[Stonius (Markus)]

Last time I used a short (4mm) Plossl, was with the 60mm Tasco Refractor I had as a kid, and I remember it being quite an uncomfortable experience.


Now to be fair, that scope wasn't built for that kind of magnification, and without a tracking mount it was an exercise in futility that has scared me off Plossls ever since. There was also something incredibly annoying about having your eyelashes hit the lens every time you blink.



But the 'less glass' thing makes sense to me, plus they're fairly cheap, but the TV ones only go up to focal lengths of 8mm with 6mm eye relief.


Yes you can barlow it, but then you might as well use a Nagler because you're introducing more glass anyway, but if you don't then, 8mm isn't really *all that* short, is it? If conditions suffice, wouldn't you *want* shorter focal lengths?


I also struggle to understand the use for a 50mm Plossl for? My understanding is that wouldn't even work in a binoviewer. Surely at those focal lengths it's outperformed by other EP's with similar field of view?


So I guess what I'm asking is whether my FOMO is justified? People who have tried / own them, was it a slight incremental improvement, or was it an 'Aha' moment?


So far I've been pretty happy with my Pentax XW's, but maybe my memories of that 4mm in my tiny refractor are making me unfairly biased?


Markus