A good eyepiece between 6-10mm?

EzyStyles (Eric) · #1 07-02-2006, 07:49 PM

Im looking for a good eyepiece for clarity in magnification with wideview somewhere from 6-10mm. Any recommendations?

thanks

Striker (Tony) · #2 07-02-2006, 07:55 PM

Considering you have a F4 scope you will benifit with quality eyepieces.

The Nagler and Pentax range is great but expensive.

I would go for the 7 or 10mm Pentax XW.

haha I beat you John.

davidpretorius · #3 07-02-2006, 08:01 PM

it will be the first question asked, how many $$ do you want to spend, and ausatronomer is the best to ask for what ep works in what f? scope

janoskiss (Steve H) · #4 07-02-2006, 08:31 PM

The 10mm Skywatcher Super Plossl Matt is selling should be a good bargain. They are sold by MyAstroshop for $69 I think, and they are meant to be very good quality. I'm guessing they are probably the same as the Synta SPs at $49 ea from Andrews. I'm about to buy a couple and will let you all know what they are like.

wavelandscott (Scott) · #5 07-02-2006, 08:37 PM

Beat me too...I'll be the one of the first to say that I like the Televue green paint a whole bunch and would not hesitate to offer them as good choices...however, I am very happy with my 7 mm Pentax XW...although expensive (not a lot different than the Naglers), it is a good piece of gear...good eye relief, good performance...the only "flaw" to me is the size...compared to the Nagler T6 line of eyepieces it seems big...

There are many schools of thought with regards to eyepieces...I tend to be of the school that fewer eyepieces of better quality is a better strategy than several average of below...a good quality eyepiece will work in a variety of scopes (fast or slow) and they will hold the value better...the eyepiece makes up a large portion of the optical pathway...I prefer to do visual astronomy (not well enough or often enough but it is what I like)...and so try and get the best views I am capable of...

mickoking · #6 07-02-2006, 09:56 PM

G,day EZY,

I am about to purchase a 6mm UO Orthoscopic e/p for double star work. I will do a quick review when I recieve it.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #7 07-02-2006, 10:33 PM

How wide do you want to go? As wide as your QX?

I'm working on acquiring a 60 degree 8.5mm Pentax XF. If I do I'll post about it soon after trying it. This EP is not as wide as the QX but should be a much better performer.

The general rule with a scope like yours is spend big bucks on Naglers, Pentaxes and maybe even a coma corrector if you want sharpness edge-to-edge. Recent less expensive alternatives on the market are the Orion Stratus and the very similar Baader Hyperion. These are excetionally good value and have a wide 68 degree FOV. The Stratus work well in my f6 and they are reported to work well at f5 too. But f4, I'm not sure. But given that the QX is working for you, the Stratus or Hyperion should work even better, and are probably the best bang-for-buck EPs for your scope.

But my advice would be to spend some time (couple of months at least) using the EPs you have and learing their strengths and weaknesses. I can understand why you might frown at this though. But if your plossls are really bad, you could upgrade them to better ones without spending much money to begin with.

iceman (Mike) · #8 07-02-2006, 10:40 PM

Do you really need a widefield? Is this a planetary eyepiece?

mickoking · #9 07-02-2006, 10:45 PM

Widefields are good for crusin'. Plossl's ( and maybe ortho's) are good for getting down

I hope I'm making sense

janoskiss (Steve H) · #10 07-02-2006, 10:51 PM

Perfect sense, Micko.

EzyStyles (Eric) · #11 07-02-2006, 11:47 PM

Thanks guys. So my finals are either the Naglers or Pentax or 6mm UO Orthoscopic. How much would i be looking at spending for either of these? What about in the Meade's or TV range? What is a coma corrector? i would prefer a wideview considering the magnification of 6 - 10 mm is so great.

Thanks for the help all.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #12 07-02-2006, 11:50 PM

orthoscopics have a narrow field of view (FOV). just slow down or you'll end up very poor.

If you haven't already, check out: www.cloudynights.com

EzyStyles (Eric) · #13 07-02-2006, 11:57 PM

ignore my stupity, the naglers are TV's

in the naglers, the model i should be getting will be a type 6 since type 6 comes in 5, 7, 9mm?

umm quite expensive considering they are $300 - $600. might give it a misss on the naglers .

Any other eyepieces upto $200 maybe $250 (pushing)?

thanks

asimov (John) · #14 08-02-2006, 12:24 AM

I'm thinking Vixen LV.....Not too pricey, below $200. Not sure how they'd go in an F4 though.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #15 08-02-2006, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EzyStyles

Any other eyepieces upto $200 maybe $250 (pushing)?

Burgess TMB planetaries. Talk to John ausastronomer. There's also Hyperion, Stratus, and Pentax XF. Speers-WALER also in within your budget (John again, poor guy...)

All need to be purchased overseas. Though the XF I hope to get through Oz dealer; waiting and seeing atm.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #16 08-02-2006, 12:39 AM

Vixen LV have 45 deg FOV, Davo. No good for what Ezy wants...

RapidEye · #17 08-02-2006, 12:58 AM

I just picked up a 7mm Pentax XW last weekend and it appears to be every bit as awesome as the 10mm that I've had for a year now.

Any chance you could save your pennies for a couple more months???

janoskiss (Steve H) · #18 08-02-2006, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janoskiss

The 10mm Skywatcher Super Plossl Matt is selling should be a good bargain. They are sold by MyAstroshop for $69 I think, and they are meant to be very good quality. I'm guessing they are probably the same as the Synta SPs at $49 ea from Andrews. I'm about to buy a couple and will let you all know what they are like.

Just for the record: Lee from Andrews emailed me that he does not have the Synta SPs I wanted (2x26mm) and is not going to get any more of them, because he can't get them at a "good price". So it looks like MyAstroShop is charging a very fair price at $69. I'm still very curious how they perform, because there is a pretty big gap in price and performance between the likes of the GS Plossls and the top end Plossls like the Televues. It would be nice if the Skywatcher/Synta SPs could fill that gap for those who can't afford premium plossls.

ving (David) · #19 08-02-2006, 01:41 PM

i dont think you'll get a wide field in your price range that gives clear edge to edge performance. i cheap widefield like a GSO SV will probably fall apart at f/4 (while it is fine at f/6

a televue plossl or celestron ultima will probably dothe job for you

ausastronomer (John Bambury) · #20 08-02-2006, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janoskiss

Just for the record: Lee from Andrews emailed me that he does not have the Synta SPs I wanted (2x26mm) and is not going to get any more of them, because he can't get them at a "good price". So it looks like MyAstroShop is charging a very fair price at $69. I'm still very curious how they perform, because there is a pretty big gap in price and performance between the likes of the GS Plossls and the top end Plossls like the Televues. It would be nice if the Skywatcher/Synta SPs could fill that gap for those who can't afford premium plossls.

Steve,

I previously owned a full set of the Synta Super Plossls, as my "party eyepieces", about 4 or 5 years ago. These eyepieces are also sold by Orion in the USA as their "Sirius Plossl" line. The Synta Super Plossls are a clear step up from the generic/GSO Plossls. They fall about 1/2 way between a premium plossl or orthoscopic and a budget one. They are sharp with good light transmission and would keep a lot of people happy for their entire observing career, whereas the budget ones will not. They represent good value at $70 and well worth the extra over generic plossls. However, having said that, you can buy the old standard volcano top orthoscopics for $100 or so and these are an equivalent step forward for an extra $30, so it all comes back to how good you want the eyepiece and how much you want to spend.

CS-John B