Are 6,7 element eyepieces much better than plossls?

[overlord (Charles)]

I know about the eye relief but like what about sharpness? lol.

[overlord (Charles)]

See, i'm checking out the stuff available from bintel. i'm not gonna buy a nagler or an 'ethos' :ey epop::eyepo p:..... yet... lol. I'm checkout out two eyepieces for planetary stuff. Both are about a hundred bucks.

One is the Meade HD-60 6.5mm (1.25"), 60 degree FOV. Might get this one...

The other is the Orion Edge On Planetary 6mm (1.25"). 55 degree FOV. Sounds similar to plossl at 50 degrees but the image has to go thru more glass so i'm not sure if that's a good thing.?

What's the comparison? LOL!

[PlanetMan]

Unfortunately, both sound like mass produced and rebadged Chinese EPs. This is not to say that EPs simply made in China are all bad but they can be very hit or miss. If there is one piece of advice that I can offer in astronomy is that it is quality over quantity - it is perhaps better to buy a little bit of quality than a lot of cheaper rubbish.

If you are on a strict budget I would suggest to try and get a quality EP 2nd hand. Ironically, the Televue sale ended last week and that was probably the best time in the past 5 years to have bought a Televue EP to really appreciate the difference. I personally think 1 Radian with a good barlow will give you better long term performance and thus satisfaction from use than 4 or 5 of these EPs you are suggesting put together.

Anyhow, also think about Vixen and possibly Baader as other good alternatives not to mention other cheaper astro gear stores. As much as I like the folks in the Bintel store their primary significance is that they are the sole authorised retailer of Televue products in Australia - after that there is plenty of other cheaper and possibly better competition out there

[dannat (Daniel)]

often the extra elements are added to increase the fov & help out with eye relief. they are not better, as they really need to be made better as you are losing small amounts of light every time you pass thru a glass surface.

there fore some of the best ep's are the simpler ones (eg orthoscopic) if you want max clarity on planets try an ortho, maybe even an edmonds RKE (3 elements)..keep in mind most ep's badged plossl are cheap rip-offs of the true design, plossl are excellent, but most of the ep's badged plossl are in fact symmetricals plossls

[koputai (Jason)]

Don't buy Chinese. I'm not saying you won't get a usable eyepiece, but your money can be more successfully spent.

Go Japanese, either Televue Plossl or the Parks Gold Series 5 element. Any of these (in the focal lengths you'd be after) will cost you around $100 each and are fantastic performers. Great value for money.

Cheers,
Jason.

[overlord (Charles)]

Yep. Thanks for the sage advice guys. I really appreciate it. I'll just go for the high quality Plossels or maybe an ortho if I can get one, then since i'm not into spending big just yet. I'll do that after i move out. Cheers !

[Fox]

Chucky, if price is a major concern, keep your eyes out for Eyepieces for Sale section below. In the last 1-2 months I saw a an 8mm Orion Stratus (Vixen LVW copy) and a Vixen LV 6mm going for $100 and $70 respectively. Both are renowned for long ER, and excellent quality for money. In fact, if either takes your fancy, I would immediately PM them to see if they are still available - you just never know! Fox.

[casstony]

The Meade HD's are getting positive reviews. Try asking Bintel how they compare to a known quantity such as Televue plossls or Japanese orthos. The Orthos are about $60 from http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html

[Fox]

Originally Posted by casstony

The Meade HD's are getting positive reviews. Try asking Bintel how they compare to a known quantity such as Televue plossls or Japanese orthos. The Orthos are about $60 from http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html

Casstony, have you links to these reviews? The HD's seem like a new line, I don't know much about them. But if 60 deg FOV and 17mm ER takes your fancy, then I don't think $99 a pop isn't a bad deal IMHO. Some time ago, I had a look at the Meade 5000 24mm SWA, it was a damn good EP for the price and not far off the venerable 24mm Panoptic. My Meade 2x telextender is great for the price I got it for.

Chucky, I'd go down to Bintel and just trial few on the shop floor to see if you like them.

[casstony]

I should have said positive reports rather than reviews - search cloudynights forum - I recall one guy saying the HD's were as good as his Sterling plossls. I haven't seen reliable reviews which is why I suggested asking Bintel.

Some of the newer Chinese eyepieces are very good though, requiring back and forth comparisons with top shelf eyepieces to detect differences. I have Astro-Tech Titan ED II's and a 22mm AF series that are very nice. Tiny differences between brands can become significant for experienced observers under good conditions but it's not necessary to spend a fortune to get good eyepieces these days. Of course there are plenty of poor quality eyepieces still around too.

[overlord (Charles)]

Ok here is what I got, lol. A 6.3mm version of one of these.

It fits in with my other Saxon eyepieces : )

But this will give me 158x, so I have a new planetary eyepiece!

[bobson (Bob)]

Here is the file I posted before on this forum about planetary eyepieces. Its from Cloudy Nights 2004.


cheers

bob