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Vintage Celestron Silvertop 26mm Plossl!

Started by Rick Needham , Oct 29 2005 01:34 PM

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#1 Rick Needham

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 01:34 PM

I just won a BRAND NEW/UNUSED vintage Celestron 26mm Plossl off from eBay. It will come in the orange box w/ two end caps. Like I said, brand spanking new from discontinued dealer inventory! I used to own one of these eyepieces back around 1985. It came with the purchase of my Celestron C-130 5.1" f/5.5 newtonian w/ the Vixen made Polaris EQ mount. When I sold the C-130 with all the accessories I had added to the telescope around 1990, the Celestron 26mm plossl eyepiece went with it. I now deeply regret selling the telescope. It had great optics given it's 5.1" apeture. I think many of the Celestron reflectors back then were made of quality Vixen parts & optics. I could be mistaken. The Polaris EQ mount was made by Vixen. And if I remember correctly, one of the two end caps for that Celestron 26mm plossl eyepice carried the Circle V Vixen emblem molded right into the cap. So was this eyepiece made thru Vixen? I think so. Maybe someone here could confirm this. It's from the Silvertop line of plossl eyepieces, with the nice satin finish on the top half of the eyepiece. I won the eyepiece for $23.27! Tack on the $5.15 for Priority Mail shipping for a grand total of just $28.42 for a nice Japanese quality eyepiece! I was very surprised I won it for this amount. Below is an actual picture of the eyepiece from the eBay sellers auction page. It's on it's way to me now. Can't wait to look through it. This was a very nice eyepiece and I'm glad to have one AGAIN!

Rick

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#2 Mike Hosea

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 02:39 PM

You probably were aided by the confusion that the more recent versions from China created when they went back to the silver sleeve after the Taiwan versions had gone with a black sleeve. For awhile, we had cheap Chinese plossls being advertised as "silver top". Your version doesn't look like the older silver-tops with the solid silver upper casing and stamped orange lettering, but it appears to be a later Japanese model, probably the last Celestron-branded Vixen-made version.

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#3 Rick Needham

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 02:42 PM

You probably were aided by the confusion that the more recent versions from China created when they went back to the silver sleeve after the Taiwan versions had gone with a black sleeve. For awhile, we had cheap Chinese plossls being advertised as "silver top". Your version doesn't look like the older silver-tops with the solid silver upper casing and stamped orange lettering, but it appears to be a later Japanese model, probably the last Celestron-branded Vixen-made version.

Thanks Mike for your insight. Have I purchased a nice quality Japaneese (Vixen) made plossl eyepiece here?

Rick

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#4 Mike Hosea

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 02:53 PM

I've never owned this particular version, but I've seen photos of it before. E.g. here:

http://www.astromart...ified_id=366755

This seems to indicate that you got a very good deal, especially considering yours is NIB.

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#5 Rick Needham

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 03:02 PM

Mike, That's the eyepiece for sure. You can clearly see the JAPAN followed by the Circled "V" on the barrel. I see he sold his used version for $38. Buying mine BRAND NEW IN BOX for just over $28 w/ the shipping, I'd guess I'd have to say I got an excellent deal. Like I said before, I was very shocked at the ending price of the auction. :bigshock:

I was willing to go higher if need be. Thanks again Mike.

Rick

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#6 Rick Needham

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 04:21 PM

This eyepiece also has a slight "volcano top" appearence. I really like that :silly:

Rick

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#7 starpal

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 06:20 PM

Rick, I've had that eyepiece and the earlier vintage full silver model both of which have the same Vixen optic lens set. The main difference is the black top and the way the housing is assembled. If you unscrew the top (keep upright as the eyelens will fall out), the outer silver sleeve will slip off. All are symmetrical not true Plossl in design. Celestron shifted all or part of the production process to Taiwan during the era of the one you have.

I once did a careful comparison analysis of the original 30mm silver top to a Brandon 32mm (an unsymmetric doublet design similar to a Plossl, they used to be made here in Arkansas at one time) using the Lagoon nebula and imbedded cluster. It took awhile but a very subtle difference in sharpness was garnered for the Brandon. On the other hand, the Celestron had a slightly more noticeable (than that of the sharpness difference), better level of image contrast making it the winner. I believe it was due the upgraded coatings against those of the Brandon. The reason I did the test was because there has been much touting of the Brandon's superior contrast just using standard MgFl coatings.

By the way, Celestron phased out the models longer than the 26mm when your version came out. In the longer FLs, the original 30mm was best and is now very rare to find today!

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#8 arczeneb

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Posted 29 October 2005 - 07:58 PM

This is the vintage 26mm Plossl. Came with my C102 back in the mid 80's. Made in Japan, greenish tint and blackened on the threads. Circle V for Vixen.

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#9 starpal

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Posted 30 October 2005 - 12:28 PM

Funny thing about these is the Japanese amateurs actually paid more for their Vixen label Plossls (same thing) as we here in the states did at the time. Maybe it was free shipping for Celestron?

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#10 Rick Needham

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Posted 02 November 2005 - 12:51 AM

I recieved my Celestron (Vixen made) 26mm Plossl in the mail today. A beautiful eyepiece. Just as pictured above. It definately is brand spanking new and never used....a 20+ yr. old eyepiece in pristine condition. I kinda hate to use it. Both end caps show the Circle V molded right in. I'm happy. :yay:

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#11 square_peg

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Posted 02 November 2005 - 12:55 AM

I'm happy.

I bet! Nice deal.

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#12 starpal

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Posted 02 November 2005 - 01:16 AM

Vintage eyepieces that are new old stock, etc. are the BEST ONES!

Congrats...

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#13 Rick Needham

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Posted 02 November 2005 - 03:26 AM

Vintage eyepieces that are new old stock, etc. are the BEST ONES!

Congrats...

Yes they are! But kinda rare though... :rolling:

Thanks

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#14 Clive Gibbons

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Posted 02 November 2005 - 11:16 AM

That's a sweet eyepiece for a very good price!
Like Pete has mentioned, if you ever come across the Celestron 30mm Plossl, grab it.
When I worked in a scope shop during the '80's, we compared all the longer f.l. Celestron Plossls and the 30mm seemed to give the nicest view. This was back when Celestron was shifting production of their Plossls from Japan to Taiwan.
Ironically, the 30mm was one of the first Taiwanese sourced units. Nice ocular!

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#15 Rick Needham

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Posted 03 November 2005 - 03:44 AM

That's a sweet eyepiece for a very good price!
Like Pete has mentioned, if you ever come across the Celestron 30mm Plossl, grab it.
When I worked in a scope shop during the '80's, we compared all the longer f.l. Celestron Plossls and the 30mm seemed to give the nicest view. This was back when Celestron was shifting production of their Plossls from Japan to Taiwan.
Ironically, the 30mm was one of the first Taiwanese sourced units. Nice ocular!

Thanks Clive. It is a sweet eyepiece, even if it isn't the elusive 30mm. I will keep my "squint-eye" open for that Celestron 30mm Plossl eyepiece.

Rick

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#16 WStewart

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 09:41 AM

Hi, I'm Wesley...long-time lurker, first-time poster. Noticed this forum on Celestron silver-tops, and thought I'd share my own vintage battle-worn collection from the mid '80's (if I can figure out how to attach a photo). The eyepiece on the left is a 45mm that serves better as a paper weight (lots of blackout, tight FOV), but the 26mm is quite a nice ep., and I bet you'll enjoy yours.

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#17 LivingNDixie

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 09:49 AM

I had a 22mm Silvertop that I used beofore I got my 22mm Panoptic to replace it with. Those are nice eyepieces, and they aren't to expensive.

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#18 Rick Needham

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 10:24 AM

Hi, I'm Wesley...long-time lurker, first-time poster. Noticed this forum on Celestron silver-tops, and thought I'd share my own vintage battle-worn collection from the mid '80's (if I can figure out how to attach a photo). The eyepiece on the left is a 45mm that serves better as a paper weight (lots of blackout, tight FOV), but the 26mm is quite a nice ep., and I bet you'll enjoy yours.

Hi Wesley and welcome to CN! Thanks for your share of the photo with your silvertops. Seeing yours and the other photo posted, I guess mine is not a true silvertop. Like I mentioned, I had one of these before which came with my Celestron 5.1" reflector. I purchased that telescope around 1985-86. Mine must be a "second generation" silvertop. This is an excellent eyepiece as I'm sure yours is to. Too bad these are so hard to come across these days. About as rare as hen's teeth, almost.

Rick

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#19 Rick Needham

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 10:27 AM

I had a 22mm Silvertop that I used beofore I got my 22mm Panoptic to replace it with. Those are nice eyepieces, and they aren't to expensive.

What ever became of it? The 22mm silvertop plossl?

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#20 LivingNDixie

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 11:08 AM

It went to a new owner on Astromart, I was lucky I bought the 22mm used and it was in really good condition, looked like it never had been used, I to took the time to keep it in that kind of condition.

Some other nice eyepieces from the past are the Meade 5 element smmothside plossls and their research grade stuff from the 80's

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#21 WStewart

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Posted 04 November 2005 - 04:17 PM

Rick, whether or not yours is a "true" silvertop, I'd say you got a good bargain there. I bought my scope (an SPC8) about the same time you got yours (85-86), and my 26mm came with the scope. My 45mm, and that 2x barlow in the photo, I paid about $75.00 apiece for those 2...and that's in back-in-the-day-dollars (!).

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#22 Rick Needham

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Posted 10 November 2005 - 05:03 AM

Wesley, I guess I did great a great deal. And an excellent plossl eyepiece.

Rick

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#23 Scanning4Comets

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Posted 27 August 2014 - 05:23 PM

Just lurking to see what these are all about. I saw one today at a local camera shop I frequent once in a while and saw this 26mm Circle V 26mm Vintage Plossl, so I jumped on it!

Are these any good?