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Which classic eyepieces do you like best

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#51 Rick-T137

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 04:38 PM

I really don't think these are super classics or anything, but I have a real soft spot for the Meade MA eyepieces that came with my SCT's. I have a 25mm and 9mm for use with my 2080 LX6 Premier (although they were acquired separately). I was really surprised how sharp they both are on Jupiter. They have a bit more of a blue hue versus my Tele Vue eyepieces. I really like them!

 


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#52 macdonjh

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 04:38 PM

I don't know if they are considered classics, but they aren't available anymore and I've had them for ten years or more: Orion Optiluxe.  My caveat is use them is slow scopes, they don't play well with fast objectives.

 

My new-to-me Pentax 18mm orthoscopic is perhaps the best eye piece I've ever owned.  It's so small I worry I'll lose it if I drop it.

 

I have an unbranded 40mm Kellner with a brass barrel that is amazingly sharp and bright on axis.  I like to use it even though I have three other higher-tech choices at that focal length.

 

Our club owns a few Clave Plossls and there is something magic about them.  I don't know which iteration they are though.

In the spirit of my previous post:

 

My two most-used scopes are f/20 (Driveway Scope) and f/15 (observatory scope).  In addition, I have a refractor that is f/12 and that Parks hybrid that can be an f/15 Cassegrain or f/4 Newtonian.  So the vast majority of the time, I am using classic eye pieces with telescopes of classic focal ratio.  When I do use my Parks with its Newtonian secondary, I use my Nagler and Radian eye pieces.


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#53 MattT

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 04:57 PM

In no particular order...

20mm Meade RG WA
24.5mm Meade SWA smoothie
16mm UO Konig II
32mm UO Konig (2" barrel)
SMC-Pentax orthos
30mm Ultima

Don't forget the barlows!
2.4x Dakin
2.8x Klee

Edited by MattT, 13 June 2018 - 05:04 PM.

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#54 deSitter

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 05:45 PM

I really don't think these are super classics or anything, but I have a real soft spot for the Meade MA eyepieces that came with my SCT's. I have a 25mm and 9mm for use with my 2080 LX6 Premier (although they were acquired separately). I was really surprised how sharp they both are on Jupiter. They have a bit more of a blue hue versus my Tele Vue eyepieces. I really like them!

 

Those are excellent! They are Kellners with a different name.

 

-drl


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#55 Garyth64

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 05:53 PM

I do have a little collection of UO eyepieces.

 

Another of my favorites are the green gripped ones in the back.  I purchased the 13mm back about 1972, the 25mm I found a couple years ago.  I am always on the hunt for other sizes of those green gripped eyepieces.

 

UO eyepieces collection.jpg


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#56 CHASLX200

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 06:02 PM

I've never been able to use a Nagler comfortably.  Besides the short eye relief, they are not as sharp in the center of the field as a good ortho, and some of them "kidney bean" on me.  Just too finicky.

 

My favorites are my old UO Zebra Konigs as well as the volcano-top Erfles.  Both work very well in long-focus instruments.  I have some other faves but these are the ones that seem to get used as a group most often, along with the UO mushroom-top series.  No pics of the mushroom tops on my office computer, sorry.

 

 

attachicon.gif Konigs.jpg  attachicon.gif Erfles.jpg

They all have too short ER for my glasses. But the newer 17 and 22mm are great with my glasses.



#57 clamchip

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 06:21 PM

These Bushnell spotting scope eyepieces are very nice and they thread into the Meade RG

barrel. They may be kin to the Meade RG's and the Cave Orthostars they all seem like they

came from the same source possibly.

Robert

 

post-50896-0-74495900-1485138418_thumb.jpg


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#58 Bomber Bob

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 08:07 PM

In 1.25" size, my best planetary eyepieces are my vintage 1980s Meade RGOs, followed closely by my UO HDs.  (I will have a shootout between the RG OR7 & a Nagler 7 if we ever get another clear night!)  For low power, I'm very pleased with my RKEs, and a very old Jaegers ER30.  Stars look so much brighter with the RKEs!

 

In .965" size, my spectros Plossls & Kellners are unbeatable for contrast & resolution at every magnification -- and edge to edge!  But I also rely on a 1950s KE30 from a Space Scope 151, and the green cap KE22 & black cap KE20 bundled with Royal Astro scopes.  Honorable Mention goes to an unlikely one -- a vintage B&L KE25 microscope eyepiece that makes my 50mm & smaller fracs seem larger.


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#59 bremms

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Posted 13 June 2018 - 09:15 PM

The other issue is those 100 degree eyepieces are heavier than the scope they are being used in.

Not mine.  6" F10 Refactor with a 2.7" AP focuser, C11,  C8, 14.5" F5.5 Newt. The other scopes use 1.25" EP's


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#60 memento

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 07:38 AM

This Parks GS 35mm is marginally vintage if you stretch but it gives me an 50 power (for 68" FL scope) and 35x (48" FL) and is a pleasure to view low power, wide angle and doesn't unbalance my scope by its sheer weight.

Is this the same as a Baader Eudiascopic 35mm? They had a complete series – Baader Eudiascopic – from 35mm to I think 7 or even 6 mm – that was sold new starting in the late 80s / early 90s right until very recently. They are really great eyepieces. A few are still available new, it seems, but they are out of production. This is the 35mm:

 

https://www.baader-p...-mm-ed-1¼".html



#61 KentTolley

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 08:34 AM

Is this the same as a Baader Eudiascopic 35mm? They had a complete series – Baader Eudiascopic – from 35mm to I think 7 or even 6 mm – that was sold new starting in the late 80s / early 90s right until very recently. They are really great eyepieces. A few are still available new, it seems, but they are out of production. This is the 35mm:

 

https://www.baader-p...-mm-ed-1¼".html

Yes.  Same eyepiece, different label.  The Celestron Ultimas are also the same.


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#62 macdonjh

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 08:45 AM

Yes.  Same eyepiece, different label.  The Celestron Ultimas are also the same.

Orion Ultrascopic, too?


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#63 ltha

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 09:11 AM

When I was a kid orthos and erfles were pretty much what was available. University Optics and Cave Orthostars were what I used most. Since I was “self-funded” for the most part I was pretty careful  (and limited) about what I could buy. When I received a catalog from Telescopics in Los Angeles it listed a wide field eyepiece with a cool Saturn logo. I bought a 16.3mm Galoc and have had one in my eyepiece box ever since. Over the years I have acquired several more and use them, along with a complete set of Orthostars, in all of my “old” scopes. 

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#64 Bomber Bob

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 09:28 AM

I do have a little collection of UO eyepieces.

 

Mercy!!  Congratulations!  Not sure how many of yours are Tani, but it sure seems like Tani / Ohi made a ton of volcano top eyepieces back in the day -- and I've yet to find a bad one.

 

Over the years I have acquired several more and use them, along with a complete set of Orthostars, in all of my “old” scopes.

 

Wow!  I've never owned any of the Galoc eyepieces, though I'm sure to have looked through some at star parties over the years.


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#65 Jon Isaacs

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 09:46 AM

I really don't think these are super classics or anything, but I have a real soft spot for the Meade MA eyepieces that came with my SCT's. I have a 25mm and 9mm for use with my 2080 LX6 Premier (although they were acquired separately). I was really surprised how sharp they both are on Jupiter. They have a bit more of a blue hue versus my Tele Vue eyepieces. I really like them!

 

 

The 25 mm Meade MA's like the one in your photo seem to congregate at my house.  They're good eyepieces so I give them away with scopes but the seem to keep coming.  Roght now I have three , two appear identical and one is shorter.. 

 

I really like the brass construction,  they just seem like "this is how an eyepiece should be made. 

 

Macdonjh reiterated the importance of the telescope in choosing eyepieces for the evening .  A fast scope really jerks the light around and to get it all going where it's supposed to go requires more than three or four elements . 

 

But in a slow scope where the light is bent by gently massaging it, Erfles, Kellners and orthos come into their own. My one slow scope is my one classic,  a Meade 310. At F/11, this 80 mm achro is slow enough that such eyepieces can shine.

 

I do have a complete set of Meade Series 2 Orthos, the 4, 6, 9, 12.5, 18 and 25 mm's that do nicely in such scopes, the 18 mm and 25 mm really provide very nice views. I also include in that set the Meade MA40 mm EWF, the same blue and white lettering as the orthos.

 

The EWF is supposed to mean Extra Wide Field but its less than 40 degrees. But it gives the illusion of providing a wide field view. I find that eyepieces with a large eye lens and a barrel that's only slightly larger than the lens create that "floating in space" illusion . I suspect that's what's going on with the 28 mm RKE .

 

I have to get that set back, along with my C4.5, its been on loan for more than 5 years. .

 

4382656-Meade Or's 2small .jpg
 
Jon

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#66 deSitter

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 10:29 AM

 

The 25 mm Meade MA's like the one in your photo seem to congregate at my house.  They're good eyepieces so I give them away with scopes but the seem to keep coming.  Roght now I have three , two appear identical and one is shorter.. 

 

I really like the brass construction,  they just seem like "this is how an eyepiece should be made. 

 

Macdonjh reiterated the importance of the telescope in choosing eyepieces for the evening .  A fast scope really jerks the light around and to get it all going where it's supposed to go requires more than three or four elements . 

 

But in a slow scope where the light is bent by gently massaging it, Erfles, Kellners and orthos come into their own. My one slow scope is my one classic,  a Meade 310. At F/11, this 80 mm achro is slow enough that such eyepieces can shine.

 

I do have a complete set of Meade Series 2 Orthos, the 4, 6, 9, 12.5, 18 and 25 mm's that do nicely in such scopes, the 18 mm and 25 mm really provide very nice views. I also include in that set the Meade MA40 mm EWF, the same blue and white lettering as the orthos.

 

The EWF is supposed to mean Extra Wide Field but its less than 40 degrees. But it gives the illusion of providing a wide field view. I find that eyepieces with a large eye lens and a barrel that's only slightly larger than the lens create that "floating in space" illusion . I suspect that's what's going on with the 28 mm RKE .

 

I have to get that set back, along with my C4.5, its been on loan for more than 5 years. .

 

 
 
Jon

 

Love those blue and white Meades in both the 1.25 and the .965 format. Gradually assembling a family. They just feel right.

 

-drl


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#67 Jon Isaacs

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 10:58 AM

Love those blue and white Meades in both the 1.25 and the .965 format. Gradually assembling a family. They just feel right.

 

-drl

 

I like the flat top design for the orthos . With torpedo tops,  i was always swiping the eye lens of the shorter focal lengths with my eyelashes. With the flat tops,  i seem to avoid it , probably because i can see the flat in my peripheral vision. 

 

Jon


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#68 Terra Nova

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 11:09 AM

 

The 25 mm Meade MA's like the one in your photo seem to congregate at my house.  They're good eyepieces so I give them away with scopes but the seem to keep coming.  Roght now I have three , two appear identical and one is shorter.. 

 

Jon

 

I have a pair of the older Japanese 1.25” MAs- the 25mm and the 9mm which I find to be quite good for H-alpha solar observing. Also have the 0.965” ~volcano-top 40mm and 25mm which are pretty nice eyepieces.


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#69 DMala

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 11:14 AM

I may have missed it, but I am surprised that not much has been mentioned on this thread about this old .965 goodie. I do not claim it is the best but for sure I enjoy it a lot every time I use it!

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Edited by DMala, 14 June 2018 - 11:14 AM.

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#70 Terra Nova

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 12:34 PM

Yep, just like mine (mentioned above). I keep my 25 and 40 in the case with my 60mm Mayflower. It works well with it.


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#71 DMala

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 01:52 PM

Good to agree, I thought that you were referring to 40mm .965 volcano-tops while the 40mm I posted I thought did not look a typical volcano-top design as the top lens is not recessed.  



#72 ltha

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Posted 14 June 2018 - 10:13 PM

When I take out the Cave scopes....Orthostars, erfles including my favorite 32mm.....

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#73 steve t

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Posted 15 June 2018 - 06:25 AM

When I take out the Cave scopes....Orthostars, erfles including my favorite 32mm.....

Nice collection of eyepieces and case



#74 highfnum

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Posted 15 June 2018 - 07:05 AM

a favorite for eyepiece projection 

you dont see to many of these

hasting.jpg

 

 


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#75 bremms

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Posted 15 June 2018 - 07:23 AM

a favorite for eyepiece projection 

you dont see to many of these

attachicon.gif hasting.jpg

Be careful still using EP projection. I like Ramsdens or Huygens for solar projection. It's easy to melt the lens cement or crack a triplet or doublet. Learned that the hard way when I wrecked a 25mm Tani Ortho that was a month old.


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