Series 500 EPs - Page 4

iceman (Mike) · #61 11-08-2005, 02:10 PM

Slice is going to send me his 15 and 6.25 s500's, so I can at least compare 1 side by side with my 15 gs.

Shredder, good points you make about cost, but as slice said, it's the quality that is in question. A newbie won't know the s500's are no good, and as such may be disappointed with the view, taking into account the eyepiece, collimation, astigmatism etc. All of those things may work against a newbie and be turned off.

At least we can help address poor quality eyepiece selection, and the other issues can only be addressed through good advice and hoping that newbies discover a forum like this.

davidpretorius · #62 11-08-2005, 02:27 PM

i have series 500 and i will be reviewing them along with the premium eye pieces at the star camp in snake valley through my 10" dob and 2" crayford. once that is done, i am hoping to have a very useful reference from series 500 up to the naglers etc.

shredder · #63 11-08-2005, 02:42 PM

Oh I am having a bad day at the keyboard..... what is it they say put brain into gear before ........

What I was meaning in my previous comments was that the eps are generally standard with the scope and really cheap anyway, and probably not switched out to save costs. Whats the point to save $2-$3 per ep (and probably costs more in labour), would you really buy a scope because it was $10-20 cheaper than down the road?

I suggest that if one is genuinely better than the other and the supplier has both then they probably will change them without comment (as it is likely you will come back real soon to upgrade anyway). I was also trying to point out that you shouldnt buy the line "its costing me money" from the dealer as neither ep is worth much (in $ value).

Sorry for any confusion.

M

MiG · #64 11-08-2005, 06:15 PM

"...or to not take them and have the price of them taken off (but dont expect too much), and buy your own separately."

I specifically asked for that but I got told it's not an option. At least I got to change the 9 and 25 mm to a different size because I already had GSO versions of those ($50 all up for those plus a moon filter off E-bay, yay

).

The series 500s have nasty build quality (try screwing things into the thread that feels like it has been chiseled out), only single coatings and a very hard rubber eyecup, but I don't think that makes them only worthy of smashing, melting etc. This backlash seems a bit over the top. It's much easier to listen seriously to reasonable people than extremists.

elusiver · #65 11-08-2005, 10:24 PM

noone reckon's he getting them as part some sort of bundle deal? i.e Buy 5 dobs with 10 GSO eyepieces get 10 series 500 eyepieces free. Which would mean that for him to discount the dob he would HAVE to sell those 10 free eyepieces to take up the slack and make the discount valid. Now the chance of him selling the series 500's off the shelf are slim.. so he puts the the GSO's on the shelf and sell them for $50, he takes $40 off his cost off the dob and adds his margin. That's the way alot of it's done in IT now... makes sense. Why aren't the others doing it.. maybe be a relationship thing.. maybe a volume thing.. who knows.. but it's plausable.. i think.. and it's decent business.. can't argue with that.

el

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #66 11-08-2005, 10:37 PM

I will give a run down on my EP's while they are sitting right in front of me.

Report using GS f5 12" Dobsonian.

Series 500 - 6.5mm: Straight tube without locking recess, Hard rubber eye cup, single light-blue coating, badly threaded tube inner.

In use: Will not focus to a crisp point, Flaring of bright objects, disastrous eye relief.
Views: Poor

Series 500 - 15mm: Straight tube without locking recess, Hard rubber eye cup, single green coating, badly threaded tube inner.

In use: Will not focus to a crisp point, Flaring of bright objects, bad eye relief. Mild to very noticable image distortion at edge of FOV.

Views: Mediocre

Series 500 - 25mm: Straight tube without locking recess, Hard rubber eye cup, single light-blue coating, badly threaded tube inner, handy rubber grip around body.

In use: Will not focus to a crisp point, Flaring of bright objects, reasonable eye relief. Mild to very noticable image distortion at edge of FOV.

Views: Mediocre

GS Plossl-9mm: Locking recess, soft fold-down rubber eye cup, aqua-blue & mid-green Multi-coating, finely machined tube inner thread,

In use: Good Focus, no flaring, reasonable eye relief, Mild to nil image distortion at edge of FOV.

Views: Pleasing. Very good.

GS 2" 30mm SuperView: Locking recess, soft fold-down rubber eye cup, light-green, violet & mid-green Multi-coating, finely machined tube inner thread, threaded section not painted black.

In use: Excellent Focus, no flaring, excellent eye relief, Seagull shaped distortions at edge of FOV until cool-down.

Views: Pleasing. Excellent Wide-field views.

This is a fair & reasonable report without extrematism.

davidpretorius · #67 11-08-2005, 11:01 PM

great comparison ken

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #68 11-08-2005, 11:09 PM

Obviously better EP's will have better reports but I don't own any!

davidpretorius · #69 11-08-2005, 11:14 PM

ken, wait until october / november when asimov sends over some naglers to try!!!!

naughty corner all over again!!!

Starkler (Geoff) · #70 11-08-2005, 11:15 PM

Nice to see you joined the team El

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #71 11-08-2005, 11:18 PM

SWAP: 1 of your decent EP's for 2 of my series 500's or 2 of your decent EP's for 3 of my series 500's. I will even go to the trouble of cleaning the 500's if you want!

asimov (John) · #72 11-08-2005, 11:20 PM

In your dreams Dave! Will you settle for a televue plossl?

davidpretorius · #73 11-08-2005, 11:22 PM

same, now that i have my 30mm ultra wide, i would love to swap my series 500 25mm and 40mm for any single gs that is less than or equal to 25mm.

i do not use them at all any more

elusiver · #74 11-08-2005, 11:24 PM

who joined the team??

i think there's basically 2 trains of thought on this issue. I mean.. if you start with poor.. the only way is up, whereas if u start with average good.. you might be dissapointed with future purchases as they aren't THAT much better than what you have. So it could go either way, and it's really down to the individual. I mean lee could sell one of his scopes with naglers to a person who's expecting hubble images and that person would say that it was a piece of junk and give it away.

So.. i don't think that they should be taken off the market completely.. cause they have their place.. as a starting point.. like my DSE refractor

but.. if someone has come to IIS on their own accord.. seeking information and guidance.. well.. it shows that they intend to take their astro fairly seriously... in which case.. they should say NO to the series 500's.

el

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #75 11-08-2005, 11:24 PM

Dave, You have a 40mm series 500? What a useless peice of glass! It would almost be like looking through a finderscope.

Starkler (Geoff) · #76 11-08-2005, 11:25 PM

I challenge anyone to try and sell their series 500's in the buy/sell forum

I havent seen anyone game enough to try yet

P.S. Dont do it just for a joke

davidpretorius · #77 11-08-2005, 11:26 PM

no way asimov, cos you are coming across to be there in person to help me put together the eyepiece show down!!!!!!!!

of course no one will understand us cos of our sarcasm, but hey... it will be fun!!!

ken, can you book asimov into the camp please

asimov (John) · #78 11-08-2005, 11:26 PM

I'll swap you my wonderful no-name-coating-less EPs for your's Ken!

No coatings means you can safely clean em' on your pants leg without doing any harm.

davidpretorius · #79 11-08-2005, 11:28 PM

actually ken, the 40mm was not too bad as a starter, the 6.5mm is probably the worst

asimov (John) · #80 11-08-2005, 11:29 PM

Sarcasm!? ME!? That's a bit extreme don't you think, Hmmmm?