Telescope Reviews: First telescope vs camera lens

Well, after much agonizing, reception of excellent advice, and re-rethinking, I now have a shiny new Celestron NexStar 102 SLT (102mm) 4" refractor sitting in one of the spare bedrooms. Had to start somewhere, and go-to, portability AND low maintenance (and price) was near the top of my list. I downloaded and thoroughly studied the manuals for the three finalists (Orion XT8, NexStar 5 SE, and the NexStar 102 SLT). Initially I had the XT8 picked as the winner until size, portability, cool-down time, and maintenance issues caused me to shy away, plus non-suitability for terrestrial use, which is important to me (us) for this first telescope. Between the remaining SCT and refractor, portability appeared about the same, but a simple refractor is more like what I've used for many years - just an oversized spotting scope - and maintenance is pretty much a non-issue. The 102 SLT was also $300 less than the 5 SE. I have so much learning to do about lunar/planetary observation that serious DSO viewing can wait to see if my interest survives the training period. My wife liked the refractor at first sight because she understands how it works and it makes sense to her - she's used spotting scopes for many years. The fully automatic go-to with tracking was an important factor, too.

The 102 SLT, although it will be sniffed at by owners of high dollar refractors, seems to be a decent telescope with very smooth tracking movement and no-slop focusing, and the one quick 1/4 mile @ 26x terrestrial look I had through it last night was pretty impressive in brightness and edge-to-edge sharpness for this price level. I was a bit surprised at the wide FOV, too. At f/6.5 I might even be able to do some short exposure photography with it using my D200, if the camera body isn't too heavy for this setup.

If our lunar/planetary learning period is succesful I'll probably keep the 4" refractor for my wife to use, skip over the 8" Dob, and get a CPC 9.25 or something similar.

Of course, now I get to buy eyepieces (this is a lot like buying a boat or a top quality camera - the initial purchase is just a small down payment). The 102 SLT came with 25mm and 9mm Celestron Kellners. I haven't even plugged in the 9mm yet, which is only 73x on this 660mm scope. The reasonable limit for this telescope seems to be in the 150x range, so an erect image diagonal and Barlow are next, I suppose. I eventually want bino capability - I hate using one eye for scopes.

Does anybody know the exact metric thread size of Celestron's 1.25" eyepieces? I have a boatload of good quality color, B&W, and ND photo filters, including quite a few in the 30-32mm range, but have no idea what exact threads are on telescope eyepieces. I hate to buy another set just for telescope eyepieces unless I have to. BTW, Celestron's accessory catalog is pretty much useless if you want to know exact technical specs for just about anything they sell other than the actual telescope itself.