No longer wanted: 8mm eyepiece (and/or 10mm)

[programmer]

Hi, I'm after a 2nd hand 8mm EP of "semi-premium" quality, in good condition of course :) I know this is a pretty open request, but I just need to round out my small EP collection (see my sig). A reasonable AFOV would be nice as I don't have tracking, and at least 6mm-10mm eye relief. Can be close to 8mm, e.g. would consider 7.5mm, etc. Keeping it under $100 would be good also, but I'll consider more. Melbourne would be good for pickup purposes, but postage fine also.

Please PM me with anything you might have, I'm open to all suggestions!

[dannat]

pm sent

[Jeff]

PM sent.

[programmer]

Thanks for responses so far, PM's responded to.

PS: I'm interested in 10mm also so please see if you have any spares. Thanks!

[koputai]

Not trying to tell you how to suck eggs or anything, just an idea without malice or judgement.
Rather than getting all sorts of EP's around 7.5-10mm, why not get just one good 9mm. My very favourite eyepiece in both my 8 and 12 inch GSO's is a Nagler 9mm. Gives great contrasty views at a decent magnification, but not so much magnification that it's beaten by suburban seeing. Sure, it costs a lot more, but you save in the long run.
Of course, it's hard just to take other peoples choices as they might not suit you, and it is nice to have lots of shiny things isn't it!

Cheers,
Jason.

[programmer]

I take what you're saying on board. To be honest I'm undecided between 8, 9 and 10. 8 seemed to be the best, but looking at it again, I think you're right and 9 is the go. Still interested in a decent 2nd hand piece, but might also look for a reasonable new one too. Thanks for the input.

[KG8]

How true... I'm looking at 2 paperweights right now, I leave them on the desk just to remind me not to waste $$ on sub-standard equipment.

[programmer]

2 questions (open to anyone)

Would you say you use the 9mm nearly all of the time?

Apart from the 9mm, if you could have only 1 other focal length EP (and say, a quality 2x Barlow), what would it be? Assume quality EP such as Nagler.

[KG8]

Aside from regularly checking and adjusting collimation ( which I need a high power EP for ) I would use mine perhaps 2% of the time. But that's because I have a scope with inherently high magnification and don't do much observing that requires it. I usually a 50mm EP in, or a 20mm, because of my observing habits. It all depends on your scope and habits I think. Some focal lengths will just not give as good a view in some scopes and some won't work at all.

If I was limited to only one other EP beside a 9mm I would buy the largest true field of view EP that my scope could handle. I bought the 50mm & 30mm GSO superview eyepieces when Andrews had them going for $49 and the views are amazing, real 3-D and chump change compared to Naglers. This is the Taiwan based manufacturer that is soon to release a RC design scope BTW, they make good gear. But I was lucky I bought my C6 though, because the GSO-30 doesn't give all that good a view in the C11 and vice-versa for the 50mm in the little scope.

Recently I could have spent $1700 on some Naglers but why bother when I have a wide field EP that gives such good views in my scope and a 14mm Pentax and a 20mm WSIII that are great at their magnifications. For my $$$ I bought a complete new goto sct outfit. You gotta think hard about what you need IMO. These high end EP's are great, but what's the point getting them first if you don't have a good scope you can use comfortably for hours on end to put them in? As for Barlow's, I'm not a fan. They may be good in a DOB but the extra weight and especially length makes them an inconvenience in my scopes. Better to spend a little extra on EP's and avoid any frustration when observing I think. But that's my opinion based on my own experiences.

Astronomy is like marriage, or work, or anything you devote a lot of your life to. You have to think it through and work at it, make sacrifices if you want to get the best out of it.

So the bottom line is $400 spent on a 9mm when you don't have all the other good gear is money well spent if your going to be mostly observing planetary detail or splitting binaries. It could be a waste at this stage though if you love viewing more distended objects.

[koputai]

That may be true at your focal length, but in a 1250mm FL Newt, the 9mm is a great size for faint fuzzies, you have to go down to 5 or 6mm for close planetary views or star splitting.

I wish you guys would put your names at the bottom of your posts, at least I'd have something to call you!

Cheers,
Jason.

[programmer]

Ah well I have a long FL scope which requires me to have short FL eyepieces, which leads me to the 9mm. (Actually I'd probably get a 10mm but what I want doesn't come in 10mm).


Ok this gets to the crux of my question.. basically I was feeling out whether people would tend for a lower power large FOV or a higher power. Of course, it's highly dependent on what you want to observe so is a pretty meaningless question.


I'm definitely not going to spend the dollars on a low power premium EP (e.g. Nagler) at this stage, but see below.


I have a dob and don't find the extra length a real problem. I recently bought a TV 2x barlow so I know I have something good. I guess I'd rather have a full range of EP's, but the Barlow will do me fine for some time.


I'm going on some advice I've read that says that for your first premium EP get one that gives a magnification of about half your scope's aperture in mm, to be used with a Barlow in mind. That would be a 10mm for me, but I was going for a Nagler which is either 9 or 11, so I was edging towards the 9. I'm in a bit of analysis paralysis as is probably quite obvious :) because now 11 is looking good (and later an 8) giving 114x, 156x, 228x & 312x including barlowed powers. :help:

[KG8]

My response to your original two quetions seems to have been missconstrued. Let me rephrase it.

How much did you pay for your scope? $400, $500? What will you do with a bunch of expensive low power EP's if at some future point you transition to a different scope with a longer focal length? As many here on IIS do. These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before we lash out on Naglers etc.