Zooooom EP's......

[Ausrock]

I'm attempting to come to grips with the plethora of EP's that are available, one suggestion made to me was to purchase a zoom EP and use it to (hopefully) determine what size EP's may ultimately suit both my 'scope (a C9.25) and myself.

Are there any zoom owners out there who may have an opinion or advice to help me before I lay down $$$.

Cheers

[erick]

Consider carefully the apparent field of view, which varies across the zoom range. Most have relatively narrow AFOV - plossl like. One has slightly wider AFOV. If you like 60+ degrees AFOV, the zoom's AFOV may become irritating fairly quickly.

[Poita]

How about I send you my 8-24mm zoom and you try it out for a week?

[Ausrock]

Pete,

Seeing it was you who put the idea into my head :D...........mate, that would be fantastic so long as I get a break from the cloudy nights to actually get to use it.

My EQ6 should be arriving tomorrow so plans are to get my C9.25 mounted and play indoors until the predicted fine weather on the weekend so I'll contact you in a few days as to whether I need to take up your generous offer.

regards,

ChrisO

[Poita]

Let me know, if you are planning on using it this weekend, I'd need to get it in the post tomorrow.
I have a matched pair for binoviewing, so I can be without one for a little while without it affecting me too much.

[Ausrock]

Pete,

I think I'll be too occupied learning the ins and outs of the EQ and locating the SCP this weekend but I may take up the offer a bit later.

ChrisO

[barx1963]

Further to Ericks comment re AFOV, at the shorter focal length end of a zoom, you may find that images are not as clean or sharp at the edge of the field as you would get with a short FL angler or similar. With a slow scope like a C9.25 you may find it still OK, but from reports I have heard in a fast Newt they can be a bit ordinary. Especially as the AFOV is quite narrow it can bet a bit irritating.
Malcolm

[Erg]

I love my Orion Zoom. I use it on my PST and C8 and its great.

Cant fault it.

Erg

[Poita]

On the lomo the zoom is very very close to the TMB planetary at 9mm, very hard to call it, on the 10" SCT the zoom is extremely good.

At the very least, using a zoom lets you see what size different magnifications give you, and the AFOV isn't bad on the click-stop and the eye-relief is pretty good as well.

I find them great for star hopping and finding items manually, wound out at 24mm to get it in the eyepiece, then zoom in to get it dead centre and take a peek. If the seeing turns out to be worth extended viewing, then you can reach for your favourite eyepiece and pop it in. Often though the zoom is more than good enough for the seeing on the night.

For the price, I think they are a great addition to the kit, they won't replace every stop in the range for everyone, but they are extremely useful, especially when trying to decide what mags are best for your scope.

[casstony]

Star Optics has a Hyperion III zoom listed for $250 in their closing down sale. It has a bit wider afov than other zooms and is quite sharp. They also have a Meade 8-24mm zoom for $100 which I haven't used but gets decent reviews.

Some of the 7-21mm zooms are poor quality and the Vixen 8-24mm is soft at the 8mm end of it's range, though the Vixen is the most comfortable of the zooms that I've used. The Long Perng/Proxima 8-24 zoom is sharp but a little tricky with eye placement.

I have the Hyperion zoom and the Lunt 7.2-21.5mm zoom (same as Orion zoom) which I enjoy very much for their convenience. They're also useful for finding the best magnification/exit pupil/contrast when viewing nebulae. I used the Hyperion in an f/5 refractor and it worked well though I don't recall paying particular attention to the edge of field.

[Osirisra]

Second on the Hyperion III, great piece of kit for the convience and versatility, the only eye piece I use on my PST bacause of the nice afov.

If you grab the adapter for the Hyperion as well you can then stick any ccd or dslr onto it, great for planetary work etc.

[Ausrock]

Guys, many thanks for your responses and especially Poita for his generous offer and casstony for putting me on to Star Optics..............I managed to get the last Meade Zoom EP they had in stock which hopefully will be here before the weekend, which is predicted to be fine weather :).........my C9.25 will be having it's first Southern Hemisphere outing.

Cheers and beers to y'all.

[dannat]

I tried to buy the baader on star optics website, but they have no more stock, I got email after the purchase:sadeyes:

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Eric mate whats wrong with 60 degrees?
All my planatery orthoscopic 52 degrees do ok ?
even on the moon . ;)
Different eyepieces for different folks , some like 100 degree Ethos's . , but like most cant justify the expense .
Ausrock mate , dont be sold on the bigger is better pitch, It's what suits you , one of my favorit eye pieces is a .965 inch 6mm orthoscopic made in about 1960 with a straw field of view 40 degrees , but this blows away my 22 Panoptic and celestron Ultima 2x barlow @ 11mm . on any view of the moon and planets . :thumbsup: in any of my scopes.
Small field but on the planets and moon , but you only look at the centre any way .
My Celestron 31mm Axium LX 2 inch is another eyepiece all together , and another time . a real 82 degrees .. :eyepop:
Good Plossles are the way to go .
Brian.

[erick]

For info Brian, I have two 8-24 zooms which I am keeping, and my eyepieces range from 49deg to 100 deg AFOV. I agree - horses for courses, but spending most of my time in 68 deg AFOV Panoptics, I sure feel somewhat constricted back down around 50 deg AFOV. Unless, I'm focussed on parts of the Moon or on Jupiter. So I'd suggest "try before you buy" for a zoom.

By the way, I always feel that 8-24mm just isn't enough zoom for me. Who is going to make a 5-30mm that I can buy?

[PaulG]

Anyone know where I can source a Meade Zoom now? seems all the local dealers don't stock them and overseas dealers all have export restrictions.

[mozzie]

hi paul
ive bought several items from this store http://agenaastro.com/ they have the meade one for sale...i bought a baader mark 3 and saved around $120 including postage..

[PaulG]

Thanks Peter,

Sadly they're out of stock on the meade zoom.

[mozzie]

what about there own brand zoom eyepieces...or even the baader i'm very impressed with the one i use

[PaulG]

Budget wont stretch to the Hyperion sadly, by all accounts the Meade seems to be the pick of the litter round that price point.