low power/wide field eyepiece choices

[icytailmark (Mark)]

what would be the best eyepiece for my 12" SW dob?

Im tossing up between 26mm Nagler Type 5, 35mm Panoptic, or the 21mm Ethos.

I want to be able to look at Galaxies,open star clusters,nebulas, and any other DSO's thats my telescope can find.

I currently have a pentax 7mm XW, 13mm Nagler type6 and a 20mm plossl that came with the scope.

[StarGazing (Alex)]

G'day Mark I own the Nagler 26mm and I must say in my 14" dob it's my favourite eyepiece at the moment. Fantastic AFOV, crisp and clear. Frames Dso's beutifully and helps get the right image before I zero in with higher mag. I use it as my finder scope. Highly recommended it won't dissapoint you.

Best of luck Alex.

[Wavytone]

Others that would suit it are

- TMB Paragon 30mm, you will have to find this secondhand on say Astromart, in excellent condition should be about $200.
I have the 40mm Paragon (too long for your scope though) and it is a really excellent eyepiece, gives about a 70 degree field and sharp to the edge.

- Vixen NLVW30mm, 65 degree FoV, very nice sharp flat field, and comfortable to use for long periods.

[casstony]

For my preferences the longer focal lengths mentioned would be used as finders only, whereas the 21mm would see additional use as an observing eyepiece.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

TMB Paragon 30mm, ooooohhh, uuuuuhhh, mmmmm...

So sweet in my f/4.5 dobbie, .

Astro-Tech Titan Type 2 30mm is identical. Same OEM. Same for the 40mm. And best of all, a little cheaper!

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by casstony

For my preferences the longer focal lengths mentioned would be used as finders only, whereas the 21mm would see additional use as an observing eyepiece.

I reckon this is spot on. I assume you have an f5, so you'd get 71x and an AFOV of 1.4 degrees. Perfect for finding things and still have magnification for a good look.

[Sarge (Rod)]

Mark,
I also have a 12" SW Dob. Be careful of exit pupil size. You will probably find the 35 mm not suited to your scope. Check out TV web site for more info. My low power is the 27 TV pan, this eyepiece certainly has the wow factor. But in my 12" it only has 56 x mag, and you won't see too many deep space objects at that power. Best if you can try out an eyepiece before buying.
Good luck
Rod

[GrahamL]

I went from a 27 panoptic to a 22 nagler for exactly the reason
Rod mentioned , there's nothing wrong with the panoptic just I get to
see a little more with the 22.

The ethos is a big bopper weight wise by all accounts , can your scope
cope with that ? If so thats the one I would seriously look at trying out.

[icytailmark (Mark)]

i think my scope could handle a 21mm ethos its a very heavy and stable telescope. 12" skywatcher collapsible.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by icytailmark

i think my scope could handle a 21mm ethos its a very heavy and stable telescope. 12" skywatcher collapsible.

I am using a reasonably weighty lens less than the Ethos and it seems to put a strain on the balance. I have to really tighten the tension handles.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

A vote here for the 20mm Nagler or 24 Panoptic. Both give the same FOV but the Nagler has higher magnification. The Panoptic is sharper over a larger area and has a dead-flat field.
I chose the 20 for its compatibility with med-long FL refractors.
Don't much care for Ethoseseses - too much neck twisting. I think!
My only beef against the 26 is the $$$. The 26mm APM SWA does 70% of the job, 95% as well, for 10% of the price. .
Happy hunting!
Peter