If you are looking at eyepieces that are wider than 55 degrees AFOV, you will again need to consider looking at the better corrected, and typically more expensive, eyepieces. I possess an embarrassing array of fine eyepieces with names like Ethos and Nagler and Delos. I think some of these kits even include 4mm eyepieces, and thats ridiculous! Plossl eyepieces have a wider field of view that can go from 50 to 56 degrees. Have Any Astronauts Been Lost in Space Forever. This is why many telescopes come standard with at least one Plossl eyepiece. Both will provide the same magnification. Some include: Parks Gold Series, Celestron Ultima's, Meade Series 4000 Super Plssls (depending on year / origin / style) and a few others that I don't remember. My other eyepieces, ES and Meade 82 degree, stayed in the eyepiece case most of the time. What diameter eyepieces will my telescope accept? . Lets take a look. While eyepieces with relatively complex, proprietary, or bespoke designs are becoming more commonly available in the beginner price bracket, there is often good reason to choose a much simpler design. If you stumble the first few uses, dont be discouraged. To achieve these benefits, they may use special glass and more costly manufacturing. Achromatic vs Apochromatic refracting telescopes. 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. I want to help you select the best eyepieces for your budget and your telescope. To say it a different way, in general, an F5 scope will place more demands on the eyepiece around the edge of the field of view than an F10 scope. did i pass? Over time, you may wish to add a specialty eyepiece here or there, but I would not make that a priority until you have filled out your magnification range. To estimate the highest practical magnification for your telescope, you take the aperture in millimeters, mm, and multiply it by two. All are good eyepieces and diagonals, and would be excellent for star party use. In that respect, they are similar to the Explore Scientific 82 degree mentioned earlier. No price limit? 4mm Eyepiece vs 20mm Eyepiece. Theres a reason Plossls are usually kept at 52 degrees. I have personally tested a few Super Plossl and compared them to their regular counterparts by the same brand. I am not aware of any such solutions for Newtonian reflectors. The field of view of a p Plossl eyepiece is typically 60 to 120 degrees. So, I think it worth your while to try the Plssls. The view being presented to your eye in a low power eyepiece minimizes everything from optical aberrations in the telescope, to distortions from thermals or atmospheric conditions. . These eyepieces have about 35 to 50 degrees apparent fields of view and reasonable eye relief, though quite short for high magnifications. Typically a Barlow does not add or subtract from this, but there again we have bad Barlows and Good Barlows. If we look at the range I provided above, we see that we could replace several eyepieces with one zoom. Plossl eyepieces are perfect for astronomical viewing because the field of view is wider. I do not miss beating my eyelashes against a 9.7mm Meade Plossl that I used to own. 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. These will eventually be used in an 8in dob whenever it arrives. By default, expect a 40-degree field of view in a Kellner and a 50-52 degree field of view in a Plossl. How will my telescopes focal ratio affect my purchases? Whether it is cars or telescope eyepieces, there are inexpensive ones, upgraded models, and very expensive ones. A Barlow lens is an optical device that goes between the eyepiece and the focuser. If you are a glasses wearer and plan to keep your glasses on while you are observing, then you will likely want eyepieces with at least 17 mm of eye relief, and some glasses wearers prefer at least 20 mm. The difference in TFOV will be significant at this focal length. I have CPC 925 and I currently own Hyperion 10mm, Hyperion 17mm and Celestron plossl 40mm. The combination of high-quality optics and accessible prices have made them the favorite design for amateur astronomers and even professionals. The availability of good quality relatively wide field-of-view inexpensive eyepieces has kind of put them in the second tier of eyepieces, but they still hold their own in the longer focal lengths and excel if one does not demand a wide field-of-view. Thus the 30 mm eyepiece in a 600 mm telescope produces 600/30 = 20X magnification while with the Barlow, we have 1800/30 = 60X. Thanks for going through the entire post. I had one and sold it. Customer reviews Average Rating (16 Reviews): Write a Review and share your opinions! If you want to observe the fine details of a specimen, Plossl eyepiece has a higher magnification than an ocular with lower lenses. When I started, I purchased less expensive eyepieces to learn about them and how I would use them. This eyepiece was even better at correcting false color fringing, but because of internal reflections, the glare was even worse. I couldnt find any suggestions on your site about diagonal recommendations. The focal length range for 1.25 Plossls is about 6mm to 45mm. Basic question - what is a Plossl eyepiece? - Getting Started General 32mm (20x & 40x). If one Super Plossl specifies it uses a 5 lens design, then you can definitely consider it a true Super Plossl that might offer better performance, but no brand has released any of those for decades. I am a BIG fan of zoom eyepieces, especially if you dont have many. Lets just say that once you get below F5, it is really hard for the eyepiece to deliver a clean image to the edge. I really enjoy usingPlssls. Brilliant article and I thank you for it, I was literally really confused prior to reading it. I just ordered Hyperion 13mm and 21mm but I really like how sharp and crisp view is in plossl 40mm. I am considering buying another eyepiece, maybe 6mm, and a Barlow, maybe 2x, to give me a wider and higher range of magnification. 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. The reason a plano-convex lens is good for using with a telescope is that it provides for both magnifying and erecting the images. OHHH, now i get it! https://telescopicwatch.com/best-astrophotography-telescopes/. Now we can establish a target magnification range. Good value. - 32mm plossl. Looking from different sorts I found the Baader Aspheric 31mm and 36mm.these two eyepieces allow me to switch between 2" and 1.25"just by changing the barrel. If you are going to wear your glasses when you observe, you want at least 18 mm of eye relief and 20 mm is better. Very often, those eyepieces will be in the outdated 0.965 format rather than the modern 1.25 or 2 diameter barrel format. The Japan made 16mm Meade 3000 was a very nice medium power plossl and the 40mm in that series was surprisingly nice as well. 130 mm scope will have a max of 260X for planning purposes. Soft rubber eye guard that's custom fitted . Plossl eyepieces are often included in better telescope packages as the starter eyepieces. There are three types of Plossl eyepiece: the regular, Super, and Orthoscopic. Etc.? I often recommend the 2 in this series as excellent low-power wide view eyepieces, especially in scopes at focal ratios below F8. The 26 and 32 are usually the first ones I reach for. My friend has one and he really likes it, and it is his third telescope. This gives us more flexibility at the low end of the magnification range. Plossl vs Kellner Eyepieces: The Ultimate Comparison Typically, these will be 25 mm and 10 mm or something close to that. Celestron Omni Eyepieces: The Omni series is the most economical eyepiece offering from Celestron. What Is A Plossl Eyepiece?(Thoroughly Explained!) - Scope The Galaxy Any 1.25 diagonal should work. NEW. Im also uncertain about what to expect from an additional investment? Plossl eyepieces are often included in better telescope packages as the starter eyepieces. Excellent, thank you for the breakdown, very much appreciated. The 50 apparent field of view is plenty for me. You can buy a range of these from Modern Astronomy. Choosing the most appropriate can completely change your experience in using telescopes. Hi Ed, The Expanse is a lens that provides an extra sharp image, and it also has a wider field of view compared to the Plossl eyepiece. None of my fancy EPs have enough contrast for this application. And remember, when all else fails, read the instructions. Lets give an example. PayPal, cash, bank transfer are all acceptable. Again thank you very much for all the information in the page, excellent notes. What I can say is that, in general, eyepiece characteristics are inherent to the eyepiece. Some of these series also offer 2 eyepieces for telescopes that can accept 2 eyepieces. Then set your maximum based on your aperture and split it up. People may have heard, and rightly so, that Huygens or Ramsdens are crummy eyepieces and that they should get a Plossl instead, and they may believe the same applies to Kellners, but the truth is that Kellners are often good eyepieces. This was very useful, I got a meade infinity 90mm ( after read the review here -. Again, for no other reason than to compare it to the 17mm Hyperion and draw your own conclusions about Plssls. 1.25" 6.3mm 32mm 40mm Plossl eyepiece set give you a good variation in magnification for a wide range of targets with extra sharpness and long eye relief. 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. The Plossl is a good all-around eyepiece design, is well suited for generic use and is relatively inexpensive to make. These companies rebranded them under their own names. New and used eyepieces + 2 diagonals - Updated They are most useful in medium and longer focal lengths for terrestrial, planetary, and lunar viewing. I was looking on a OPT website and they have celestron 32mm and 15mm plossl. An Austrian inventor Georg Simon Plossl came up with the Plossl eyepiece design in 1860. is pretty forgiving of eyepiece faults and a wide variety of eyepiece designs will work just fine in it. Inexpensive Plossls that are manufactured using low-quality lenses are susceptible to internal reflections when viewing bright objects at high magnification. When I was getting my start in the hobby, I bought an ultra-cheap ($15?) Generally, to maximize the number of stars you see in an eyepiece with a given telescope, both the magnification and field of view should be maximized. Once I knew how much I liked the zoom I upgraded to the Baader Hyperion Zoom. 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! The Big Bang Optics was started because of our love for astronomy and to help others like us find the best telescope and accessories. Sorry but I am not offering a configuration and pricing service. The image quality is very good and the additional field of view and longer eye relief makes them very comfortable to use. Their 50 to 52 degree AFOV is wide enough for general observing. 30 = 60 = 1.3 At one time Plssls were premium eyepieces. 5-Minute Read, How To Increase The Magnification Of A Telescope; 5-Minute Read. Videos for related products. As said, they are cheap to compare. The Plossl eyepiece has 4 lenses, consisting of 2 identical double lenses. Plssl eyepieces are affordable and they're outstanding additions to amateur telescopes. I tested out my BH zoom yesterday for the first time and it is a great eyepiece so thank you for the recommendation! Interesting points Philip. Some experience with Baader Aspheric 31mm/36mm? - Eyepieces - Cloudy Nights Note to spectacle wearers: Plossl eyepieces with 15mm and longer focal lengths are good choices for spectacle wearers but for shorter focal lengths the Celestron XCel LX series have greater eye-relief so are better suited. Offered in both 2 and 1.25, these are excellent eyepieces. Im fairly picky so would extend budget for better eyepieces if its worth it. You also get 7 1.25 filters which include the following, #80A Blue Filter, #58 Green Filter, #56 Light Green Filter, #25 Red Filter, #21 . Plossl vs Super Plossl Eyepieces. Which One is Better? - Little Astronomy A Plossl eyepiece is one of the most decent general-purpose eyepieces that are available on the market. They also have good eye relief, making them comfortable to use for extended periods. And, the quality of the eyepiece clearly comes into play here. So, even if you have a Maksutov-Cassegrain scope, you should get a good experience from this eyepiece. Why not go back to the people who sold you the scope and get their help. But you need to know, first, if you will be wearing glasses when you observe. They have decent eye relief and little curvature of field. Gosky Plossl 40 mm Telescope Eyepiece - 1.25inch This is probably the worst eyepiece I can recommend. 70 mm scope will have a max of 140X for planning purposes. For astronomical observations, such as viewing craters on the moons surface from Earth, high-magnification models are preferred because they offer more detail. But your point is well taken. Tele Vue offers several series with apparent fields of view from 50 degrees to 120 degrees. Because some objects look better at low power, some at medium power, some at high power, and some at very high power. They are also good for those who have astigmatism because they are designed to be more forgiving with eye placement. These lenses are connected together. Many thanks, Sophie. If you are upgrading, avoid ones that say correct image as these add a prism system into the diagonal which can reduce the light transmission. It doesnt matter what type of telescope you have, as long as your scope takes these standard sizes. This determines how much light the telescope will gather. Kellner eyepieces work perfectly with small and medium-sized telescopes. This design features 4 lenses that are paired in two close-set doublets for the eye lens and the field lens. Yes, Plossl eyepieces are some of the most popular with amateurs and professionals alike. Better edge correction with a short-focus telescope is one of the things you pay extra money for, and sophisticated eyepiece designs have as many as eight elements. Goldline Eyepieces - The Definitive Guide - Telescopic Watch Worth it is a tough question to answer. 2. 3. My Barlow is a 2X with a removeable Barlow element that can be screwed right onto an eyepiece giving a 1.5X effect. As to a more immersive experience, yes, I would say a wider FOV does provide a more immersive experience. Overall, I would highly recommend the goldline eyepieces. If you were considering a Super Plossl made by an entry-level brand, just use those extra funds to instead get a regular Plossl made by a more reputable manufacturer. Visual astronomy is all about aperture, the more the better. Compared with a zoomable telescope eyepiece, they are pretty much the same in terms of the quality of the image. Plossls provide very good eye relief for eyeglass wearers in focal lengths of about 25mm and longer. I can recommend these with confidence. Here we get into the BMW, Cadillac, Porsche, and Ferrari of eyepieces. short answer: yes. The 66-degree AFOV of the Gold Line series provides a 32% wider field than Plossl eyepieces. Your email address will not be published. So, I am going to organize the guide around five questions and four formulas. In the early days of telescopic astronomy, refractor telescopes were designed with a single lens at the front and a single lens at the back. Best Telescope Eyepieces For Viewing Planets [Top 8 Picks For In this case, I am going to define this by the focuser and eyepiece size. Excellent article, thank you very much for taking the time to publish it. In the box you'll receive 5 1.25 eyepieces at following sizes, a 32 mm Plossl Eyepiece, 17 mm Plossl Eyepiece , 13 mm Plossl Eyepiece, 8 mm Plossl Eyepiece, 6 mm Plossl Eyepiece, a 2X Barlow Lens 1.25. It includes two high-magnification Plossl eyepieces and five lower magnification zoom oculars with an adjustable focus in the kit. This will give you a maximum target for planning purposes. And I continue to read excellent reports on the AT Paradigm and similar under different labels. If you are just testing the waters or on a tight budget, get the Celestron, which is still pretty good. The Orthoscopic Plossl eyepiece is for those who are interested in performing close-up work on specimens up to three inches away from them and still get high magnification. As we go up in price range, we gain capabilities that may not be immediately obvious. So, if your scope is F6 or lower, you may want to consider some of the higher priced, better corrected eyepieces if you want the best image to the edge of the field. For visual use, 1.5X, 2X, 2.5X, and 3X Barlow lenses are common. I hope I can say that someday. 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. This is a fairly inexpensive zoom that I wanted to try. I owned an XT8 Intelliscope which is the same optical tube on a PushTo mount. Not only is it good to share the experience but you can get first-hand advice on things like diagonals and may even be able to try one in your scope to see if it makes a difference. This is where the cheap eyepiece will frequently fail to deliver a good image, around the edges. There are some very good choices in this range. If you plan to go longer than that you can get an AC adapter or a power tank. Ive added comments on where you may find and use them. Choose three focal lengths. Regular Plossl eyepieces with maybe just a slightly better coating or build quality. The magnification range that is appropriate to your scope. 8.5-ish mm (75x & 150x) Thanks. Lets illustrate with an example using a 1200 mm FL telescope. Meade 4000 Super Plossl - any good? - Discussions - Eyepieces For the $66/$42 of these kits, you can get one or two decent eyepieces (depending on where you buy). But for the targets requiring higher mag Im still undecided between: You will get varying opinions on this but I would not worry too much about this. When you are shopping, if you need long eye relief, make sure you are selecting the correct ones. There is no problem using a Celestron eyepiece in a Meade telescope, for example. 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. If you were considering a Meade Super Plossl, in that case just get the regular one also by Meade. There was an old Meade Super-Plossl design that used an additional lens element and could reach a wider field of view. THANK YOU x 12! If you do upgrade, youll probably want to go for a different eyepiece design than a Plosslsomething with a sharper image or a wider field of view or a longer eye relief (or all three.). What focal length eyepieces should I buy? Press Esc to cancel. I must say Im quite confused about eyepieces. Let us know in the comments if there is anything else you want to ask or share your thoughts on this post, always looking forward to feedback from others who will benefit from it as well! Again, this is more noticeable in lower focal ratio scopes. For what it's worth: I believe the Omni 1.25 inch 2x Barlow is one of the Shorty Barlows manufactured by GSO. I dont think so. thanks Ed. OK that makes sense, many thanks. Plossls are available from many suppliers in a wide range of focal lengths in 1.25 and 2 sizes. These are two very important considerations when you are looking for eyepieces. This general purpose design gives good colour correction and an adequate feld of view at reasonable cost and they are often bundled with new telescopes. Celestron - 1.25" Eyepiece and Filter Accessory Kit - 14 Piece Telescope Accessory Set - Plossl Telescope Eyepiece - Barlow Lens - Colored Filters - Moon Filter - Sturdy Metal Carry Case. If you are on a strict budget, this is a good choice as a zoom eyepiece. 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. AP is all about the mount and accurate tracking. If that is the case, it will give me another reasonably good, inexpensive zoom to recommend to beginners. Kellner eyepieces have 3 lenses cemented together and have a 35-50 degree field of view. ORION SIRIUS PLOSSL 10mm telescope eyepiece 1.25" - $17.01. Every review suggests replacing the 10mm Kellner eyepiece (and possibly 25mm Kellner) that comes with it. (often referred to as Pseudo Masuyama). Are plossl eyepieces still worth it? I also really liked my E-Lux 32mm, a Kellner. 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. With a 130mm-F5 I would use a Plossl 32mm for its low-mag-wide-view. Edited April 23, 2010 by russ teh_orph Members 28 198 Author Just give yourself some time to learn the app and to understand the scope. They have good center sharpness but exhibit some field curvature and astigmatism. One more thing if you havent purchased a telescope yet, I would recommend a tabletop version, since they are easier for kids to move than the fiddley ones with spindly legs and complicated dials. As long as you take good care of them, Plossls can last you a lifetime, and you will be able to use them with your next telescope if you upgrade at some point. For example, if you put a 30 mm eyepiece in a 3X Barlow, it will triple the magnification you get from that eyepiece. If we combine a Barlow with an 8-24 mm zoom eyepiece, we have an amazing range. Pay attention to the eye relief, especially if you will be observing with glasses. I agree with your comment on zooms for kids. And, in general terms, the higher the AFOV, the harder it is to make an eyepiece that will present a good image all across the field of view, which also drives up the cost. Using this approach, you would buy a 2X Barlow and hold off on the 4 mm and 3 mm to see if you can reach these magnifications often enough to justify buying an eyepiece. For that purpose it is probably easier to find one to borrow. With an f/10 telescope, Plossls are as sharp as any other kind of eyepiece of the same focal length. Differences and Similarities. The Big Bang Optics is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Despite one being fundamentally superior to the other in terms of image correction, Kellners and Plossls are generally quite comparable in terms of the image you actually see. If you do not have your Hyperions yet I recommend you wait until you have these and try them out before you buy the Plossls. Another way to look at it is that a 30 mm eyepiece in a 3X Barlow works like a 10 mm eyepiece. I am very interested in viewing Nebulae do you think this set up will work well for that or do I need other eyepieces or filters? They are all made by the same OEM manufacturer. Unless you are a professional astronomer or extremely demanding, you can select your eyepieces based on magnification, the apparent field of view, eye relief, and price. This is why we recommend you try to locate the object first at low power, then use a higher magnification if you likethe wider field of view on the sky provides more context in terms of asterisms and reference stars and makes it more likely that youll catch the object you are looking for. Do you have any additional comments to help me? Plossls cost a bit more than the Kellners as Plossls are expensive to manufacture because they require good optical glass and precisely matched concave and convex doublet surfaces to prevent internal reflections. You are talking about the technical details of how a Barlow works, and I agree. Kellner eyepieces were first designed by Carl Kellner in 1849. I have seen wider-field Plossls. I have the 38 mm and recommend it often. These sport a 60-degree apparent field of view, about a 20% wider apparent field of view than Plossl eyepieces. A 20mm Plssl is probably worth it, if for no other reason than to compare the views it gives to the 21mm Hyperion you have. Or, you may find that you like the 8 mm and 6 mm used with the Barlow and can avoid the expense of two eyepieces. Kellner and Plossl- both are two different types of eyepieces for telescopes. The Plossl's are very easy to modify, allowing me to use the bino-viewer on, all my refracting telescopes without having to cut down the tube length, p.s. At that price point, it couldnt compete with other 5-element devices like Erfle and Nagler eyepieces that had better performance. Planetary eyepieces: Ploessl or Orthoscopic and which brand