Which eyepieces and do I need a Barlow?

[Heath]

Hi all,

I am a relative newbie to this field and have been spending hours and hours reading and searching for advice on eyepieces only to be exhausted and still unsure of what to do. I recently acquired a pre-loved WO ZS 105 APO and are itching to get out and get amongst it. Like most beginners, I want to look at everything (planets, clusters, galaxies etc) and are wondering what would be a good basic set of lets say 3 eyepieces for this scope.

I know most will say get the best you can afford, but I was hoping for some advice on what would be a good range of sizes? Should I get a Barlow x2? I have a good DSLR I plan to hook up at some stage:help:. What about a reasonable diagonal?

Am I dreaming to get away with $200 - $300 for 2-3 pieces and a diagonal? Or will spending that amount compromise the enjoyment side of viewing dramatically?

Any help will be much appreciated

Regards Heath

Thanks in advance

[mswhin63]

Hi Heath,

It is a personal preference, You have a WO so I suppose you could eventually do Astrophotography with a fine scope.

Personally I was lucky, I bought a 12" DOB more suitable for visual (or I don't really think so) but decided to save some pennies to start by buying useful lenses BAADER which can be easily adapted for AP, while buying a 3 x Barlow to give me extra magnifacation combining the eyepieces was able to get double the number of magnifacation.

Mostly you will be advised to buy lenses only before barlow but my decision was just right for me and the long term as I extensively use my barlow for Planetary AP. - My latest pic 3 x Barlow - http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment_browse.php?a=83160

But if you expect visual only then good lenses are the way to go no need for a barlow. To get you started then purchace maybe a eyepiece kit can be found over the place. But to good long term observing get a decent eyepieces with reasonable to wide angle viewing. (They will cost a bit of money but worth it) I decided to purchace mine a bit at a time when the money came in.

My decisions when I first started prior to joining Iceinspace were really bad, look at the advice here and then decide, take you time it is worth it in the long run.

Cost plays a big part, so to get start generic Plossls are a good start. High magnifacation needed for planetary.

[Heath]

First of all great shots of Jupiter!

Thank you for your advice. I am leaning towards getting a barlow as well. I have not seen too many 2" lens kits about. Loads of 1.25" but not sure if I'm wasting my time getting 1.25"s and converting them given I have a 2" scope.
Your right about the threads and advice on here. Very helpful and well informed people.

Thanks again Heath

[andrew2008]

Keep and eye out in the second hand forum and you should find some EP's that will be very good visually in that scope pop up in the price bracket you are looking at.

[Paddy]

I'm not very familiar with eyepiece choices for refractors, so hesitate to offer advice. I think thought that it's worth starting with your experience of the eyepieces that you've already got. What focal length eps do you have, which ones do you use most, what is missing ie wide field or high magnification. How important is eye relief vs field of view? It might well be worth thinking about 2 good eyepieces and a good barlow so that you have 4 focal lengths. This would mean that you would want to avoid focal lengths that will be duplicated by your barlow.

But, above all, if you can have a look at some eps through your scope at a star party. There is nothing like a first hand experience and eps perform differently depending on the speed of your scope.

[dannat]

for this type of short focal length refractor eyepieces are hard to come-by..if it was me i would be looking for something around 50-60x for scanning - then 100-150x for zooming in on objects
i can't remember your scope exactly but i gues it would be somewhere from f5.5-f7. eg 550-700mm f length. to get ep mag divided this length by the eyepiece number eg 700/ 20mm ep = 35x magnification. if it was me i would be looking around 12mm for wider views & then maybe 5mm for close in views. Your choices are limited as shorter focal length highlights the defects in cheap eyepieces.
Look for secondhand, maybe a pentax xf 12 mm or 8.5mm -in the 5mm cheapest decent eyepiece is probably somethign like baader hyperion 5mm

ep choice is very personal though - one man's trash is another treasure, i don't mind not having super-wide views

if you want to barlow can get longer length ep's eg the TV plossl 20mm for sale in the classified is a great starter ep, not too expensive, good views & always good re-sale..then again i personally don't like barlows so much for visual

[Heath]

Thanks for the advice Daniel,

The scope is a f7 so your advice is valuable. Just need to keep the eyes open on the classifieds for the right ep's Cheers Heath

[Roobi]

for me personally as a total newbie myself, i just got a barlow, and i'm absolutly loving it. I'm pushing the mag to the limits, but i can tell you seeing jupiter at that mag is a thrill. Apart from the planets though, i don't use it for much else, but listen to the advise given here as its priceless.

:)

[Heath]

Cheers Roobi