is actually from a spotter scope -& usually sells 100+

[sil]

i switched to using the baader zoom instead of my hyperions. i love it, i did try it in some of my smaller/cheaper scopes and found that it didn't work (achieve focus) in some while my 8 & 20mm baader hyperions did.
currently it lives in a 6in sct, cant remember if it worked in my 127 celestron refractor, two 100mm and under desktop dobs it wont focus in either. C11 it works perfectly in.

[raymo]

I have the Seben 8-24mm, it's great value for money. If you plump for
one of those, make sure it is the 8-24, not the 7-21. My 8-24 works just fine
in my 80mm ref, 8" SCT, and 8" Newt.
raymo

[Renato1]

Yes, I was very impressed with my 8-23 Seben zoom too.
Regards,
Renato