43 replies to this topic

[Dank_w]

I will be buying a 150/1200 Dobsonian telescope ( https://teleskopy.pl...roducts_id=9021 ) and since it comes with just 2 eyepieces (25mm and 9mm) i'd like to buy a eyepiece or a Barlow Lens that would give around 200 x magnification to get better views of planets and yes, im aware i won't be able to use 200 x magnification every night due to atmospheric conditions and such. They have to be really cheap around 30€ to be exact and from the same shop.

 

I already took a look at few options such as a really cheap GSO Barlow giving 2x or 1.5 magnification. I'm more tilted toward buying this but i'm not confident such a cheap Barlow is good quality: https://teleskopy.pl...roducts_id=1673

 

Another option i had in mind was just buying an eyepiece such as a GSO 6mm Plössl eyepiece: https://teleskopy.pl...skopy-1769.html

There's also an Orion 6.3mm eyepiece around the same price, but i noticed it has a smaller field of view: https://teleskopy.pl...skopy-8457.html

 

[Don W]

You will have a hard time using any more power than your 9mm will provide, 133X. I would suggest that you fill the gap with eyepieces around 12, 15, 20mm.  Too many beginners are convinced that you need high magnification. 

[newbeeDavid]

Look on the CN classifieds there are some good eyepieces available now, to get your 200X would be a 6mm fl/eyepiece mm 1200/ 6=200x

[Sebastian_Sajaroff]

The 6 mm Svbony is reasonably good for its price.
I had it on an old 6" F/8 Dob of mine

[Astrojensen]

I also have a 6" f/8 Dobsonian, an older Meade Starfinder, and my recommendation is to get a 15mm Plössl and a 2x GSO Barlow. In combination with the 25mm and 9mm you already have, this would give a lot of useful magnifications. The nights where I can use 200x are few, so I wouldn't get a dedicated eyepiece for that, if your budget is very tight. Also, a 6mm Plössl has very tight eye relief and is not so pleasant to look through as a 9mm Barlowed 1.5x. The GSO Barlow and Plössls are quite good. 

 

The three eyepieces and 2x/1.5x Barlow would give the following focal lengths:

 

25 - 17 - 12.5

15 - 10 - 7.5

9 - 6 - 4.5 

 

This would basically cover the entire magnification range you're normally likely to use. On deep-sky objects I use 50x (24mm ES68) and 87x (14mm ES82) 90% of the time, occasionally 110x (11mm ES82), very rarely higher. Highest on the planets is usually 182x (6.7mm ES82). I know the ES eyepieces are out of your price range right now, but if you can swing it in the future, I can highly recommend them. The wider field makes it much easier to track the objects with a Dobsonian, and the wide fields are just very pleasing to look at visually (in my opinion). 

 

A budget alternative could be the 15mm GSO https://teleskopy.pl...skopy-2019.html

 

I have it myself, and it works well at f/8. It's a good little eyepiece. It, along with the 20mm and 10mm in the same series, was my first wide-field eyepiece.

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

Edited by Astrojensen, 02 February 2025 - 12:08 PM.

[sevenofnine]

Welcome to C/N! 

 

On a very good night of Seeing, a scope is capable of 50x per inch of aperture. For a 6" that means 300x so your goal of 200x seems very reasonable to me. Of course a lot depends on your local atmospheric conditions. Some places you may rarely reach your goal but on a few nights per year. In other places 300x may happen a lot. Your 6mm eyepiece gives you that 200x (1200mm/6). So, I'd wait before adding any equipment at this point. See what the view through the 6mm looks like then make decisions from there. Good luck! 

[daveb2022]

I would research a zoom. A Baader zoom is expensive, but has nice eye relief and a reasonable FOV plus can be ordered with a barlow. For close work, I don't have issues with a zoom EP. You could purchase an inexpensive Svbony SV-191 7.2-21.6mm or a SV-171 8-24mm model and couple it with a 2x barlow. They work very well IMO. I have a couple of SV-135's 7-21mm 50.00 dollar EPs I use for my loaner scopes. Feels cheaper and lighter than the 191 or 171 but they seem to work OK.

 

With my dob during times of average seeing, I find I do much of my planet observing between 171x-240x (5-7mm) but venture into higher magnifications on some targets such as Mars on steady nights.

What is nice with a zoom is you can tweak it to the conditions w/o swapping EPs. You still need to refocus when changing the values though.

I usually avoid EP's that feel like you're looking through a pin hole, even if they have an 80 degree FOV. That is just a personal choice. YMMV.  

[SeattleScott]

The SVBONY red/gold line 6mm are in your budget. Not perfect eyepieces by any means, but what do you want for $30?

 

There are also the 58 AFOV "planetaries" sold under many labels. QC is inconsistent, as expected at this price point, but they are a solid value if you don't get a dud.

 

Or the barlow approach. Kind of inconvenient, but effective.

 

Scott

[Barlowbill]

You are going to like this hobby a lot more if you are not looking through straws.  That means Plossls.

[vtornado]

You are going to like this hobby a lot more if you are not looking through straws.  That means Plossls.

Not necessarily.   For planets wide field is not necessary.  After cycling several eyepieces through my telescope the other night the best view of Mars I had was an older 6mm celestron branded, made in Taiwan, plossl.   The plossl has tight eye relief, narrow field of view, but the most detail. shhh I bought it for $15.00.

Edited by vtornado, 02 February 2025 - 01:52 PM.

[Astrojensen]

You are going to like this hobby a lot more if you are not looking through straws.  That means Plossls.

Yeah, but some of us started on really, really tight budgets. That meant Plössls. I fully sympathize with the OP. I've been there myself. My first good eyepieces were from broken binoculars that I took apart and salvaged the eyepieces from. 

 

I know how it is to look at $50 eyepieces and think "wow, that's expensive". 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

[Inkie]

I think you are somewhat limited to SvBony or to our hosts as Astronomics (click on the white font at the very top 'brought to you by astronomics'.  So, it's either SvBony direct, or via amazon.fi, or at the top masthead on this page.

 

A decent Barlow is going to set you back about EU50, but considerably more for the better versions.  That's just the Barlow. Now you need a good eyepiece with which to pair the Barlow, and that should be in the 12-17mm range.  Again, our hosts above should have something you're looking for.  Celestron has some nice eyepieces available widely, including at astronomics, but all across the www.

 

Your scope has a fairly high F-ratio/long focal length. A Plossl would work, and be relatively less costly than most other eyepieces showing more field of view if that helps, but it won't be a very wide field with a Plossl.  So look for an eyepiece with the right eye relief (around 10mm+ because the Barlow will double that), and you'll want about 65 - 70 deg  field of view or more, but not too much more.

[SeattleScott]

Yes, the price point is the problem. You can pay for quality, AFOV or ER. $30 Euros doesn't leave a lot of latitude.

 

The Red Line/Gold Line 6mm is in the range. It has good AFOV and ER, at least if you don't wear glasses. It does a poor job of dealing with glare from bright objects like Moon and planets, and it has tricky eye placement, which affects the ease of use. But you get good AFOV and ER.

 

A Plossl will probably do a better job controlling glare and have less issues with blackouts, but at 6mm the eye relief will suck, and you don't get wide AFOV. 

 

One of the 58 AFOV planetaries will have a bit more AFOV than a Plossl and good eye relief (as long as you don't wear glasses, and nearly enough to accommodate glasses). They might do a better job with glare from bright objects than the SVBONYs? I don't know. Certainly they don't have a reputation for being especially sharp, but they do well enough for the price. 

 

A barlow with the 10mm Plossl could be the way to go. Probably the sharpest solution, and the eye relief would be more tolerable than a 6mm Plossl. 

 

One just has to choose, do you want the sharpest view or the most comfortable view? At higher prices, you can get a sharp, comfortable view. At $30 Euros, you have to pick and choose what you are willing to pay for.

[daveb2022]

Not necessarily.   For planets wide field is not necessary.  After cycling several eyepieces through my telescope the other night the best view of Mars I had was an older 6mm celestron branded, made in Taiwan, plossl.   The plossl has tight eye relief, narrow field of view, but the most detail. shhh I bought it for $15.00.

It's all about the comfort for me. I have a set of TMB Super Monocentrics and never use them because of the pinhole I have to look through....and I don't wear glasses. Most people entering the hobby probably wouldn't be able to tell much difference between a monocentric and a cheap zoom other than how easy it is to use. I'd rather Barlow an EP to keep good eye relief than peer through a peep hole. Just me.

[dmgriff]

I will be buying a 150/1200 Dobsonian telescope ( https://teleskopy.pl...roducts_id=9021 ) and since it comes with just 2 eyepieces (25mm and 9mm) i'd like to buy a eyepiece or a Barlow Lens that would give around 200 x magnification to get better views of planets and yes, im aware i won't be able to use 200 x magnification every night due to atmospheric conditions and such. They have to be really cheap around 30€ to be exact and from the same shop.

 

I already took a look at few options such as a really cheap GSO Barlow giving 2x or 1.5 magnification. I'm more tilted toward buying this but i'm not confident such a cheap Barlow is good quality: https://teleskopy.pl...roducts_id=1673

 

Another option i had in mind was just buying an eyepiece such as a GSO 6mm Plössl eyepiece: https://teleskopy.pl...skopy-8457.html

I agree with Astrojensen suggestion in post #5 in this thread.

 

add a 15mm GSO plossl and GSO 2x shorty 1.5/2x barlow for a nice spread of magnifications.

[dmgriff]

You are going to like this hobby a lot more if you are not looking through straws.  That means Plossls.

Plossls are 50/52 afov. A good plossl is sharp. Takahashi TPLs are 48 afov, I hear they are sharp also. 

[A Star Geezer]

Some really helpful info on barlows. 

 

https://r.search.yah...Sglu9Q9umTXX60-

 

I  have a 10 inch apertura that's made by GSO I believe it came with a 30mm ( I'm happy with it)  and a 9mm( that i have to have my eyelashes touching the lens) I thought about a barlow but went with a zoom 8-24mm that works really nice and I plan to use it to learn the night sky and how to use the scope. I'm new to this.

Edited by A Star Geezer, 02 February 2025 - 07:12 PM.

[Tony Flanders]

You are going to like this hobby a lot more if you are not looking through straws.  That means Plossls.

That's not my experience. It's true that I eventually invested in some eyepieces with apparent fields of view of 60 degrees or bigger, but if I find the 50-degree AFOV of a Plossl to be altogether enjoyable. I can really only take in about 40-45 degrees at one time anyway, and if I'm going to look outside of that I'd rather move the scope than crane my neck to look out the edge of a wide-field eyepiece. Now 35 degrees -- that's not so nice.

 

I care much more about eye relief than apparent field of view. And that is indeed a problem for Plossls in focal lengths below 12 mm. Personally, I favor an 8-24 zoom together with a 2X Barlow for planetary observing.

[EsaT]

Another option i had in mind was just buying an eyepiece such as a GSO 6mm Plössl eyepiece: https://teleskopy.pl...skopy-8457.html

Unless you like jamming things into your eye, you better forget such focal length "old dusties" with eye relief in fixed relation to focal length.

All old eyepiece designs have fixed ratio between eye relief and focal length.

And in case of Plössl that ratio is eye relief being ~2/3rd of its focal length.

 

Meaning having to cram your pupil 4mm distance from tiny topmost lens of eyepiece somewhere in that pinhole for hope of seeing whole image.

Already 9mm Plössl with its 6mm eye relief is bad enough in cold weather and 200% incompatible with glasses, if you're intending showing views to others.

 

So you might actually want to think about upgrading that as first step.

Not sure how much shipping costs of Svbony's own webshop (or other Chinese shops for these eyepieces) are, but price in there is significantly lower:

https://www.svbony.c...epieces/#F9152B

https://teleskopy.pl...roducts_id=8221

 

 

Don't know if you light pollution allows observing outside solar system objects, but 9mm would be good fit for the simplest kit covering full range of magnifications.

 

Other end would also need upgrading with 25mm Plössl being plain narrow for 1000mm/longer focal length telescopes.

 

Svbony would have low cost 2" wide vie options to fit in wide objects like Pleiades and Andromeda Galaxy:

https://www.svbony.c...26mm-70-degree/

In Teleskopy.pl it's actually pricier than GSO 30mm SuperView.

In 1.25" eyepieces 32mm Plössl would give the widest possible view.

 

Here's FOV comparison using Pleiades as scale:

https://astronomy.to...|1||&messier=45

 

So if wanting to get most return/use for the money, you'll first want to make plan how you're going to get magnification steps for full range/or what ever objects you're going to look at.

About 15mm/slightly longer focal length equivalent (be it separate eyepiece or Barlowing) would be good for looking for details in nebulous objects like Orion Nebula.

Edited by EsaT, 03 February 2025 - 04:50 AM.

[EsaT]

You will have a hard time using any more power than your 9mm will provide, 133X.

Can't use Dobson (10") as grab&go...

Can't aim for ~340x in lunar/planetary observing...

 

Can't do anything nowadays without breaking rules.

[JOEinCO]

....And in case of Plössl that ratio is eye relief being ~2/3rd of its focal length.

 

Meaning having to cram your pupil 4mm distance from tiny topmost lens of eyepiece somewhere in that pinhole for hope of seeing whole image."

 

But right there in your "seeing the whole image" statement lies the hidden key.   

 

The OP is looking for an eyepiece for use on the planets. A nice, basic Plossl can be a very sharp eyepiece, and on the planets you do not need to see the field stop and the "whole image" as you say. You only need to see a very small piece of the sky to scrutinize a planet - at it's largest, Jupiter is still only 50 arc-seconds. Pull your eye off the Plossl 20-25mm and you still see more than enough FOV to see our biggest planet and Io and Europa.   

 

I think Thomas nailed it in Post #5:  A good, basic 15mm Plossl. And a good, basic 2X Barlow.

[northernmike]

The 6 mm Svbony is reasonably good for its price.
I had it on an old 6" F/8 Dob of mine

I agree with you . I bought the complete set as a first upgrade for my 8" dob and I don't regret it . There is a bit of FC but the 2/3 - 3/4 give you clear views. An inexpensive way to enjoy a new astronomical toy. I recently upgraded with Explore scientific EPs , but for a newbie .that will come with time.The 6mm is excellent for planetary , probably the best one of the serie with a 68° AFOV

Edited by northernmike, 03 February 2025 - 07:37 AM.

[vtornado]

Unless you like jamming things into your eye, you better forget such focal length "old dusties" with eye relief in fixed relation to focal length.

All old eyepiece designs have fixed ratio between eye relief and focal length.

And in case of Plössl that ratio is eye relief being ~2/3rd of its focal length.

 

Meaning having to cram your pupil 4mm distance from tiny topmost lens of eyepiece somewhere in that pinhole for hope of seeing whole image.

Already 9mm Plössl with its 6mm eye relief is bad enough in cold weather and 200% incompatible with glasses, if you're intending showing views to others.

 

Uness you buy $500 a piece100 degree eyepieces with 20mm of eye relief just forget about looking through a telescope. There will be nothing to see.   It doesn't matter that your car was broken into and your gear stolen, or that on a cold night you lost your grip on your eyepiece and it hit the concrete.  Or that after buying the essentials the OP only has $50 in savings at the end of the month and has to save for 10 months to buy one eyepiece.   And it doesn't matter that using a perfect eyepiece and let the planet drift off axis exposes abberations in the primary and secondary ... 

 

I don't want to come off as nasty, but let the OP spend $20 on a plossl.

[SeattleScott]

I agree with you . I bought the complete set as a first upgrade for my 8" dob and I don't regret it . There is a bit of FC but the 2/3 - 3/4 give you clear views. An inexpensive way to enjoy a new astronomical toy. I recently upgraded with Explore scientific EPs , but for a newbie .that will come with time.The 6mm is excellent for planetary , probably the best one of the serie with a 68° AFOV

CrazyPanda had a series of posts where he spent considerable time and effort trying to fix the glare problems with the Goldline, taking the eyepiece apart, putting in materials, blackening edges, and ultimately failed to substantially improve the performance of the eyepiece on bright objects. He basically concluded the design is flawed and it cannot be made into a good planetary eyepiece.

It also is notorious for suffering from blackouts.

So the good eye relief is a plus, and wide AFOV adds more tracking time. But probably not accurate to call it an excellent planetary eyepiece unless you are talking specifically about its performance compared to some other 6mm eyepiece. Any eyepiece can be viewed as excellent as long as it isn’t being compared to something else.

Now I’m not saying it is a bad eyepiece. It’s super cheap, good ER and AFOV. If one prioritizes ER and AFOV over having the sharpest possible view, it can be a good choice.

[JOEinCO]

....let the OP spend $20 on a plossl.