Zoom eyepieces

[lesbehrens (Les)]

what are your views on Zoom eyepieces? are thay a good eyepiece to own?
or is just better to get the eye piece u want ?
les

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Some love em, others hate em. I have not bought any only because they are a bit fiddlier than a single focal length eyepiece. Try before you buy and get your own opinion.

[erick (Eric)]

A couple of issues to note. You need to be able to get a firm grip on the barrel since they need a bit of effort to operate the zoom. I put a different thumbscrew in the 2"-->1.25" adapter so I could get a good grip and tighten the brass ring well. The apparent field of view is small at both 8mm and 24mm. Think plossl-type AFOV! If you are happily using a 70-80deg 24-30mm now, the 24mm in the zoom will be a noticeably narrow FOV.

[mrsnipey]

I love my Baader Hyperion zoom. The only time I use any other eyepiece is when I'm looking at the moon and need a shorter fl.

[anj026]

If you have a small scope that you use for daytime as well as quick grab and go astro then a quality zoom can be a valuable addition to your collection. If you are doing longer sessions of just astro observing then you may be better served with fixed focal length eyepieces. I have a Tele Vue 24-8 that I recently got as part of a package. Haven't had a lot of use with it yet.

It can be useful to convert a small refractor into a spotting scope with an erecting prism if you want to use your scope in the daytime.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Has anyone got experience with this zoom eyepiece? It seems to have a moveable eyeguard which infers changing eye relief????

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

Has anyone got experience with this zoom eyepiece? It seems to have a moveable eyeguard which infers changing eye relief????

If this is the 1.25" eyepiece it is a re-branded Long Perng zoom. Also sold as the Proxima zoom and Parks zoom. In comparison to the Vixen 8-24, the Long Perng is slightly sharper but not quite as easy to position your eye with IMO. The adjustable eye guard is simply to help position your eye.

Review of WO version: http://zoom.green-witch.com/

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi,

As Andy indicated a zoom eyepiece can be extremely convenient in a small refractor used as a spotting scope. A zoom eyepiece can also be very convenient in an astronomical telescope. Just remember that a zoom eyepiece will always be a slight compromise optically. If your after convenience and aren't interested in extracting the last 5% of performance from the optical system then a zoom eyepiece is probably a good choice for you. The very best zoom eyepieces will never quite equal the optical performance of a high quality fixed focal length eyepiece. The top quality zooms like the Leica (over $1,000) come very close. The Nikon and Televue are also very good. As you spend less money the performance falls away a little. Mid priced zooms like the Hyperion do a pretty good job optically and are a good compromise.

Cheers
John B

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Picked up one of these, to check it out for visual solar observing.
Just had a few minutes of opportunity with the SolarMax60....
Certainly seems to do its job well. Easy to adjust, smooth and no ghosting or major distortions. Great for "zooming" in on surface detail and the proms. At 24mm you can quickly survey the disk, and then at a twist of the body be at x75 to view the good stuff. A lot more fun and convenience than constantly changing eyepieces!
Hopefully the weather will be kinder later this week; to put it through its paces.....

[Chippy (Nick)]

I really like my WO 7.5-22.5mm ZOOM II. A very nice EP (IMO) that I use quite a bit. It seems to have good contrast for planetary detail as well!