21 replies to this topic

[nebulaperson9]

Hi everyone! I have a 10” f/4.7 dobsonian and I have been using the eyepiece it came with for a while now. I think it’s time for some eyepiece upgrades but I’m not sure what I should get since there are so many. I would like to have a new planetary eyepiece and maybe 1 or 2 eyepieces for deepsky. I don’t really have a budget I just want to know what some of the highest quality eyepieces are that would work well for my scope. Thanks!

[Sheremy01]

Wallet friendly is the explore scientific line. A little more expensive but great quality is the Televue delite line. If you don’t mind spending quite a bit look at the Televue ethos line. Basically anything Televue is great. It just depends on how much you want to spend.

[Jethro7]

Hi everyone! I have a 10” f/4.7 dobsonian and I have been using the eyepiece it came with for a while now. I think it’s time for some eyepiece upgrades but I’m not sure what I should get since there are so many. I would like to have a new planetary eyepiece and maybe 1 or 2 eyepieces for deepsky. I don’t really have a budget I just want to know what some of the highest quality eyepieces are that would work well for my scope. Thanks!

Hello nebulaperson,

Personally, I upgraded to premium optics all around. Eyepieces are personal and what I like may not be what you like. With that being said, I don't have or need alot of eyepieces, just a handful is plenty. For me really all I need is two eyepieces and a 2x multiplier.

 

 Here is my list.

(1) - Leica ASPH 8.8mm - 17.9mm Zoom.* Best of the breed and has replaced all of my single focal length eyepieces below 20mm and a personal favorite.

(2) - TV 20 Nagler Type 5 (discontinued, a 22 Nagler Type 4 would be a good alternate) 

(3) - TV 26 Nagler Type 5 >* Personal favorite eyepiece. (Discontiued,  the TV 27 Pan or AT 28 UWA would be good alternates)

(4) - TV 31 Nagler Type 5 > The TV 27 Pan or AT 28 UWA would also fill this nitche.

(5) - TeleVue 2X Powermate *

 

*I could live with just the Leica Zoom, TeleVue 26 Nagler and the TV 2X powermate.

 

However with you mentioning "I don't really have a budget, I am going to stretch the eyepiece definition a bit here and will make a mention of the most awesome  eyepiece that I own. It is a PVS 14 Night Vision device set up that turns my Red Zone skies dark. This gadget is a total game changer and one of the best things that I have ever purchased for My Backyard Astronomy Project. 

https://www.cloudyni...sion-astronomy/

 

HAPPY SKIES AND KEEP LOOKING UP Jethro

Edited by Jethro7, 18 February 2025 - 07:42 PM.

[vtornado]

A planetary eyepiece depends upon the maximum magnification on most nights.  OR do you want to buy a shorter focal length eyepiece that would only be used on nights of great seeing?

 

Also consider a barlow.

 

Do you have a 2 inch eyepiece?  At least one is an excellent addition to your collection.

 

Deep sky is broad list of objects,   open clusters?  globs,  galaxies, planetary nebula, diffuse nebula.  Because of differences in size, and lumniosity these items will require different mags. Maybe space some out like 30, 20, 12?

 

Budget is all important.  I can recommend good < $100 eyepieces.  Others can recommend great < $400 eyepieces.

Edited by vtornado, 18 February 2025 - 07:39 PM.

[spaceoddity]

I'd be looking at the Astro-Tech eyepieces right here on this sight (click on astronomics at the top of this page). The UWA 82 degree ep's would be great. The XWA 100 degrees would be even better. 

[Jay_Reynolds_Freeman]

The answers here depend a bit on your observing conditions.

 

You will probably want one eyepiece that gives a very wide field of view, to help with finding things and for good views of wide-field or low surface-brightness deep-sky objects. The limiting factor here is likely to be the diameter of your focuser, which I suspect is two inches. Any eyepiece whose field lens (the lens that the incoming light hits first) will give a wide field of view. If you are young enough that the pupils of your eyes still dilate to 7 mm, and if you observe at an extremely dark sky site, then an eyepiece that gives a 7 mm exit pupil would be just about right for this purpose -- perhaps a wide-field 32 mm unit. For brighter sky or older eyes, your best finding eyepiece might be one that gives, say, a 4 mm exit pupil, which would be a wide field eyepiece with a focal length of 20 mm or perhaps slightly less, with a wide field lens. The higher magnification may usefully dilute the sky glow at a less-than-perfectly-dark-sky location. I myself have not bought any of the most expensive eyepieces for this purpose, though I have a few of the Explore Scientific 82-degree field-of-view units. Naglers of all sorts are popular.

 

I have no idea of your experience level, so please do not take offense if I remind you that the "exit pupil" is in essence the beam of light that comes out of the eyepiece, and it is also numerically equal to the telescope clear aperture divided by the magnification given by the eyepiece.

 

For deep-sky work, I myself find eyepieces that give an exit pupil diameter of about 1.5 mm to be most useful -- that would be about a 7 mm eyepiece focal length for your telescope. Many people prefer somewhat larger exit pupils; that is, longer focal-length eyepieces with lower magnification. Wide field is useful here, though many deep-sky objects will look very good even without using super wide-field types.

 

For planetary work, the limiting factor is likely to be seeing, and in particular, how long you are willing to wait at the eyepiece for moments of particularly good seeing. In excellent seeing, many planetary observers use exit pupils as small as 0.5 mm -- which would be an eyepiece of focal length 2.5 mm or so for your telescope, though exit pupils more like 1 mm are more common (5 mm focal length for your telescope). I am not much into planets, so I have a couple of the TeleVue zoom Naglers, which are available in 2-4 mm and 3-6 mm focal length ranges, but I have not used them much with telescopes as fast as f/4.7, so I cannot tell you for sure that they work well at that focal ratio. I have used them at f/6, where they work very well.

 

I tend to avoid using Barlow lenses to increase magnification, because when I want high magnification it is generally to see lots of detail well, and adding more air/glass interfaces to the optical path often makes for more glare and poorer images.

 

You might find it particularly useful to join an astronomy club, take your telescope to star parties, and ask to borrow and try out various eyepieces, to see how well they work.

 

Clear sky ...

[nebulaperson9]

A planetary eyepiece depends upon the maximum magnification on most nights.  OR do you want to buy a shorter focal length eyepiece that would only be used on nights of great seeing?

 

Also consider a barlow.

 

Do you have a 2 inch eyepiece?  At least one is an excellent addition to your collection.

 

Deep sky is broad list of objects,   open clusters?  globs,  galaxies, planetary nebula, diffuse nebula.  Because of differences in size, and lumniosity these items will require different mags. Maybe space some out like 30, 20, 12?

 

Budget is all important.  I can recommend good < $100 eyepieces.  Others can recommend great < $400 eyepieces.

I already have a 2x barlow and no I do not have a 2” eyepiece. When i say deepsky objects It includes everything you have listed. I would be willing to spend the money to get some nice premium eyepieces.

[terrypaula]

It all depends upon the depth of your wallet.  Mine's deep and empty but I have to say you can't beat Explore Scientific or Televue eyepieces.  I've only had the loan of them and I really can't decide.  A little more affordable would be Baader Morpheus and Hyperion eps.

[Nut2But]

You’re going to get a whole host of opinions here. It really depends on what your needs/preferences are.

Best comfortable all around “can’t go wrong”series, Baader Morpheus. Morpheus probably best paired with your scope as they’re light weight. Alternative is Televue Delos and to a lesser extent explore scientific.

Best for wide field views with tighter eye relief Televue Ethos. XWAs are said to rival Ethos performance at less than half the price. (Which is where I tend to lean) Nikon offers great hyperwides. But there’s only 2 focal lengths. Explore scientific has some too.

Either of those two classes would be my choices. Depending on what it is that you’re after.

Take care
Tyler

[izar187]

Hi everyone! I have a 10” f/4.7 dobsonian and I have been using the eyepiece it came with for a while now. I think it’s time for some eyepiece upgrades but I’m not sure what I should get since there are so many. I would like to have a new planetary eyepiece and maybe 1 or 2 eyepieces for deepsky. I don’t really have a budget I just want to know what some of the highest quality eyepieces are that would work well for my scope. Thanks!

What ep's and barlows do you have now?

What are your observing skies kinda sorta generally like: urban, suburban, rural, or dark remote?

Do you or any family members you share the view with wear glasses? This effects eye relief options.

These kind of parameters help folks choose. Both you and those offering suggestions.

 

As example, I choose mostly 20mm eye relief ep's, of 70º fields at most. A few with less of each. For me.

Other folks correctly vote for 100º (+) field ep's, use coma correctors, and do not care about long eye relief.

[nebulaperson9]

What ep's and barlows do you have now?

What are your observing skies kinda sorta generally like: urban, suburban, rural, or dark remote?

Do you or any family members you share the view with wear glasses? This effects eye relief options.

These kind of parameters help folks choose. Both you and those offering suggestions.

 

As example, I choose mostly 20mm eye relief ep's, of 70º fields at most. A few with less of each. For me.

Other folks correctly vote for 100º (+) field ep's, use coma correctors, and do not care about long eye relief.

I have a 25mm skywatcher plossl the scope came with, a celestron X-cel LX 2x barlow and a celestron x-cel LX 9mm eyepiece. I’m in sub urban skies and yes my dad does wear glasses but sometimes he takes them off to look as he doesn’t have much trouble without them.

[SeattleScott]

What hasn’t been mentioned is coma is more of a problem as you increase AFOV. If you only have basic eyepieces, I am guessing they aren’t ultrawide or hyperwide, so you haven’t felt a need for a coma corrector. But when you start getting ultrawide and hyperwides, coma becomes more of a problem. Granted, there are those who use 110 AFOV eyepieces and swear they don’t see any coma. I guess they are really good about looking straight ahead and ignoring the edges of the view. Or, they aren’t getting close enough to see the edges of the view. Personally, I feel like it is a bit of a waste to buy a $300+ eyepiece that’s 6” tall and probably weighs a pound and only mainly use the central 2/3 of it. But some people like that extra 1/3 for “framing” or “context” even if the stars are fuzzy. It’s off in peripheral vision, which is fuzzy anyway, so one might not even notice unless they purposefully looked towards the edge of the field. So it kind of becomes an aesthetic thing, you have this feeling of a huge, limitless view. Just make sure to keep your gaze fixed on the center. But others promptly buy a coma corrector so they can use the whole field.

Honestly, I remember buying a low power, $90 eyepiece to use in a F4 scope. I was happy with it. Basically sharp to the edge. Until I got a $280 low power eyepiece and discovered what sharp to the edge really is. So I suspect a lot of this “I don’t see no coma at F5 with hyperwides” is simply that they have never used a coma corrector, and are just used to coma and feel like it is normal. But suffice to say, you don’t really get full utilization of hyperwides at F4.7 without a coma corrector. There are worse things than coma, and hyperwides are certainly usable. But just understand that stars won’t be sharp to the edge. Which can be fine, if you mainly focus on the center.

Another approach would be the excellent long ER superwides. Not everyone likes hyperwides. Few people complain about long ER. Morpheus, Delos and Nikon SW are some excellent options at F4.7. These would be the “safe” bets. And with 70+ AFOV, coma corrector isn’t as critical. Delos can rival hyperwides in size/weight. Morpheus are lighter, actually surprisingly light for their size. The Nikons are the smallest/lightest, although this is more of a factor when using small scopes sensitive to balance issues. None of these go longer than 17.5mm, so could get something like a 30UFF or 28mm UWA for low power.

Ok focal lengths, 5mm should be good for planetary if you have decent seeing most of the time. Lowest power should probably be a 22-30mm eyepiece. Something around 10-13mm will get a lot of use as a general purpose DSO eyepiece.

[Avgvstvs]

Get Televue or Pentax

[NiteGuy]

You didn't mention anything about using Barlows or Powermates, so I'll disregard those. You also didn't mention what eyepieces you already have, so I'll start fresh, as if you have none. These eyepieces are not cheap but you can buy used on CN or AstroMart and they do go on sale once or twice a year, saving about $50. If you choose another brand, make it the 82° TeleVue Naglers (newer T7's coming very soon). It's far better to buy "once-and-done" than buy again-and-again and still not be pleased. Some specs here are as actually tested/measured. Any eyepiece with an apparent field-of-view from about 72° to 90+° will give you that viewing through a "porthole into space" feeling. I personally enjoy the Morpheus eyepieces for their immersiveness and viewing comfort (better for eyeglass wearers too).

 

 FL (as measured)                  Description          Apparent Field-of-View    Magnification   Actual Field-of-View   Exit Pupil Size   Eye Relief

 

30.0mm                           APM Ultra-Flat Field                 75°                            40x                      1.9°                       6.4mm            22.0mm 

17.5mm (17.2mm)            Baader Morpheus                   72°                            69x                      1.1°                       3.7mm            19.0mm

12.5mm (12.4mm)            Baader Morpheus                   78°                            96x                      0.8°                       2.7mm            20.0mm

  9.0mm   (8.9mm)            Baader Morpheus                   78°                          134x                      0.6°                       1.9mm            21.0mm

  6.5mm   (6.7mm)            Baader Morpheus                   79°                          178x                      0.4°                       1.4mm            18.5mm

[nebulaperson9]

You didn't mention anything about using Barlows or Powermates, so I'll disregard those. You also didn't mention what eyepieces you already have, so I'll start fresh, as if you have none. These eyepieces are not cheap but you can buy used on CN or AstroMart and they do go on sale once or twice a year, saving about $50. If you choose another brand, make it the 82° TeleVue Naglers (newer T7's coming very soon). It's far better to buy "once-and-done" than buy again-and-again and still not be pleased. Some specs here are as actually tested/measured. Any eyepiece with an apparent field-of-view from about 72° to 90+° will give you that viewing through a "porthole into space" feeling. I personally enjoy the Morpheus eyepieces for their immersiveness and viewing comfort (better for eyeglass wearers too).

 

 FL (as measured)                  Description          Apparent Field-of-View    Magnification   Actual Field-of-View   Exit Pupil Size   Eye Relief

 

30.0mm                           APM Ultra-Flat Field                 75°                            40x                      1.9°                       6.4mm            22.0mm 

17.5mm (17.2mm)            Baader Morpheus                   72°                            69x                      1.1°                       3.7mm            19.0mm

12.5mm (12.4mm)            Baader Morpheus                   78°                            96x                      0.8°                       2.7mm            20.0mm

  9.0mm   (8.9mm)            Baader Morpheus                   78°                          134x                      0.6°                       1.9mm            21.0mm

  6.5mm   (6.7mm)            Baader Morpheus                   79°                          178x                      0.4°                       1.4mm            18.5mm

I mentioned what I have on post #11

[Astro-Master]

The best way to decide what eyepieces you will like the best is to actually try them in your scope, and the best way to do that is to find an astronomy club near you and attend some of their star parties.  I'd get there early enough to talk to some of the visual observers and tell them you need help choosing some eyepieces.

 

You'll want to try some 100* apparent field of view (AFOV) eyepieces like the Astro-Tech XWA , APM, or Ethos, also some 82* AFOV like Nagler's or Astro-Tech UWA  82* eyepieces, or Morpheus 74* to 79* eyepieces.

 

If there is no astronomy club near you, I would buy the Astro-Tech 7mm XWA 100* AFOV eyepiece for $280.  With your scope it will have a power of 171x with a true field of view (TFOV) of 0.58* degrees.

 

The 7mm XWA at 171x would be an awesome eyepiece, Globular Clusters like M13 will explode into a myriad of stars and Galaxies like M51 under a dark sky will look their best.

 

For a high quality, low power wide field eyepiece the Astro-Tech 28mm UWA with a power of 43x and a 1.95* TFOV for $240 can't be beat.

 

I'd pick up the Astro-Tech 10mm UWA 82* AFOV with a power of 120x with a 0.68* TFOV and with your barlow 240x for the Planets for $120

 

You'll have a nice spread of powers with those 3 eyepieces and your barlow.

 

I wouldn't worry about getting a coma corrector right away, I have one, but it doesn't get much use even in my F/4.5 18" Dob.

 

Link:  https://astronomics....1-25-2-eyepiece

 

https://astronomics....a-82-2-eyepiece

 

https://astronomics....2-1-25-eyepiece

 

Keep us posted on what you end up buying.

 

Clear Skies  

 

Bruce

Edited by Astro-Master, 19 February 2025 - 02:02 AM.

[NiteGuy]

I mentioned what I have on post #11

Yeah, sorry, my semi-completed reply sat for awhile through dinner and other stuff. After I finished it and posted, I noticed that you posted that info. Thought about editing my response but was just feeling a bit lazy and it wouldn't change my list anyway. Except for the 2" 30mm, all of the Morpheus eyepieces have dual barrels (1-1/4" & 2"). That helps keep the filter and Barlow costs down.

 

I will add one quick thing though. Ultra-wide eyepiece (100° or more) are an acquired taste. Love 'em or hate 'em. Personally, I don't like scanning around the field of view with my eyeball and turning my head in the process. I like to see an entire, sharp field stop all at once when I look through the eyepiece. For my older eyes, that puts the max limit at around 82° when looking directly at the center of the field of view. Astro-Master also makes a great point. Take advantage of visiting club star parties and ask questions to find out who might have the kind of eyepieces you want to look through. That can often save a lot of headaches, especially if you can view with an eyepiece on a scope somewhat similar to your own.

[therealdmt]

You could just get the whole set of Astro-Tech UWAs; not too big, heavy or expensive, and wouldn’t be a bad way to go. A more-than-sufficient 82 degrees apparent field of view. These are also sold under ‘Sky Rover UWA’ branding.
 

For a glasses friendly set, you could get the whole Morpheus line, plus an APM 30 UFF (or the same eyepiece sold under other names, such as the Sky Rover UF 30mm) to round it out on the long focal length side.

 

Televue eyepieces are generally considered the best, with the Delos series being their eyeglasses-friendly wider field of view line. If eyeglass use won’t be a deciding factor, their Nagler and Ethos lines are legendary.

 

Explore Scientific has various high quality lines, at somewhat lower prices than some others (especially if you’re outside the U.S.).

 

The Pentax XW series has many fans, though they might not be most people’s first choice at f/4.7 (I’m not sure on that though. Listen to any Pentax owners regarding whether they like them at f/4.7 — they probably do). Anyway, everyone talks about the exceptional viewing comfort with the XWs.

 

Or, you can read around, try things, and slowly assemble a set of different high quality eyepieces from various makes/models as your interests and needs take you. That’s probably what most people do.

 

Overall, I’d say getting a set of AT UWAs ( https://astronomics....ndor=Astro-Tech ) [or Sky Rover UWAs, or possibly other brands of the same eyepieces] would be a major upgrade over what you have now, while still providing "room to grow" and explore other eyepieces later as you learn your personal observing style, needs, likes and dislikes. Might start with just one medium focal length one first (13mm or 16mm) and see if your dad can use it without his glasses

[pregulla]

I would probably start with zoom+barlow for mid to high magnifications. Something like Svbony 7-21 or Celestron 8-24mm. It will give you a decent performance, will cover large magnification range and allow you to figure out what magnifications you use the most, what is the highest magnification your seeing allows. If you like the concept of zoom there are higher end options with wider AFOV and better edge performance.

Then you need a low power wide field eyepiece. 28mm UWA or 30mm UFF. Both are good optically. I personally would go for 28mm, it's a bit larger and heavier, but offers a bit higher magnification and wider TFOV. 

[SeattleScott]

Ok so someone says they don’t have a fixed budget and they want some recommendations for some of the highest quality eyepieces. AT UWA and budget zooms are not the highest quality eyepieces. That would be Televue, Nikon, Pentax and Baader Morpheus, although at F4.7 I might pass on Pentax. (I did but my scopes go down to F4.) Certain focal lengths would be fine at F4.7 with Pentax. One would just want to do some research. People do like their central contrast. And many focal lengths have very good edge correction.

AT XWA is another option, although again performance can be inconsistent in the series, and it might necessitate a coma corrector.

[nebulaperson9]

I found out the astronomy group i’m in is having a star party and I know someone who has a ton of eyepieces and he says he will let me try them in my scope so I can definitely get a better idea on what to buy.

[izar187]

I found out the astronomy group i’m in is having a star party and I know someone who has a ton of eyepieces and he says he will let me try them in my scope so I can definitely get a better idea on what to buy.

_____________________

 

"...oh, that's the way ya do it, ep's for nothin' and the stars for free."