Widefield EP on a budget.

[famajohn]

Until now my motley collection of ep's has served me well in various scopes f8 and above. Recently I bought a used 8" f5 Skywatcher dob, a great little scope and I am enjoying viewing with it.

The 20mm and 15mm GSO Superviews that I have provide sharp views only for about 50% of the FOV and I understand that this is common for a scope of this f ratio. My interests lie mostly in DSO's and I would appreciate any suggestions on ep's that will improve the FOV situation.

Research in the forums indicates a strong preference for Naglers and Panoptics and I am sure that these are amazing, they are however outside my budget and it is difficult to justify this standard of ep for a $400.00 scope.

I have NZ$400.00 to spend and I would like to buy 1 or 2 1.25" ep's in the 65deg AFOV range, am I dreaming....?

Any suggestions regarding type and FL would be great.

Regards
John
Rotorua NZ

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Welcome John! No you're not dreaming (but you would have been about 1 year ago ). The Orion Stratus or Baader Hyperion eyepieces should work well in an f/5 Newt and are within your budget. The 13 and 8mm would probably be the most useful focal lengths for your scope, but that depends on what else you have already. What is your lowest power (or widest true field) eyepiece?

[famajohn]

Thanks for your very quick reply. In addition to the Superviews (65deg AFOV) mentioned I have a 26mm Celestron Plossl and a 32mm Celestron Plossl which I think would provide the widest TFOV at around 90 arc min.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Then the 32mm plossl will serve you well as a finder wide true field, and the 13mm and 8mm Stratus or Hyperion would probably be the most useful ones.

A 10mm would be nice though: perhaps the Speers-Waler ultra-wide would work, but there is the in-focus issue. You would have to research this first, to make sure this EP reaches focus in your scope.

[famajohn]

Thank you Steve, you are a legend. Researching as we speak. Will probably have to purchase from Australia as telescope accessory retailers are as rare as rocking horse fertiliser in NZ. Any Aust. dealer recommendations?
Regards,
John

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

None yet for these eyepieces unfortunately. Bintel might be getting in the Stratus eyepieces. They should go for around $AU180. Email them and ask.

If you can't get them from Bintel, I bought from these US dealers and found them to be great to deal with, with very reasonable with postage cost and items arriving within one week of placing an order:

for the Stratus: www.seansastronomyshop.com
for the Speers Waler: www.scopestuff.com

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Silly me! I forgot to mention the Pentax XFs. A bit less FOV at 60 degrees and cost a bit more than the Stratus, but they are in a different league i.t.o. quality. They only come in 12mm and 8.5mm, but these would be very useful focal lengths for your scope. If you can afford to spend a little more, I would recommend these despite the slightly reduced FOV, because they are sharper, brighter, better baffled and have more contrast than the Stratus. I got my 8.5mm from www.handsonoptics.com.

But if money is tight or you insist on 65 degree FOV, the Stratus are a great option too. (Hyperion too if you can find them.)

[famajohn]

Well done, lots of info and super fast as well.

Thanks very much Steve, I am on it!!!

Regards

John

[mickoking]

G,day John and welcome to our community,

I am a dedicated deep sky observer and own a few high end, wide angle eyepieces myself. But for 90% of the time I use standard field e/p's. I would suggest if money is a bit tight you buy a premium standard field e/p (LV or Televue Plossl for example) first up and then save for a top notch wide angle.

Cheers, Mick

[famajohn]

Gidday to you Mick and thanks for your response. What FL would you recommend for a 200mm f5 scope, My 15mm Superview seems to give the best combination of mag and FOV and would be fine except for the seagulls in the outer region of the view.

[rogerg (Roger)]

John,

A few brands I've considered (but haven't bought/used):
- Meade's new super-wide's
- William Optic's UWAN eyepieces.
- Vixen (I've seen they have some - Lanthanum Wide)

I'm not sure on exact prices & quality, just throwing a few names out there for you to be aware of, that I would consider in your position.

Roger.

[ving (David)]

hmm... funny your 15mm SV should preform like that. I have one and admittedly my scope is a f6 but it is sharp to the edge... maybe i got a good one

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Originally Posted by ving

hmm... funny your 15mm SV should preform like that.

it matches my experience with the 20mm superview in an f/5.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by janoskiss

it matches my experience with the 20mm superview in an f/5.

I had a 20mm SV and hated it in the f5 dob and it wasnt much better in the f7.5 ed80

I really think different peoples eyeballs have different tolerance levels for this kind of abberation. I was seeing bad seaguls in the outer fov of a 12mm nagler type 4 whilst Dave47 wasnt.

[jaramillo]

Hi John,

I would recommend the Hyperion Eyepieces. I have the 8mm and 5mm and they work extremely well in my 10" f/5 Newton (Premium Mirror). Before i decided to buy both Hyperions I owned a 5-8mm Speers Waler Zoom. I don't wear eyeglases, but I liked the 20mm eye relief of the Hyperion and their optical quality so much, that I sold the Zoom to a friend. The Zoom was a very nice ep, of course, but I prefer a luxurious eyerelief more than an ultrawide fov. The 68° in combination with 20mm er is my personally best way for relaxed observing over many hours.

[famajohn]

Thanks I will check them out