Recommendation on eyepiece kit

[alexaung]

Hi Guys...

I am having a little dilemma between this two set...
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope-eye ... format.cfm
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope-eye ... terkit.cfm

The only major different is celestron kit provide more space in the box which will allow me to store my other eye piece and collimator..
However, Zhumell set has a little difference on its 32mm eye piece which AFOV is 52degree compare celestron's which is 44degree...

As a newbie, i would like to ask the masters here on the impact of losing AFOV of 8 degree on 32mm and would it really matter if i choose Celestron?

Thanks for all your advise...

[Hardwarezone]

DO NOT buy these kits.
The only useful things you need are the barlow and 32mm plossl.
For the money if you concentrate only on the 2 items, you can either get better quality or cost savings.

Info on cloudynights forum said these 32m plossl are just 50 afov. Manufacturer stated 52 is inaccurate, they just lump it together with the smaller plossls. The 45 afov is 40mm plossl.

[antares2063]

Hi alexaung,


the eyepieces in the kits are pretty generic plossls . It may not be a big issue to some but take note the eye relief gets worse as the focal length becomes smaller . (i.e higher magnification)

If you have the time , do check out other eyepiece owned by others at sidewalks, they will be glad to give u better recommendations

It good to have broader exposure first, the coloured glass filters are also not useful . If you are into observing DSOs especially nebula!!, a UHC (ultra high contrast) narrowband filter is all that u ever need.

Regards,
Junwei

[orly_andico]

I like Plossls because I'm cheap. However the eye relief gets really bad as the focal length gets shorter.

The longest Plossl you should get in 1.25" barrel is the 32mm.

Methinks a 32mm and 10mm should be OK (but the 10mm is no good if you have specs).

Vixen LV and NLV are very similar to Plossls but have 20mm eye relief (so work good with specs). Discontinued, but you can find them used on astromart for $50 to $70 USD each.

[alexaung]

Thank you so much for your replies guys... well noted...

[MooEy]

Don't buy those kits, pick eyepieces based on your scope instead.

Get a wide angle eyepiece(greater than 65 degrees) of roughly 2-3mm exit pupil. This would likely be your most often used eyepiece, go ahead and spend as much as you can here. Baader Hyperions are good choices on a budget. For alot more money, Pentax XL/XW, Televue Radians, Panoptics, Naglers, Delos, Ethos are good choice. For a F/6 scope, that's about 12-18mm, for a F/8 scope that's 16-24mm, and for a F/10 scope, that would be 20-30mm. Wide angle, well corrected is what you are looking out for.

Get a high power eyepiece for planetary views. For a high end scope, you can go for 0.5mm exit pupil or 50x per inch. For slightly more average scope, go for 0.7-0.8mm instead, which is roughly 30x per inch). For larger scopes, you may want to get one that hits roughly 300x and another one that goes all the way to the 50x per inch. The one that hits 300x or so can be used for nights when seeing isn't that great, while the other one can be used for those exceptional nights. Simpler design tends to work better, a 4 element plossl or orthoscopic typically work very well for planetary views. For the more affluent, Pentax and Takahashi has some very nice planetary eyepieces. Other choices like zeiss orthos, tmb monocentrics, brandons and rke are also popular among the community, but I would tell you to try them out first before buying. Sharpness, contrast, eye relief are priority.

Get a reticle eyepiece, the Orion 12.5mm Illuminated Reticle Plossl is a pretty decent choice. Helpful when you do those goto alignment or drift alignments. I sometimes just use it as a normal eyepiece when I don't want to bring much stuff.

Get a barlow, and just pay for a quality unit. They tend not to cost too much even for the higher end ones. I'm not really a big fan of them, and don't buy the bullshit that they double your collection of eyepiece, but they come in handy every now and then, especially for planetary imaging. A unit that goes to roughly F/20-F/30 is what you will be needing for planetary imaging.

Pick up a really low power eyepiece. This is useful as a finder eyepiece. What you are looking out for is low power, it doesn't need to be the widest possible, thou that is a bonus. If your scope is anything faster than F/8, just stick to simple plossls. Cheap ultrawide tend to perform very poorly at the edges on faster scopes, defeating the purpose of getting them. If your scope has a 2" focuser and 2" diagonal, you might just want to get something that's also 2". Don't spend too much money here, the low power usually means it doesn't stay in the scope for long. Good low power ultrawide cost an arm and leg, and doesn't give as much pleasure as the ultrawide in the 2-2.5mm exit pupil ranges.

Buy a filter, you need a good UHC filter. This is going to be fun when you look at the big nebulas. My personal preference is the Orion Ultrablock. Pick 1.25" or 2", whichever that works for you.

~MooEy~

[Mariner]

Plossls are good beginner EPs but these package sets are usually not recommended if you intend to go on to do more critical observing. However, you failed to identify what scope you intend to use these EPs for. The scope do affect the choice of EPs.

[cloud_cover]

I agree with the general sentiment that bundled eyepieces are generally of lower quality. Most importantly they tend to be less comfortable to use than better eyepieces sold separately. You don't really need a whole set of eyepieces to gain maximum benefit from your telescope. Consider using the budget fro 2-3 better eyepieces and a barlow.
Most importantly and this you haven't told us: What scope are you using? This is the most important factor in determining what eyepieces you should get

[Sivakis]

Or, if starting out and really not sure, can consider like me, get a 8x24 zoom, mine's a Celestron. Not the best, not by a long shot, but gives me flexibility until I can later decide which range is my preferred if I wanna get individuals.

My personal view. Others may differ

[alexaung]

Most importantly and this you haven't told us: What scope are you using? This is the most important factor in determining what eyepieces you should get

Hi...

Mine is very basic... Astromaster 114EQ