Which to buy Pentax 10mm or Panoptic 24mm

[norm]

Hi All,

Ok, I know majority of people will advise against buying any eyepieces on your new scope and use the ones you get. I'm planning to get the 12" LB and I know it comes with the 26mm Meade.

I also have a set of GSO plossls (courtesy IIS astrocamp won by my cousin, Mike).

I'll use those for awhile and develop my taste. However all that aside, I want to view planetary, DSOs and the moon. The 2 eyepieces are probably different across the spectrum.

Which eyepiece would you buy between the above 2 as your 1st premium eyepiece.

Thanks for all your comments. I will savior each one of them

Astigmatism, eye relief etc are not an issue for me as yet.

NB: I figure b4 the $AUD heads south and I have a source that can get it for me free shipping I could save some $.

Cheers Norm

[Zuts]

Hi,

I am a big Televue fan and have quite a few of their eyepieces. Still in this case since you will have the 26 mm Meade I would get the Pentax first and try for some nice planetary and planetary nebula views.

Paul

[Starkler (Geoff)]

As a first premium ep you want one that you are likely to be using the most.

The 10mm pentax is definitely a first buy as it will give you a 2mm exit pupil, perfect for general dso viewing, and will barlow well to give you a medium-high power planetary EP.
As for optical performance for a widefield, the 10mm XW is as good as it gets. If you want to spring for a 13mm ethos, thats also a fine choice.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I think they are both fine choices (I have and love them both) but they are very different animals...

Normally, I would suggest starting with a good quality low power eyepiece since for me it is my most used (everytime) eyepiece and then working up to higher power over time.

However, as you have the 26 mm Meade (although I think the 24 mm Panoptic is better) I figure that it is "ökay" for this purpose so I would recommend the 10 mm Pentax XW of those you have listed for consideration.

Other "contenders" that I think you should also consider are the "value priced"13 mm T6 Nagler or even better the big spending budget 13 mm Ethos...

In all cases when it comes to "high end" I'd recommend a try before you buy approach if you can.

A good chance to do this would be at the upcoming South Pacific Star Party (SPSP) coming up soon...

Clear Skies...and enjoy the scope.

[matt]

Go the Pentax.

[StarLane]

Get em both and forget about the GSO`s and the Meade which is a GSO anyway. They are both excellent EP's. For planetary neb viewing, the 10 XW will probably be better as planetaries are usually not so large, for regular nebs, the 24 Pan is perfect.

[StarLane]

Or, buy my Hyp 17mm and get the best of both worlds, nice in-between EP.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=29824

Would be a great focal length for your scope, and it's 68 degrees. Sure it's not an XW or a PANO, but for the money it's very good and you'll save some dollars.

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

I actually have both eyepieces and would rate either one as excellent. Since you already have a 26, the 24 won't give much more magnification, but it will give a significantly larger field with 68 degrees. I find with the C11 I use the 24 as much now as I used to use the 10 when I had an F5 8". The 10 is certainly an excellent eyepiece and you won't regret it, but there are of course other "premium" eyepieces that others will recommend...just remember it doesn't have to have green writing to be high quality

[Dazzler]

I have both too.

I agree with all before me that the Pentax would be the best for you to start with given the Meade you will be getting. By the way that ep came with my LX200R (or is it AFC now??) and I have found it to be a very good performer.

Good luck

[norm]

Sounds like the Pentax 10mm is the go.

The Ethos is certainly tempting but I don't want to push my luck with the other 1/2 .

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Cheers,

Norm

[monoxide]

just get both

i have both and they are great eyepieces my pentax hardly leaves the focuser.
i'd get the pentax first though, you can make do with the 26mm meade (ive used one in my 12" and found it not to be too bad)