WANTED: Wide angle (80 degrees) EP

[DobDobDob]

If anyone has a surplus wide angle eyepiece, up to about 80 degrees, say around 30mm and wants to part with it for a very reasonable price, I am all ears :P

[Miaplacidus]

Hi Ron,

This might spark off an old debate. (Some people either love or hate the Andrews 30mm UWA two inch eyepiece.) At sub-$150, I think it is still one of the best value-for-money, long focal length EPs around. If your scope has reasonable focal length (greater than F7), they you could consider that.

Cheers,

Brian.

PS Sorry to hear about your ears.:P

[DobDobDob]

Yes I had and am considering that, thank you. I'm just wanting to see if anyone has an extra one they don't want and of course the opportunity to save a few dollars in the deal. ;)

[casstony]

Ron, in case you hadn't noticed, Bintel sells the 30mm UWA/1RPD/BW optik and whatever other names it goes by for $109 new.

[DobDobDob]

Hmnnnn that's getting down in price, food for thought, thanks :thumbsup:

[ving]

i know its not 80 degree but the 30mm GSO superview which is 70 degree (approx) is going for $50 at andrews... whats your budget?

[DobDobDob]

Well I don't actually have a budget per se, what I want is what all amateur astronomers want....the most possible for the least outlay :whistle:

I could just go and buy a bunch more eyepieces, but then I would be spending money with no real understanding of what I need. I looked through one last night and liked what I saw, so today I am trying to source one cheap, especially if someone is getting out of astronomy or has a spare.

If I don't get one through the forum I'll go and buy one, but that isn't as much fun as bartering for it :P

[taminga16]

Ron, I have a Bintel 2" 26mm FMC Kellner EP that I have used once and will sell for $45.00 plus post. Greg.

[DobDobDob]

Is that the one on this page?
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=6571

[Starkler]

Thats a good price.

The problem with cheap widefields in fast scopes is that the portion of field wider than that of a plossl is inhibited by abberated astigmatic seagul shaped stars.
Sorry but there is no poor mans nagler!

Having said all that, the 30mm UWA is the least bad of cheapy widefields I have seen. with the outermost part of the 80 degree frield about as bad as the outer 65 degree point on the gso superview. This is at f5.
The 26mm gso kelner is atrocious for off axis abberations, the worst I have seen.

[DobDobDob]

WOW, more food for thought, I sure am glad I asked here before just driving down the shop :P I reckon for a new one at the shop, I could go up to $250.00 but for a second hand one from a forum member, I would expect to pay at least half the R.R.P. and if really lucky, even less than that.

What would about $250.00 buy, any recommendations, plus or minus a few bob :whistle:

[rmcpb]

Ron,

What is the focal length of your scope? I have just replaced my GS 30mm superview and don't need it. It was OK in my f6 but as I looked thorugh better eyepieces I got to hate the seagulls. If you have a long focal length scope then it may be good. Its now sitting alone in the "spare" box.

[DobDobDob]

I Believe it's F8 :P
What is your new best friends price :D
PM me the details.

[MortonH]

Ron, I wouldn't get too fixated by an 'ultra' wide ep. An apparent field of view of 60 - 70 degrees is plenty. Any more and you can have difficulty seeing the whole field of view at the same time, and you might experience 'blackouts' or 'kidney beaning' if your eye isn't exactly in the right place.

In my own experience, the best wide field eyepieces are the Tele Vue Panoptics and the Pentax XL (now replaced by the XW line). They are around 68-70 degrees and really sharp. Of course, you'll pay close to $500 (or more) for the longer focal lengths.

With the second-hand Bintel (GSO) Dob I bought recently I got a GSO 32mm Wide view. I think it's AFOV is 65 degrees (or close to that). It has some distortion, and with an f/6 scope there is also some coma, but it's such a nice wide view that I don't really notice the problems at the edge of the field.

Based on the websites I've just looked at (for Aussie astro shops) $250 is kind of in 'no mans land'. The cheap ones are much less than $200, and the next step up in quality seems to take you well over $300 (for example, the TMB/Burgess 40mm Paragon at $349).

So for $250, you'd be looking at a decent model second-hand, if you can find one, or maybe a brand new cheapy one and some change.

My other advice would be, if you're likely to be looking for shorter-focal-length eps as well in the near future, to spend less on the wide angles and more on the shorter ones. The higher the magnification, the worse any shortcomings are likely to appear.

Morton

[DobDobDob]

Thank you Morton, I appreciate your reply, a great deal. A top effort :thumbsup:
I have also realised that I will need a 2" diagonal or converter as well, so there is another $50.00 :P