80 replies to this topic

[zjc26138]

Thinking of adding an eyepiece to my collection, and would prefer some for higher magnification.  My new to me visual scope is a Astro-Physics 6" f/8 triplet, so 1200mm focal length.

 

Currently have these eyepeices:

 

GSO 30mm 80*, ES 23mm 68*, AT Paradigm 18mm, AT Para 15mm, Ethos 10mm, Orion 8mm Stratus, and a Hyperion 5.5mm.  

 

 

I would prefer to buy from Astronomics as I have 150 gift card, plus we get our CN discount.

 

There are two  budget scenarios: One where my max budget inlcuding gift cards is 220ish

 

 

The other my budget would be over 600 (assuming I can sell my oberwerk binos).

 

 

With the first budget I was thinking about buying an AT Paradigm 12mm and a AT 82* WA 4mm, which I think would fit nicely.

 

With the second budget I think I would go with a 11mm Delite and a 4mm delite or 11mm delite and 3.5 Delos.

 

What do you all think?

 

Thanks!

 

[Mike W]

Go all Delos and stay parfocal, you won't regret...................

Edited by Mike W, 09 April 2025 - 01:27 PM.

[hfjacinto]

Zack, 

 

I have a comparable scope, the APM 152 F7.9. And I really like 100* eyepieces on that scope. The field is very flat on mine so 98-99% of the field is usable. If you can stretch it the 14MM ES 100* and 20MM ES 100* are my 2 most used eyepieces on that scope.

 

That would entails selling some eyepieces you have though. 

 

My seeing limits me to most night at 5.5MM,  the 3.5 gives me 340 power which isn't useable often. So I would say pass on the 3.5 for now.

Edited by hfjacinto, 09 April 2025 - 01:30 PM.

[scngc7317]

come to the Dark Side we have cookies 

 

 

[areyoukiddingme]

AP deserves excellent eyepieces.

 

Assuming you are using the driven mount, you'll be able to tolerate narrower apparent fields. What is your inclination? The 10 ethos will be excellent, and I can see you wanting more.

 

Given a budget of $600, I think I would consider selling off the paradigms etc, possibly also the 30mm. Hopefully that stretches the budget. . . . 

 

I would want a good quality lowest power. An APM 30mm does that relatively well, but at F8 a 40mm might be preferred, especially if you are someplace dark.

 

Something between that an the 10 ethos would be good. Perhaps a 17/18mm. If you don't need eye relief, the 18mm ES 82 gets good reviews. I haven't tried it, but we are pushing on the budget. Given you have 10 ethos, I'm guessing you don't need the eye relief.

 

And how about a 6 Delos or if budget allows, 6 ethos? Add a barlow and you are doing pretty well. 

[Eric Weder]

Something to be said for parfocal eyepieces especially with an electronic focuser. I wish all my Pentaxes and Ethi (is that the plural of Ethos?) were ...

 

Agree, stay away from the 3.5 until you can afford stuff that sits in the box most of the time, you just won't get the use from it. Then again, it's an AP refractor - if your seeing will support it, the scope will too.

 

A good Powermate 2x might be worth considering.

[Jay_Reynolds_Freeman]

I also have an Astro-Physics 6-inch f/8, and the eyepieces I normally use most with it are a 32 mm Erfle or Koenig in a two-inch barrel for finding things and for wide-field views, a 12 mm Brandon for most deep-sky work, and for higher magnification, an 8 mm Brandon and a 3-6 mm Tele Vue zoom Nagler. Given your existing eyepiece collection, I suggest you look hard at the 3-6 mm zoom Nagler.

 

What's that about "normally"? Well, one project I did with this telescope was a historical re-creation; I went through Smyth's Bedford Catalog with it, the point being that Smyth used a telescope of nearly the same capability as mine: For this endeavor I used eyepieces of an appropriate vintage type; namely, one-inch, half-inch and quarter-inch focal length Ramsdens.

 

 

Clear sky ...

[SeattleScott]

Isn’t this like a $20k scope? And you want to run it with $100 eyepieces?

An optical system has multiple components. It doesn’t matter that you have one of the sharpest refractors on the planet if you mate it with mediocre eyepieces. You will get mediocre views because the eyepieces are holding back the scope.

A 12 Paradigm or 11 Delite makes no sense to me unless that 10 Ethos was a typo.

4mm is a good target for high power. The Delite is an obvious candidate. The Tak 4mm TOE would be a consideration as well. The Tak should be parfocal with your 5 and 8 Stratus/Hyperions (using the 1.25” barrels), not that one should really be using those eyepieces in an Astrophysics.

Admittedly I am a bit confused. You have mostly budget or midtier eyepieces, but you have an Ethos (which likely cost about as much as all the others put together) and an AP refractor. Most people with an AP refractor aren’t limited to a few hundred to spend on eyepieces for it. So did you inherit the refractor or something? Storage auction find? I want to help you do justice to your amazing telescope, but I also want to be sensitive to whatever your finances are. There are affordable options with great contrast that can do at least pretty good justice to an AP refractor. But there might be trade offs in terms of eye relief, AFOV, etc.

 

Perhaps you are primarily an Astrophotographer, and got the AP refractor for that, and just want to do some casual visual observing now and then but don’t have much to spend on eyepieces because your funds are invested in imaging gear?

Edited by SeattleScott, 09 April 2025 - 03:43 PM.

[hfjacinto]

I went back and looked at my notes.

When looking at planets, the 9MM gets most use followed by the 5.5MM, honestly a 7 MM would get more use than the 5.5 and that’s on my list to get. So assume for planets a 7 would get the most use on average.

For globulars I use the 9 and 14.

For star clusters 14 and 20 mm

There isn’t much that doesn’t look good in the 20 or 30. I don’t see a need for a 24/28 mm.

For large clusters the 31 is really nice.

So my recommended line up would be a 7, 10, 14/15, 20 and 30

You already have a 30 and the 10, so get the 7, 14/15 and 20. With your $600 budget you can get the 7 and 15 delite, if you sell the 15 and 18, you can get the 20 mm Pentax. That will give you a killer set for that scope.

Edited by hfjacinto, 09 April 2025 - 03:37 PM.

[zjc26138]

Good suggestions everyone!

 

I will probablly keep the 30mm GSO ultra wide, its been a faithful eyepeice to me for many years. Maybe one day it will be replaced.  I would prefer not to get rid of either of the paradigms, mainly because I wouldn't get much on the used market for them.

 

I like the idea of getting a 7mm delite though.  Something to use instead of the 8mm Stratus I have lying around.

[hfjacinto]

Good suggestions everyone!

 

I will probablly keep the 30mm GSO ultra wide, its been a faithful eyepeice to me for many years. Maybe one day it will be replaced.  I would prefer not to get rid of either of the paradigms, mainly because I wouldn't get much on the used market for them.

 

I like the idea of getting a 7mm delite though.  Something to use instead of the 8mm Stratus I have lying around.

Zack,

 

If keeping the Paradigms, for the $600 budget get the 7 MM Delite and a 20MM Pentax. That covers the whole range of eyepiece MM you need for now. You have a 5.5MM and on an F8 scope the Hyperion will work well.

[zjc26138]

Isn’t this like a $20k scope? And you want to run it with $100 eyepieces?

An optical system has multiple components. It doesn’t matter that you have one of the sharpest refractors on the planet if you mate it with mediocre eyepieces. You will get mediocre views because the eyepieces are holding back the scope.

A 12 Paradigm or 11 Delite makes no sense to me unless that 10 Ethos was a typo.

4mm is a good target for high power. The Delite is an obvious candidate. The Tak 4mm TOE would be a consideration as well. The Tak should be parfocal with your 5 and 8 Stratus/Hyperions (using the 1.25” barrels), not that one should really be using those eyepieces in an Astrophysics.

Admittedly I am a bit confused. You have mostly budget or midtier eyepieces, but you have an Ethos (which likely cost about as much as all the others put together) and an AP refractor. Most people with an AP refractor aren’t limited to a few hundred to spend on eyepieces for it. So did you inherit the refractor or something? Storage auction find? I want to help you do justice to your amazing telescope, but I also want to be sensitive to whatever your finances are. There are affordable options with great contrast that can do at least pretty good justice to an AP refractor. But there might be trade offs in terms of eye relief, AFOV, etc.

 

Perhaps you are primarily an Astrophotographer, and got the AP refractor for that, and just want to do some casual visual observing now and then but don’t have much to spend on eyepieces because your funds are invested in imaging gear?

 

THe AP scope I have is from the 80s. Its the most expensive scope I've ever bought. I paid 4500 for it (I think it was 1450 new in 1988?).

 

I do both visual and ap.  I never thought I needed uber expensive eypeices because the ones I owne (the paradigms, hyperions) have given me great views through the years with a variety of scopes (TMB130SS, Edge 8").

 

The 10mm Ethos was a gift, don't know if I could ever bring myself to spend over 500 for an eyepiece. However it is a killer eyepiece and my most used, so the price is justified. 

 

I mean max budget if I sell my Oberwerk binos is probably  650-700 (factoring my astronomics gift card).

[SeattleScott]

THe AP scope I have is from the 80s. Its the most expensive scope I've ever bought. I paid 4500 for it (I think it was 1450 new in 1988?).

I do both visual and ap. I never thought I needed uber expensive eypeices because the ones I owne (the paradigms, hyperions) have given me great views through the years with a variety of scopes (TMB130SS, Edge 8").

The 10mm Ethos was a gift, don't know if I could ever bring myself to spend over 500 for an eyepiece. However it is a killer eyepiece and my most used, so the price is justified.

I mean max budget if I sell my Oberwerk binos is probably 650-700 (factoring my astronomics gift card).

Ok, so it was before they had the exotic glasses so it will have some CA. Maybe not as critical to have top tier eyepieces, although there would probably still be some benefit.

Of course the TMBSS is supposed to be pretty special in its own right. I mean, sure, the Paradigms and Hyperions will give nice views, but did you ever compare them to premium brands to see what you might be missing? Granted the difference will be subtle, but usually people who buy premium refractors costing thousands of dollars are chasing those subtle differences. Unless you mostly got the TMB because you are serious about AP but are more casual about visual.

Delites are a great choice if you want great contrast with long ER and reasonably wide AFOV. It might be possible to improve a hair with something more minimal glass, but there would be trade offs in ER and AFOV. An XW could be another option around the same price point.

Ultimately I’m a finance guy so I tend to look at things from a cost effective perspective. I suspect premium eyepieces paired with say a Vixen Apo would give slightly better views than Paradigms and other mediocre eyepieces paired with a top tier refractor like the TMB or AP. And the Vixen plus a few premium eyepieces would still cost less. Just the way I see it. Basically, an excellent refractor with excellent eyepieces should best a top flight refractor with mediocre eyepieces, in terms of planetary contrast. Granted, I don’t have Paradigms or Hyperions, but normally mid-range eyepieces don’t have the same baffling, blackening and polish as premium brands, and therefore don’t do as well at suppressing stray light and light scatter when viewing bright objects.

Edited by SeattleScott, 09 April 2025 - 06:54 PM.

[zjc26138]

The 10mm Ethos is definetly my most used eyepiece and I can understand folks saying you should match a premium scope with premium eyepieces. I guess I've always been "happy with what I got: type of person when it comes to eyepieces.

 

If it were in my budget I would probably have another Ethos and several delites/delos eyepieces.

 

Optimistically I could net about 550 when my Oberwerks sell. Plus 150 in gift cards that gives me 700ish to spend.

 

If that's the case I could buy a Ethos 8 or 6mm  or  Delites 7mm & 4mm or Delos 12mm &  Delite 4mm. I think those are my final groups if I stick with televue and sell my binos.

[sevenofnine]

I have both the 12mm Paradigm ED and the AT 4/82 UWA. They are "good" eyepieces in my basic telescopes. If your budget right now only allows these then I'd just buy them figuring on replacing them someday with premium Ethos or others. You will get good views with these and maybe that's all you need...Just 2 cents from someone who owns them. Good luck with your choices! 

[RichD]

That scope will be excellent on the moon and planets, so I'd want an eyepiece that will be close to the "mush limit" of your local conditions. For me that's an 11mm giving 170x. If you have similar seeing that would be the 7mm in your scope. I think that eyepiece would get a lot of use.

I'm not sure about a 20mm and a 14/15mm, that is only a jump of 60x to 85x. You might find you end up using one but not the other. Having said that, your scope will be so good on open clusters that you might end up enjoying both.

Nice questions to be pondering! Enjoy the scope whichever way you go.

[Phillip Creed]

I don't like passing up an opportunity to "spend" someone else's money  

Do you mean you have a *24*mm ES68?  If that's the case, that's a good one and I'd keep it.

Since you're at f/8, a 40mm eyepiece to max out the field of view would keep the exit pupil at 5mm.  A 40mm Meade 5000 SWA or a 40mm TMB Paragon on the used markets should work here; the former is a bit sharper.  The 40ES68 should be very similar to the 40M5K-SWA, but probably more expensive on the used markets.  But any of these three would work.  A 42mm Vixen LVW would work, too.  The premium options like a 40XW and 41mm Panoptic would be the gold standard, but $$$$$.  All should have ~46mm field stop, maxing out your TFOV at 2.2°.

Between the 10mm and the 24ES-68 I'd put a 17.3mm Delos or a 17.5mm Baader Morpheus.  I've owned both at one point (currently have the latter) and they are EXCELLENT eyepieces.

Now comes the rough part...

...selling the 10mm Ethos and getting a 10mm Delos and 6mm Delos.

Yes, it might sound like sacrilege / blasphemy / heresy to sell an Ethos.  I've had a 13mm Ethos and owned six of the (now 9) Delos focal lengths at some point or another.  The Delos is the best eyepiece series Tele Vue ever made.  It's the best of the best.  72° is still pretty wide and it's an "eye spa" with its luxurious eye relief that can be easily dialed in to prevent blackouts.  Contrast, on- and off-axis sharpness are phenomenal.  It has no weaknesses.

The 6mm Delos puts you at 200X and for most eastern Ohio nights you're tapped out.  But if you need something beyond that, a 2.5X Powermate (1.25") works good.

Sell the other eyepieces.
 

That's my 4.9-cents' worth.

It'd be worth 2 cents, but I had to throw on a 145% tariff.  You're welcome.
 

Clear Skies,

Phil

Edited by Phillip Creed, 10 April 2025 - 02:10 PM.

[zjc26138]

I don't like passing up an opportunity to "spend" someone else's money  

Do you mean you have a *24*mm ES68?  If that's the case, that's a good one and I'd keep it.

Since you're at f/8, a 40mm eyepiece to max out the field of view would keep the exit pupil at 5mm.  A 40mm Meade 5000 SWA or a 40mm TMB Paragon on the used markets should work here; the former is a bit sharper.  The 40ES68 should be very similar to the 40M5K-SWA, but probably more expensive on the used markets.  But any of these three would work.  A 42mm Vixen LVW would work, too.  The premium options like a 40XW and 41mm Panoptic would be the gold standard, but $$$$$.  All should have ~46mm field stop, maxing out your TFOV at 2.2°.

Between the 10mm and the 24ES-68 I'd put a 17.3mm Delos or a 17.5mm Baader Morpheus.  I've owned both at one point (currently have the latter) and they are EXCELLENT eyepieces.

Now comes the rough part...

...selling the 10mm Ethos and getting a 10mm Delos and 6mm Delos.

Yes, it might sound like sacrilege / blasphemy / heresy to sell an Ethos.  I've had a 13mm Ethos and owned six of the (now 9) Delos focal lengths at some point or another.  The Delos is the best eyepiece series Tele Vue ever made.  It's the best of the best.  72° is still pretty wide and it's an "eye spa" with its luxurious eye relief that can be easily dialed in to prevent blackouts.  Contrast, on- and off-axis sharpness are phenomenal.  It has no weaknesses.

The 6mm Delos puts you at 200X and for most eastern Ohio nights you're tapped out.  But if you need something beyond that, a 2.5X Powermate (1.25") works good.

Sell the other eyepieces.
 

That's my 4.9-cents' worth.

It'd be worth 2 cents, but I had to throw on a 145% tariff.  You're welcome.
 

Clear Skies,

Phil

Yep its the 24mm ES. Also I forgot I have a 17mm Stratus. It is missing the eyecup and does have a chip in one of the lens elements, but is still somewhat useable. I think it should be replaced though lol

 

 

Honestly selling the Ethos to get a Delos isn't a bad idea. I could probably get around 400 for it. Use that cash to buy a 10mm Delos. Then wait for my binos to sell and use that cash/gift card to get the 6mm delos and maybe a 2.5 powermate

[SeattleScott]

Yep its the 24mm ES. Also I forgot I have a 17mm Stratus. It is missing the eyecup and does have a chip in one of the lens elements, but is still somewhat useable. I think it should be replaced though lol


Honestly selling the Ethos to get a Delos isn't a bad idea. I could probably get around 400 for it. Use that cash to buy a 10mm Delos. Then wait for my binos to sell and use that cash/gift card to get the 6mm delos and maybe a 2.5 powermate

I think the idea was to sell the Ethos and get two Delos. You should easily be able to get more than $400, er, uhm, sure, I’ll give you $400 for it!

[zjc26138]

Two Delos are over 800. My ethos is well used. I was thinking worse case scenario. So 400 plus gift cards nets me 550ish. Still only enough for one Delos.

[Eric Weder]

Keep a sharp eye on the used market here on CN as well. Great deals come up often.

[SeattleScott]

Two Delos are over 800. My ethos is well used. I was thinking worse case scenario. So 400 plus gift cards nets me 550ish. Still only enough for one Delos.

Well two Pentax XW would be about $570 after CN discount so there’s that. Or two Delite would be right around $550. Delite or XW would work great if you don’t have quite the budget for Delos.

[zjc26138]

If I sell the Ethos and the binos and with the gift card my budget is around 1K.

 

I'm fine with a delos and a delite/pentax.

[The Cloud Gazer]

I would not sell the ethos, you like it, it was a gift, and maybe you prefer ethos to delos so definitely don’t sell it before trying a delos.

How about some takahashi TPLs?

Edited by The Cloud Gazer, 11 April 2025 - 06:17 AM.

[Illinois]

I have 6 inch f8 ED refractor.  I enjoy ES 30 mm 82 deg for low power and I love my ES 5.5 mm 100 deg for 218 power for planetary and Moon.  Both eyepieces is 2 inch diameter and I don’t worry about 1 1/4 inch eyepiece.   100 deg of view at high power that I look at Jupiter, Saturn and Mars much longer than 50 degs eyepiece.