Vintage plossls (Halloween, Silvertop, etc)

[MortonH]

Just wondering if anyone owns and/or uses the classic '80s and '90s Celestron Plossls? The three main sets I believe are Ultimas, Silvertops and Halloween. Strictly speaking the Ultimas are a pseudo-Masuyama 5-element design, I think.

I just bought 26mm and 10mm Halloween Plossls on IIS classifieds and am waiting for them to arrive. I'm sure it's mainly nostalgia that prompted my purchase but you do see posts on CN from time to time where people are still using them or trying to complete their set of all focal lengths.

Wouldn't mind my own set from 10mm upwards.

Any old school Plossl lovers out there? :D

[FlashDrive]

Yep ....I'm one ... I consider the ' early ' Japanese Plossl a great eyepiece to have.

I have the Vixen / Celestron and Meade smooth side Plossls in my collection.

I found a very nice and hard to find Vixen 45mm / 1.25 Eyepiece a little while ago....see pics.... brilliant performer...

I consider these to be ' up there ' with the modern Plossls ... in fact I enjoy them more so, because of their sharpness / clarity and lightness / and Japanese Quality.

A couple I use are the ' black top ' Vixen and Celestron 26mm Plossl.
I have a couple of Meade 3000 series eyepieces ... 26mm and a 18mm

Celestron Ulitma 12mm, 18mm and the 42mm 1.25 eyepieces.... would like to to get a 24mm Ultima.

and a 40mm Grenade 2" Meade 4000 series Super Wide Angle Eyepiece .... a giant of an eyepiece.

There are other early Japanese eyepieces I have ...to numerous to list.

Why do I have them .... not made anymore / available on the S/H Market / and are sort after by those who regard them worthy for their eyepiece collection.

BTW ...... when you do find them available in good / excellent condition they can be bought for less than 1/2 the price of modern day Plossl's

I still look for them even today on the Net.

Flash .....:D

[MortonH]

I came across an ad on IIS from about 3 years ago for a 23mm Ultima wide angle 70º. Edge correction apparently isn't perfect but it must have been something in its day. Wouldn't mind one of them to try out.

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: As Flash knows , we have had a too and fro over the years concerning these eyepieces , and I still have the origonal 'Silver top' 26mm Plossl and its so good it lives in the case of my 60mm triplet full time along with a ES6.8 and Ultima 2x Barlow ( thanks Flash :thumbsup: ) , a very good made in Japan eyepiece .
Brian.

[MortonH]

Nice. That's kind of what I'm thinking - a small set of Plossls and Barlow that will live with my SV66ED in a camera backpack.

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: great minds think alike .
I am only 1 TV plossl away from a full set , these will live with the 80mm f12 Mizar , going to be a planet killing set up ,.,, this scope is very good , a step or two above a short ( f5-8) doublet , very like my old Zeiss telementor , good quality finish shows .

thanks Mortin
Aye Flash :rundog:
Aye Flash ,

Lewis ?


Brian.

[FlashDrive]

If you can find one's in good / excellent condition.... you cannot go wrong.

They are so good... I'm amazed at the crispness and contrast of the one's I have.

Flash... :D

[MortonH]

Nice!!!

[Wavytone]

Morton, Masuyamas - having had a couple - most definitely are not plossls. They're more similar to the Vixen LV series (also 5 elements) as well as later copies such as Celestron XCel, some of which - not all - are excellent value IMHO.

Plossls are a 4-element design, basically two plano-convex achromatic doublets with the convex surfaces face to face (i.e. the plano sides are outwards, facing the focal plane, and the eye).

Despite their simplicity plossls also happen to be a excellent match for the average amateur newtonian, if you like moderate fields of view.They can be a poor match for fast refractors as the field curvature won't match. On f/10 or slower SCT's or Maks they'll be fine.

[dannat]

agree with wavy the masuyamas are a 5-el design, & their clones like the celestron ultimas/park GS etc..while they were sold as plossl that name came from meade i think who called them super plossl in an 80's catalogue or something.
.the japan made eyepieces are very good, a bit better than a standard symmetrical which is often sold as plossl.
very few actual yplossl out there, clave is one i know of but just for olecctors now [i do fet to use a set at Melb obs]
the orange lettered halloween plossl are also very good, i think they aren't a true plossl but a symetrical

[MortonH]

OK, maybe I shouldn't have specified "Plossl" in the title :P Maybe I shouldn't have specified Celestron either as there are some good ones from other brands too.

I guess what I'm referring to are the "simple" four and five-element eyepieces sold by Celestron, Meade, Parks, Orion, etc. that are often referred to as "Plossls" even when they're not. :D

[MortonH]

Received the 26mm and 10mm Halloweens today and just gave them a quick try out in solar in my SV66ED and Lunt wedge. The 26mm gives a lovely view. Lots of eye relief obviously which makes it easy to use although you do get some stray light. I've got a rubber eye guard around somewhere I might add to it.

I then tried the 10m and compared it to my SLV 10mm. Couldn't see any obvious differences in image quality but I noticed the difference in eye relief immediately. It's a long, long time since I've looked through an eyepiece with only 7mm of eye relief! :lol:

Actually my eye socket seemed to rest comfortably on the edge of the eyepiece and position my eye perfectly. Not sure I'd want to do that on a freezing cold night but it works! In comparison the SLV with its 20mm of eye relief felt so different and more comfortable.

Forecast is clear tonight so will get them out under the stars later. :D

[MortonH]

Just spent two glorious hours using nothing but the two Plossls and a 2x Barlow in my 80ED. The first hour or so I re-discovered the joys of open clusters. Normally I have them switched off in Sky Safari as there are so many they take over the whole screen on my tablet.

Tonight I picked my way around Canis Major and Puppis (ok, I cheated by using Sky Commander on my DSV-3 to find everything :P).

Then I checked out some of the brighter nebulae (Tarantula, Eta Carina, etc) and even a few planetary nebulae. The contrast of the Plossls is still very good after all these years. I put a rubber eyeguard on the 26mm to make it easier to use. The 10mm only has about 7mm of eye relief so it doesn't need a guard. Surprisingly I didn't find the short ER much of an issue. Luckily I don't wear glasses to observe.

The classic collection has started! :D

[FlashDrive]

Well done ... now to find some more ...:thumbsup:

Col...

[MortonH]

If I can find a 17mm or 18mm of them I'd have a nice spread of magnifications for most objects. I love the large eye lenses of the longer models (actually the Ultimas, 30mm and up) so one of them would be nice too.

[FlashDrive]

I have the 18mm and the 26mm Meade Super Wide Angle Smooth Side Eyepieces .... they are really nice ....

Search them out .... if you find, I recommend them...

Col...

[MortonH]

Cool. Will keep them in mind.

For now I'm looking at the Halloween Plossls or Ultimas as I love the black and orange!

I'll post a wanted ad and see what happens.

[MortonH]

I've spent this evening with my new FS-102 and have tried a lot of my eyepieces in it. You'll be surprised to learn that the 26mm Halloween Plossl has spent as much time in the focuser as anything else. It just works amazingly well in the Tak and gives a perfect field of view for a lot of star clusters.


Link to my Wanted ad :D

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=142413

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: Awsome outcome Morton , enjoy my friend , you have a great set up ,,, happening ...
And no my orange and black aint for sale , good luck in finding some as they are out there .
Brian.

[MortonH]

Nice car! :D

[brian nordstrom]

Smooth me all you want ,, it is still not for sale

[MortonH]

Received three little beauties from Flashdrive today :thanks:

My collection has now increased to five:

- Halloween Plossl 10mm
- Ultima 12.5mm
- Ultrascopic 15mm
- Ultima 18mm
- Halloween Plossl 26mm

Gave the newcomers a quick try out on the sun after work. Very sharp, and really comfortable with the winged eye-guards.

A couple of Silvertops should be coming next week...

[MortonH]

Just tried all of these on the crescent Moon and the FS-102. Very, very impressive. Excellent control of scattered light and good contrast.

The 11mm DeLite was a bit brighter and sharper, but these eyepieces are still great performers. The 18mm Ultima and 15mm Ultrascopic were the best ones and may see some regular use in my main eyepiece set since I have a gap at those focal lengths.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Flash , you are the Man brother ! , the less light loss between the sky and eye is the best , well done my friends .

ps, Morton I have one of these eye guards here if you want it for the 10mm , PM me , its the cost of post .

Brian.

[MortonH]

Thanks Brian. The 10mm doesn't need an eyeguard since the eye relief is so short. But I'll keep it mind. :thumbsup:

[MortonH]

The finished (for now) collection:

Back row: Celestron Halloween Plossls 10mm & 26mm, Orion Ultrascopic 35mm, Celestron Ultimas 18mm & 12mm

Middle: Celestron Silvertop (Gen 2) Plossl 22mm, Orion Ultrascopic 15mm

Front: Celestron Silvertop (Gen 3) Plossl 10mm


Very happy with all of them. Surprisingly good performance, especially the Ultrascopics and Silvertops. :D

[MortonH]

The collection has continued to grow. So much for my original intention of just buying a few Plossls... :rolleyes:

The amazing thing is how good some of these oldies are. The 35mm Ultrascopic, for example, is a real stunner. The orthos are so sharp and I don't find the narrow field of view to be such an issue, even with an undriven scope.

The best one so far is a Tele Vue 7.4mm Plossl that I acquired a couple of days ago. The sharpness and contrast are incredible. I had expected I would sell it but it's too good.

A big thank you to Col (Flashdrive) who sold me all the pseudo-Masuyamas. :thanx: