[mura_gadi (Steve)]

Hello,

I echo all of what John said, particularly for exit pupil and eye relief as they are prime drives of a "useable" eyepiece. If its not useable its a dust collector...

Getting a better idea of where your interest lies is probably the first priority.

I only have 2 years experience more than you, but I have a few of the standard entry level ep's, Starguider's, TMB the plossl etc and a AMP 30mm 80 degree copy, 30mm Bintel and a pre Panoptic 32mm Televue(the APM copy 30mm I got paired with the 80 degree 15mm for $50, the other 2" 30/32mm were free and in one case deserved to be imo.).

The AMP 30mm 80degree in my goto wide field scanner, but I don't use the full field of view, comfortable eye placements is probably around 70degrees. At f6 the edge stars do get trails, I need to really "faceplant" the eyepiece and look at the edges to notice though. Large wide field 2" ep's can take some time to get the most from the view on offer.

The UFF 30mm is my next upgrade for a wide field, from all reports AMP are doing great ep's atm.

I also have a Vixen LV zoom which is my preferred choice for 25mm and under, due to versatility and the sharpness of the image. Some are a little soft at 8mm which mine is, but no regrets for the views it provides from 10mm-25mm at $200 new.

I was thinking about pairing that with a 2.5 powermate which would give me sharp views between 4mm and 10mm. Your maximum power is generally 50x the inches of the scope reduced to 75%. So a 8"1200 is 300 max power, which is what that combo will give me. Pair that with the UFF 30mm and its a great set for under $1000 that will prove to be very versatile imo.



Steve
If your prepared to try 2nd hand even less, and the Powermate will hold its value very well and I expect the APM 30mm UFF will as well. Exchange the Vixen LV for a Baader MK IV 8-24mm zoom for extra FOV ($345 new).

The wider the FOV the worse the image gets, you then spend a small fortune correcting the image to make the wide field worthwhile. You can save good money on good quality ep's if you avoid the wide field requirement (Sacrebleu!).

That's my two years worth, might be worth less than 2cents though... as they say YMMV.

Ps. for faint nebular and other DSO's you may if using adverted vision see the edge stars, but since I only use about 70degrees of the view, the streaky stars are really known unknown's.