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Bert, this is just my 2 cents to put in. I understand the attraction for going for Bintel/GSO Plossls because they are very affordable, but I would agree with Dannat that at the short focal lengths in particular - the small eye lens and short eye relief can be quite uncomfortable. I don't think they will be that great in the long run. May I suggest you think a little more for the longer term and increase you budget a bit more if you can do so. In the short focal lengths I would consider the TMB Planetary II's which can be bought for around $70 to $80 each at VTI Optics (BTW, they only sell the genuine TMBs, not the copies that go around). They have 58 deg FOV and are certainly a big step up compared to the Bintel Plossls in terms of quality of construction, comfort, eye relief and fit and finish.
Another option might be to bide your time and keep a close eye on the Buy/Sell ads on this forum - from time to time you may well find a Baader or Orion Stratus for around $100 if you are lucky. As for the GSO/Bintel Superviews, I don't know anything about what design they are based on nor have I tried any as well. I did quickly look at the Orion Edge On/Planetary series - they seemed very nice (but I did not have the chance to be more critical).
Cheers, Fox
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