Orion Stratus 8mm eyepiece... ordered!

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

My eyepiece collection at present is very pedestrian: 25 & 9mm GSO possl's (prety good for what they are) and 15 & 4 mm Series 500 plossl's (love the 15, never use the 4), all of which came with my GSO Dob from Andrews, as well as a 30mm 2" 80 degree Andrews ep, which has increased my joy of viewing even more due to it's wide field of view.

Having said that, everyone knows that sooner or later you need to start spending ridiculous amounts of money on eyepieces, right? So I have spent huge numbers of hours over many weeks reading everything I could find on these forums relating to eyepieces, despairing of the prices sometimes mentioned. I have seen numerous times that a certain member here, whose opinions are highly regarded by many, has frequently cited the quality and comparitive price of the Orion Stratus range. They are a 62 degree ep which has been said to provide "90% of the performance at less than half the price of premium brand" eyepieces. (Apologies if I have misquoted you there - words to that effect anway)

Keep in mind my whole scope with 4 ep's included only cost $699, it's a big step to accept that there's single ep's worth lots more.

I'm after something in the 8 to 12 mm range presently, I figure thats a decent amount of magnification for many objects and a sustainable level for my usual suburban viewing location. Orion make an 8mm and a 13mm within their Sratus range. One Oz supplier has them advertised at around $239, however it had been suggested that Bintel should be able to order them in, being an Orion stockist. I sent an email to Bintel and received a speedy reply from Don. He tells me he usually has the common sizes (5 and 17mm) in stock, but that he can have the 8mm in his next shipment (3 weeks or so) @ $195 plus postage.

So what else could I have done - it's ordered of course!


Yes, one day I hope to own a 10mm Pentax XW and a 27mm Panoptic and a whole pocket full of Naglers, etc, but for now this is my first foray into "better" ep's and I'm sure looking forward to it!

Will keep you informed.

[acropolite (Phil)]

I have the 13mm Baader hyperion, essentially the same EP and I'm very pleased with it. I will be interested in hearing how the smaller sizes perform.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by Gargoyle_Steve

Keep in mind my whole scope with 4 ep's included only cost $699, it's a big step to accept that there's single ep's worth lots more.

If you go shopping for hi end component hi-fi, you may find that the speakers required to get the most out of it can cost as much as the rest of the components combined.

If you want widefield views, you need to spend a good amount of money before you can say its the scope limiting the views, and not the eyepieces Thats testament to the great value for money of the gso dobs
Did you consider the Pentax XF also ? They have an 8.5 and a 12mm in that range.
I personally would have gone for the 13mm Stratus instead of the 8 as a first buy.

Yes, one day I hope to own a 10mm Pentax XW and a 27mm Panoptic and a whole pocket full of Naglers, etc, but for now this is my first foray into "better" ep's and I'm sure looking forward to it!

For a good time I had an eyepiece kit consisting of 10.5 & 14mm pentax XL's, along with a barlow and a 27mm panoptic and was quite satisified I had my viewing needs covered.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

The 8mm Stratus is a very nice eyepiece. Great value for money and very comfy.

The 8.5mm Pentax XF is unbelievably good for what it costs! It is not super wide, just wide at 60 degrees, but that's good enough for me considering it is on par with the 10mm XW for optical performance for half the price. The Stratus OTOH with its big rubber eyecup and lens is a bit more comfortable than the XF.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Hey Gargoyle_Steve, I had a very similar experience with Bintel, and the Stratus Series. They didn't stock them at all when I contacted them, but they happily brought in a 17mm Stratus for me (and some extras for them to try on the market), and charged me a very good price.

I am happy with my 17mm Stratus. It is very easy to use, and for some objects rivals the view in a 22 Panoptic in my scope. You should be very happy.

I do find however that with all of that glass, sometimes the brightness and contrast is not as good as it might be in a premium brand. For planetary purposes you might find you get a better view in a premium Plossl from Televue.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Hey Steve,
Have you looked at the Baader Hyperions - same EP's and focal lengths, but they are threaded to allow attachment of digi/video cameras.
I see from your posts that you've got some imaging gear - might be worth a look.
Cheers
Doug

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Thanks for the good feedback guys, I appreciate all of it.

Geoff your point on stereo systems is well taken, and yes I know the premium ep's ARE justified by their performance, or so many of you good and knowledgable folk would not have bought them!!!! It's more a case of the fact that I simply can't afford one, or justify it even if I could afford it. Not yet, anyway.

I have been able to look through some of these magnificent premium type ep's thanks to the kindness of people like Ron (astroron) and Paul [1ponders]+ and Bill(argonavis), etc. I KNOW they're great, but totally outside my budget, thats all.

I did consider the Pentax XF series .... again I've seen plenty said here re the quality of them, love my Pentax SLR (35mm) so am a big fan of the brand in general. I think I leaned towards the Orion based on the weight of comments I had read on this site.

I opted for the 8mm because I seem to find lately what I'm searching for is a bit more magnification, the 8mm will only give me about 156x in my newt but I figured it's in this "finer" end of my viewing range that I needed the better quality ep, I'm looking to enhance my planetary viewing with it.

(As Don at Bintel said they have the 17mm in stock usually anyway .... and the Qld Astrofest is only a few weeks away - time to receive 8mm, try it out, form opinions, save money, hopefully get good deal!)

Anyway I'm looking forward to receiving my Stratus, it's gonna be a long 3 weeks but the ever present moon keep me busy at lower mag viewing anyway for now.
Will keep you all posted, and a report to follow once I've tried it out.