18 replies to this topic

[Greg K.]

I figure that I've gone long enough without buying new eyepieces for my scope, so I think I'll be getting some in the next few weeks. Assuming a $200 budget, what is going to give me the most bang for the buck?

Right now I have 25mm (40x) & 10mm (100x) Sirius Plossls that came with my scope, and a generic 3x Barlow. I'm thinking of the following for my F/5 8" SVP (1000mm FL):

30mm GSO SuperView 2" = 33x
7mm UO Ortho = 142x

This leaves me with about $80.

What else? Maybe something in the 17mm range or a decent 2x Barlow like an Orion Shorty Plus? Maybe a 2" Barlow??

What would you do?

[Tom L]

What are your favorite targets to look at? Do you like wide FOV or does it matter?

[Greg K.]

Planets, globular clusters, planetary nebula, I'd like to see more details & have better contrast in all of the above.

I'd like to be able to eek out more detail in galaxies.

Wide FOV would be nice, but not all important right now. The 30mm GSO is going to be my first real foray into wide FOV.

[matt]

I'd pick a 15-18mm Ultima or ultra scopic for deep sky. If you don't mind short eye relief, you should think about a 4mm or 5mm ortho for planetary views.

[erik]

or you may consider investing in a good barlow, depending on what kind you have now. if the 3x unit that you have is the orion tri-mag, it's not bad, but does have a restricted fov and suffers a bit from glare unless you blacken the lens edges and flock the inside. a 2x shorty plus barlow is a great investment, and would give you a lot more power options. your 10mm plossl would then have a very usable magnification of 200x. i would also recommend the orion ultrascopics (or celestron ultimas) mentioned above. they're great high power ep's. for a 2" ep, i like the optiluxe ep's, but they're a bit expensive. i've never tried the GSO's but everyone seems to like them, so i'm sure you're making a good choice with those. good luck!

[lighttrap]

I think you're on about the right track. But I'd substitute a UO 12mm ED for the UO 7mm and add an Orion Shorty Plus APO 2x barlow. That would give you 83x and 167x with better eyerelief. I've got the same scope as you do, and I find myself using that 12mm ED eyepiece a lot.

[Tom L]

Greg, I agree with Lighttrap's recommendations. The 12mm will be an excellent DSO EP for the globs and Planetary Nebs. Barlowed it will continue to perform on those items and also bring the planets and moon to their optimum level (for the majority of viewing that is dictated by the sky conditions). Buy the very best barlow you can afford...you will have it always once purchased.

[Greg K.]

My 3x Barlow is the cheapie 3x from Apogee. It's got some problems with glare, but it's given me some nice 300x views of planets coupled with my 10mm EP. It's not so great with the 25mm EP, blackout is a problem. I'd like to relegate it to backup/occasional usage only.

The 12mm + Barlow is an interesting thought. I'll have to think about that. I hadn't considered 12mm because I was thinking more about complimentary magnifications. My 25mm with a 2x Barlow would give me about that magnification, and lots of people seem to love that UO 7mm Ortho. The 10mm with a 2x Barlow would give me 200x which seems like it would be a nice magnification much of the time when the seeing doesn't allow the 7mm w/ 2x Barlow. 17mm seemed like a better choice for a medium mag EP.

[Tom L]

Greg, I tend not to use barlows if I don't have to. But when I do I make sure to maximize eyerelief with it. You are correct about the 25mm barlowed but I have to say that my 12.5mm UO Ortho (classic) is one of my favorite EPs...and so is my 18mm UO as well...actually, I like all of my UO orthos and use the one best suited for the evening's viewing. The 7, 9, 12 (12.5) and 18.

It is fun trying to decide what eyepieces to get. I finally had a good session last night and the 18mm, 12.5mm and 9mm were the eyepieces of choice...as was the 30mm GSO as my finder...although once I found the area I wanted in the sky, the GSO was put away and the 25mm TV plossl was used for finding duties since it is a 1.25" also.

Good luck!

[Barry Fernelius]

I'll offer a dissenting opinion. How about a 13mm Type 6 Nagler? Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Again, yes.

Or, have you considered the Meade 14mm Ultrawide?

[Greg K.]

I just won an auction for a 20mm Ultrascopic for $31 plus shipping:

20mm Ultrascopic

A little higher focal length than the 17mm I was looking for but it seemed like quite a bargain. So that's one down...

[lighttrap]

I just won an auction for a 20mm Ultrascopic for $31 plus shipping:

20mm Ultrascopic

Greg, That's a GREAT deal. If you get it and decide you don't want it, I'd be happy to buy it off you. However, I think you're probably going to want to hang onto that one. So, that leaves you about $160 in your orig. budget. Perhaps a good 2x barlow such as the Orion Shorty Plus and a 7mm UO Ortho are in order?

[Greg K.]

I'm going to go for a 7mm UO Ortho and a 30mm GSO Superview, and probably a nice Barlow as well. I'll just keep looking at Astromart & Ebay for some deals..

I'll just have to aspire to Nagler ownership for the time being

[Greg K.]

Ok, now I'm considering the 7.5mm Ultrascopic instead of the 7mm UO Ortho (or HD Ortho). I'm wondering if anyone has compared these? It seems that the Ultrascopic would have the edge with a wider field of view, but how about image brightness & detail?

[EdZ]

See this post from a week or so ago.

Celsestron 7.5 Ultima compared to 7mm UO ortho

edz

[erik]

the 7.5mm ultrascopic has a wide fov, and nice eye relief. excellent ep!

[Greg K.]

Well, I got the 20mm Ultrascopic today, it's definitely a nicer EP all around compared to the 25mm Sirius. Objects seem at least as bright as in the 25mm but with better contrast. It even works better with my 3x barlow. I got my best view of M13 ever at 150x with the combo.

It looks like I've settled on the 7.5 Ultima or Ultrascopic.I've also pretty much decided on the the GSO 30mm & the GSO 2x 2" Barlow, since I get a barlow that can be used with 2" EPs as well. The compression ring 1.25" adapter on the GSO Barlow is a nice bonus, as is the ability to thread the Barlow element to a 2" EP for 1.5x magnification.

[erik]

good choices, greg, i think you'll like the 7.5mm ultrascopic as well!