The difference isnt that severe, and I often track more often than is strictly necessary to keep the object centered anyway. I think you will change your mind. Combining a cheap eyepiece with a cheap barlow isn't a elegant solution. The eye relief is the distance between your eyes and the eyepiece where you are able to view the whole image comfortably. The Big Bang Optics participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for websites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Brilliant article and I thank you for it, I was literally really confused prior to reading it. A super Plossl eyepiece is a top-performing eyepiece that can be used for a variety of tasks, from viewing objects in the distance to looking at microscopic things. It uses two symmetrical pairs of glass elements (one convex and one concave) to pass the light. As I discussed earlier, the zoom lets you explore your target over a wide range of magnifications without having to change eyepieces. This is a fairly inexpensive zoom that I wanted to try. Explore Scientific 68 34 mm or ES 82 30 mm would also be good choices at a significantly higher price but with better edge correction. A wide-angle view of 66 degrees makes it perfect for viewing large objects and even entire constellations while still being able to focus on smaller details with ease. I have an F4 Newtonian reflector and if I use an eyepiece of longer than 25 mm, an exit pupil of 6.25, I start to get a dark area in the center of the field of view which is a shadow of the secondary mirror. That is a really interesting picture. What apparent field of view and eye relief do I want? Then there is a pair of 32mm and 20mm TV Plossls which make my binoviewers work well with a Daystar Quark H-alpha solar filter. Telescopes Cost: Acceptable, Good, and Really Good Telescopes, Used Telescopes Buying Guide The Complete Guide, Different Types of Asteroids (C, S, and M) The Definitive Guide, Top 10 Night Sky Objects for Astronomy Beginners, Asteroid Mining Know Everything About It, German Equatorial Mounts (GEMs) Overview and Working. To achieve a maximum of 200X (2X the aperture of 100 mm), we solve for the focal length. Videos for related products. Inexpensive Plossls that are manufactured using low-quality lenses are susceptible to internal reflections when viewing bright objects at high magnification. I have used both Kellner & Plossl eyepieces and a few others, and I can tell you that they all are quite different from each other in terms of the quality of the image that they produce. If you feel the need to buy something now, consider this Orion diagonal. This doublet design has an apparent field of view of 50-degrees or wider but can suffer from short eye relief making them difficult to use for some . This is where the second formula comes into play. I have not had an opportunity to test it yet but the general discussions have favorable. Dont worry about the math, as its simple stuff you can do with any calculator, on paper, or perhaps in your head. This is perfect for a 25mm Plossl (an extremely common standard) and downright luxurious with a 32mm Plossl, but when you get below about 12.5mm or 10mm, it can begin to get difficult to use. 30 = 60 = 1.3 dnrmilspec is right. How will my telescopes focal ratio affect my purchases? You have a very wide choice of brands and styles to choose from. Your email address will not be published. However, if you want to optimize your viewing experience, youll need to invest in a better-quality eyepiece. These are effectively simple designs like Plossls, Kellners, Konigs, and RKEs, with long focal lengths, that have a lens included to increase their focal length. With the XT8i I usually used the zoom configured with a 1.5X Barlow giving me a 75X to 225X which I found to be nearly perfect for that scope. still, i somehow managed to avoid the eyepiece pitfalls when buying used off ebay. With regards to budget, whatever works well and is on par with the quality & capability of the telescope. Their eye relief is limited to about 70-80% of their focal length. As we continue, what would you recommend adding first? A typical zoom eyepiece has a focal length range of 8 mm to 24 mm. If you are completely new to stargazing, Kellner eyepieces are absolutely fine. You could base this on 3, 4, 5, 6 or more focal lengths/magnifications. If you had to choose 1 low-power 2 EP for chasing deep sky objects (again, at 600mm f7.5), what size piece would you go for? You can add the specialty single FL eyepieces later if you wish. If we combine a Barlow with an 8-24 mm zoom eyepiece, we have an amazing range. Just search on Astronomy Club and you will probably find one in your area. Higher than 3X is usually reserved for astrophotography. It also gives the widest possible exit pupil in my dob and SCT, very handy when using nebula filters. Very worth it for me, as I like to use bino-viewers. Kellners tend to have narrower apparent fields of view (40 degrees rather than 50 or 52 degrees in a Plossl), and in short focal length telescopes (focal ratio f/5 or shorter) they can have more false color fringing, but for the most part it is hard to notice the difference between a well-made Kellner and a well-made Plossl in terms of image quality. A large field lens makes the ocular easy to look into. On the inside, they are exactly the same design. For the $66/$42 of these kits, you can get one or two decent eyepieces (depending on where you buy). Super Plossls offer a smaller field of view, which makes them good for close-up views and examining small objects. 1.25" Power mates with T ring adapter. If you just want eyepiece recommendations and dont care about the details, Im adding that section right below before we go into the specifications that answer the above questions and make use of the formulas. Nothing will stop you from trying to go higher, but in all likelihood, the image will be poor and not worth the cost of eyepieces to achieve it. Most of Celestrons entry-level telescopes are sold with Kellners (and other cheap but reasonable-quality designs like RKEs or Konigs), whereas their more expensive SCTs tend to come with a single 25mm Plossl. 32 mm = 18.75X12 mm = 50X8 mm = 75X6 mm = 100X4 mm = 150X3 mm = 200X. PS. Lets illustrate with an example using a 1200 mm FL telescope. Aspheric and Plossl Plossl are both lens designs that can be used in most telescopes. Simple Plosels work well and unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket, I would start with simple affordable eyepieces. I still use my 30mm Celestron Ultima fairly often with some of my telescopes. As you saw in the article, they eyepieces that would be best for you, or your child, is based on your budget and what your goals are. https://telescopicwatch.com/best-barlow-lens-and-how-to/, Celestron 8-24 Zoom Review I still have it and still use it from time to time. Note that many cheap eyepieces promise a wide AFOV but deliver a view with a lot of distortion or aberration as you move away from the center of the field of view. I also have an older smoothtop 20mm Meade 4000 that is also 5 element, and it is a fine eyepiece too, compared to another 20mm of the same vintage. So yeah, they are good.. and some are even better than others, and more collectible. I usually recommend a 32 mm Plossl type eyepiece as that provides about the widest view you can achieve with a 1.25 focuser. Remember that visual and AP have very different requirements, so plan on at least two different optical tubes. If you are investing for the future, get the BH zoom. a breath of fresh air! What follows are specific eyepieces that I have tried, own, or have read so many good reports about that I feel very comfortable recommending them. Looking forward to first use. Etc.? Look those up, seeing and transparency in the context of astronomy. In simple terms, high focal ratio scopes, say those over F6, tend to be less demanding on eyepieces than those below F6. In stargazing, eyepieces are as important as telescopes are. I have CPC 925 and I currently own Hyperion 10mm, Hyperion 17mm and Celestron plossl 40mm. And since this article is intended as an aid to beginners rather than a rigorous optics lesson, I think the context I provided works well enough. Plossl eyepieces have a wide FOV and are known for their clarity and sharpness. Edited April 23, 2010 by russ teh_orph Members 28 198 Author This would definitely matter to observers who wear eyglasses when viewing. thanks for all your help. Kellners can be as little as half the price of a Plossl in the same focal length, but they are generally very comparable, especially in recent years as telescope prices have fluctuated in response to changing supply chains and demand. But you may only be able to achieve that rarely. One of the TMB Planetary eyepieces are extremely nice for 50. There is the 56mm Meade Plossl which magically turns my short FL refractors into their own finder scopes. For your application and the eyepieces you have or are going to get, you really dont need anything else. Wide view and well-corrected view, even in F5 scopes. We will talk more about the field of view later, but note that if you can use 2 eyepieces, you will typically only have one or two for very low power wide field views. Worth it is a tough question to answer. What happens if you use an eyepiece that has a the wrong exit pupil? Heres the short answer Plossl eyepieces are generally better than Kellner eyepieces, but they also tend to be more expensive. My 20, 26, and 32mm Plossls will probably stay around. I also struggled to see features on both (gas bands on Jupiter and clear rings on saturn). ES 82 degree series plus 1 meade uwa @20 mm with 1800 focal length optical tube lowest mag 51 x / highest mag 300. Today, most beginner telescopes of any quality are sold with either Kellner or Plossl eyepieces. Question: would an 18mm Baader Classic Ortho mostly used for Moon and planets loose sharpness and contrast if used with a short F5 telescope like the Celestron Astro-Fi 130? In the 1990s Meade instruments came up with a new design for the Meade 4000 line similar to Plossl that added a fifth glass element on top of the two pairs (4 total). The 50 apparent field of view is plenty for me. Those that still come with Huygens and Ramsdens are generally cheap and low quality, since practically the only reason to use those designs in modern times is that they are extremely cheap to manufacture. So you would have to test the set to see the actual result. eyepiece shows signs of use with caps and bolt case, 32 mm Plossl very good cond. Even if the scope comes with the more acceptable Kelner or . The original Meade 5-piece Super Plossl hasnt been in production for decades and at this point is more of a collectors item than a high-performance eyepiece. Even big telescopes are subject to limitations imposed by the atmosphere. Typically, these will be 25 mm and 10 mm or something close to that. A Plssl is probably as good as any 32mm eyepiece in a 1.25 inch focuser. Even though the design has existed for more than a century, it has stood the test of and is still today the standard against which other eyepiece designs are measured. Omni 15mm Eyepiece - 1.25" Learn More. Is there anyway you could include links to the eyepieces you mentioned in the last paragraph of your reply as Im totally new so worried about buying the wrong thing! Then there is a pair of 32mm and 20mm TV Plossls which make my binoviewers work well with a Daystar Quark H-alpha solar filter. Fortunately, the investment can be leveraged with future scopes since eyepieces are standard sizes so they work in almost any telescope. We may earn commissions by recommending products on this website. Quality this good usually costs a lot more. Imagine you are looking at the moon with each of these eyepieces and consider what you would see. You can buy eyepieces specifically focused on a particular scope or you can buy eyepieces that you expect to use with this and all future scopes. A wide range of focal lengths are available, all in 1.25-inch size. 14 = 128 = .6 An Austrian inventor Georg Simon Plossl came up with the Plossl eyepiece design in 1860. They are all made by the same OEM manufacturer. We will use 10 mm as the eyepiece focal length, but we will look at three different 10 mm eyepieces, each with a different apparent field of view, AFOV. This type of eyepiece provides you with wide-field views without any distortion due to its use as an achromatic lens system which reduces chromatic aberrations by combining two lenses made from different types of glass materials together on each surface. You probably dont need to worry about upgrading them as soon as you get your telescope, unless you can see an optical problem in the one youre using or you find the short eye relief for the short-focus eyepiece uncomfortable. Free shipping for many products! How you divide up your magnification range is up to you. Lets give an example. now it all makes sense, you did a great job explaining all this information it was a lot to take in but i have it now. You can buy a range of these from Modern Astronomy. This eye piece provides the maximum true field of view in the 1.25 inch format. In some cases, an object is so large (i.e., the Moon, the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy) that a narrow field of view can only show you part of the object, whereas a wider field of view could show the whole object at the same magnification. Another really helpful article, Ed. So plan this into such a purchase. My love affair with space began in a field in India at the age of 7, when I looked up at the Milky Way for the first time. With your glasses on, you simply cant get your eye close enough to an eyepiece that only has 10 mm of eye relief. Explore Scientific, like many eyepiece providers, have higher-priced and budget lines. Tip Its almost always cheaper to buy directly from Agena Astro. For astronomical observations, such as viewing craters on the moons surface from Earth, high-magnification models are preferred because they offer more detail. 8.8 = 240 = .34 Under my sky it was rare that I would be able to get over 225X and still maintain a good quality image, except on the Moon. There was an old Meade Super-Plossl design that used an additional lens element and could reach a wider field of view. We have compared Plossl against Kellner eyepieces in a previous article. Why not go back to the people who sold you the scope and get their help. . I cannot thank you enough! Can you help me. Youll find yourself adjusting these type of factors less than. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Meade telescope maksutov eyepiece ETX-105EC Super Plossl 6.4mm 1.25" w capsule at the best online prices at eBay! I had a bino pair of TV 20mm Plossls, very fine for high power planetary observation with my long focus 8" Mak, then I also bought the older TV 21mm Plossl, after trying the 21mm I sold the more recent 20mm. 4mm Eyepiece vs 20mm Eyepiece. As of the past couple years, it seems possible that the choice between Kellners and Plossls has been made for usyou either get what you get with your beginner telescope, or you will have to find a Plossl. Hi Ed, that is really helpful sorry if this is a daft question but is the baader hyperion 2 or 1.25 or can it be both? We will now discuss the specifications of eye relief and apparent field of view. Even when I upgraded to a 6mm Goldline, I kept the Kellner around because of pretty annoying kidney-bean blackout issues on the Moon with that eyepiece. In our example, we targeted 200X as the top magnification. The result in magnification is the same and the eye relief associated with the eyepiece is retained or, in some cases, actually lengthened a bit. It was named after Peter Barlow who invented it in the 1800s, so it is usually capitalized. Note that we also gained a 16 mm magnification at no additional cost. Plossls provide very good eye relief for eyeglass wearers in focal lengths of about 25mm and longer. Question: would it perform well with 1.5/2x and 3x Barlows? If you do choose to go with a Plossl eyepiece, I highly recommend spending some extra cash to get yourself a decent good quality branded Plossl eyepiece rather than going for a cheap, generic eyepiece which is a Plossl only for the namesake. Major telescope brands such as Celestron supplies Kellner eyepieces with their r least expensive telescopes and still may. We are a team of active amateur astronomers, here to help you with all your astronomy and science related needs this is anything, from reviewing the latest telescopes to be released to talking about gravity and neurons. If the above guide has helped you understand the terms and workings of eyepieces, scroll up and make a selection from our recommendation list. Using your example: We will use a 100 mm telescope with a 600 mm focal length and Another way to look at it is that a 30 mm eyepiece in a 3X Barlow works like a 10 mm eyepiece.. (Compare, for instance, 20mm of each type, or 10mm of each type.) Ive read reviews about my scope. Higher values are slower and lower values are fasterthis is a holdover from camera lens terminology and has to do with exposure times.). Something in the 30 to 38 mm range with a 65 to 70 degree AFOV. Or, if you are buying from an online like Amazon, then look at the eyepieces I recommend and see if any suit your needs. These will normally be higher priced and may be outside the price range we show here. That is why I suggest, if you can use 2 eyepieces, you will want one or two low power wide view 2 eyepieces. It also was considerably more expensive. The focal length range for 1.25 Plossls is about 6mm to 45mm. The components of a Plossl eyepiece are the two groups of lenses. Perhaps another review would be helpful. If you cant use 2, that 32 mm Plossl, which has a 50 degree AFOV, will give you about as wide a field of view as you can get in a 1.25 eyepiece. For our experience level, would you recommend changing anything right now? I would recommend the Baader Hyperion Zoom for any telescope. About Us | Privacy Policy | ContactLittle Astronomy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Or we say that F10 would be easier or less demanding on the eyepiece than the F5. Yes, Plossl eyepieces are some of the most popular with amateurs and professionals alike. All focal lengths offer 50 field-of-view except the 40mm which offers 42 The Plossl eyepiece has 4 lenses, consisting of 2 identical double lenses. They can also be found as Orion Expanse sporting a blue line rather than gold. I need some eyepieces with long FL for low magnifications. Plossl eyepieces have an eye relief equal to about 80% of their focal length. There are certainly much better options out there but at a significant cost. To achieve these benefits, they may use special glass and more costly manufacturing. Many thanks. However, some lateral color error is apparent when looking at bright subjects, such as Jupiter or Venus, against a dark sky. From planetary viewing to deep sky watching. The Big Bang Optics is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. I am not aware of an ES branded 70 degree series in the USA, but they do have a Bresser branded 70-degree series. Sony A7III vs A7RIII Astrophotography: Which One to Shoot Infinity! Now, for my one or two low power eyepieces, I also like to know the field of view provided by that eyepiece. This is your Lexus, Acura, and Infinity types that offer more features, better build, and a bit more polish. did i pass? These "other" ones I speak of, aren't technically that, they are a 5 element eyepiece, of a different design. Plssl's were top of the line at one time, and are still being sold today, so that says something too. I found an ES 70 degree AFOV 35mm eyepiece and am wondering whether I should get this or the Orion 38 70. The basic design hasnt changed much, but the real costs of manufacturing have dropped. 6.5-ish mm (100x & 200x) Most people will be fairly comfortable with eye relief of 12 mm or higher. But I have one little niggle. 32mm (20x & 40x). It also gives the widest possible exit pupil in my dob and SCT, very handy when using nebula filters. I can recommend these with confidence. Your email address will not be published. Low focal ratio scopes deliver the light rays to the eyepiece at an ever-increasing angle as the focal ratio number goes down. I decided to jump in with both feet and get an Orion ED80 (600mm f7.5 with a 2 focuser, So that I can move into astrophotography down the road. Jupiter and Saturn are low in the sky now. i still use the binos. The one exception I would keep in mind would be when working with Newtonian reflector telescopes below F5. As is outstanding in the workmanship, a Plossl type eyepiece is a moderately wide field eyepiece involving two colorless doublets in which the crown components generally face each other. Theres a wide range of quality when it comes to Plossls and trusting the brand you are getting one from matters a lot if you dont want to get an eyepiece with lots of reflection or optical issues. If your focuser/diagonal will accept 2 eyepieces, then I will suggest you get one or two 2 eyepieces for your low power wide view eyepieces. I expect such eyepieces are available but I have never seen or used one. Be aware of the focal ratio of your scope. If you want a very good eyepiece with a bit wider field of view but are on a budget, these are very good choices. If you upgrade the telescope or add a second one, the eyepieces will work on that telescope too. I see that there are some optical limits to how wide an FOV a 1.25 EP can manage at bigger (like 32mm) focal lengths. Depending on how fussy you are about having a completely clean image across the visual field, if you have a lower focal ratio scope you will want to look for eyepieces with a reputation for being better corrected in low focal ratio scopes. I also like to have my face physically in contact with the eyepiece (or the eyepiece cup) so the tight eye relief of the shorter focal lengths actually works really well for me. If you would prefer to buy him $60 eyepieces or even $30 eyepieces because he is only 7 and he can upgrade later, that is also OK. Plossls tend to come with large, ground-standing Dobsonians, whereas youre more likely to find a Kellner sold with a tabletop Dobsonian. I've got a one-off plossl like that in my kit that I'll probably never sell, (aside from my 5 element ones) and it's one that is rarely seen. Visual astronomy is all about aperture, the more the better. Rating (max 5): So, basically a Plossl eyepiece is a type of eyepiece that enables the viewer to see a wider field of view than would normally be the case, but at the cost of him/her having to physically put his eye very close to the lens of the eyepiece. And new proprietary designs come out from time to time. For shorter focal lengths, the StarGuider BST series eyepieces have greater eye-relief, so are better suited. I did sell them all when I adopted Dioptrx, and the Naglers are amazing! Now looking for a couple of decent eyepieces. Any exit pupil between 7 mm and .5 mm is just fine. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A 15mm Plssl might be worth it, if you dont wear glasses. I purchased the Celestron Starsense 102mm refractor, focal length 660mm, stated highest useful magnification is 240x; it should arrive in about 2 weeks. is pretty forgiving of eyepiece faults and a wide variety of eyepiece designs will work just fine in it. And of course, NEVER look through a telescope pointed at the sun that does not have a safe solar filter covering the front. Stargazinghelp.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com. They have good center sharpness but exhibit some field curvature and astigmatism. Kellner eyepieces use three glass elements in two groups to minimize color fringing. You really understood the material. Some of these series also offer 2 eyepieces for telescopes that can accept 2 eyepieces. This type of design provides for both total magnifications as well as an erect image with little distortion. We also joined our local Astronomy Club and look forward to joining others under the night sky when the opportunity presents itself again. The Astrovid 40X60mm Zoom Telescope Camera Lens Kit is a great choice for those looking to get a variety of lenses, at different magnifications. But with 2 eyepieces and a Barlow, you have the full effective range of your telescope. Plossl eyepieces have wider fields of view than Kellners. Recall that your lowestpower eyepiece's exit pupil should not exceed 6mm. If youre still wondering between a Kellner vs Plossl, my advice to you would be invest a little extra cash and go for a good quality Plossl. Not everything in the sky benefits from high magnification. Omni 56mm Eyepiece - 2" Learn More. I was just wondering if plossls are still worth it or should get a better eyepiece in a 30mm range. I havent been into the hobby for long but my experience is in line with whats been said. Once I knew how much I liked the zoom I upgraded to the Baader Hyperion Zoom. They are referring to how much or how little distortion is visible as you look from the center of the image out toward the edge. Poorly chosen eyepiece might give you poor experience and sometimes even make stargazing difficult. Outstanding job Jack. The longer FL Plossls (>15mm) have some distinct advantages over more complex designs without the major disadvantage of Plossls which is short ER. This means less time trying to figure out which way your images should be oriented before examining them. For that purpose it is probably easier to find one to borrow. Nice, thank you again for the additional inputs. Many compare these favorably to eyepieces that are much higher priced. 1. 75-225X, 1.5X Barlow As the clear cut worlds best eyepiece manufacturer, their name should at least be mentioned in an article like this. You will get varying opinions on this but I would not worry too much about this. Some brands will add better lens coating, darker edges, or a higher quality case to their Super Plossl products, but strictly for performance, there isnt a difference between the two. Comparing Orion Telescope & Binoculars options, it appears that a Kellner can be found for almost half the price of a Plossl of the same focal length, although there are also equally cheap Plossls available from various sellers on Amazon that are highly comparable. And I am a visually observing focused person. Many approach the quality of the premium brands. Yes, eyepieces is a large and complex topic. I also have a 25mm plossl and am happy with that. And remember, when all else fails, read the instructions. It had one of the best fields, edge to edge, in my SCT that I've ever seen. They are also really sharp. Most modern telescopes use a focuser, or diagonal, that accepts 1.25 eyepieces. No other type can compare with it when it comes to that quality. It is all about your budget, your goals, and your objectives, as outlined in the article. If you don't like the reflections, there really aren't many other budget options at its focal length beside a Plossl which will be super uncomfortable to use, or spending over $100 for something like a Meade UWA. Most telescopes come with one or two eyepieces. If we want to get VERY specific to a combination then inherent aberrations of this scope and that eyepiece could produce a unique result.
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