My scope came with a 10mm and 20mm so I think right now I will not order the whole set and just get the 6mm goldline, costs $46 from Amazon for the single one.
Quick question if you don't mind. I came across this Celestron zoom eyepiece and was wondering if that would be worth while? I like the idea of only needing the one ep and then maybe also the 6mm on top of that to get a bit more zoom?
Thanks for the clarification :)
Thanks for the info. In terms of budget I guess somewhere around the 100 dollar mark. What do you think of the celestron 8-24mm?
I got one of the Celestron kits (the one current $74 on Amazon but i think I paid about $36 for it?).
This is the telescoping lens I mentioned, you can twist it like a DSLR lens which is useful to me bc I can switch from looking at the moon to looking at Jupiter without much hassle.
Mostly though I use the lenses that came with my Meade ETX-90EC.
I have a 10 inch, with eyepieces from 36 to 2.3. I really wouldn't suggest anything less than a 6mm. I would probably point you towards a varifocal instead since it's nice to not have to swap out eyepieces and use barlow's sometimes.
Very inexpensive, you can target in on a larger 30's, and then swap to this, and click in/adjust/drag/focus, and click in, etc. and continue that down to 8.
I think you'll be a lot happier this way.
So just to follow up, the guy I bought the scope from included an Orion Sirius Plossl 25mm & shorty 6.3, an Orion Shorty 2x Barlow, and a Celestron 8-24 zoom (#93230)
Ever used one of the Celestron adjustable eyepieces? I was just toying around with it now and provided it's reasonably comfortable to use, I imagine it'll be my go-to in most cases.
So I tried it with my dobsonian and a mirror less yesterday and had th exact same issue but I was able to solve it. My set up was the usual telescope with a 8 to 24mm Celestron eyepiece. I took the eye cap off of it. Got my Sony mirrorless camera and a t adapter for it. Connected the adapter to the camera and took off (unscrew) the front small part of the t adapter (see picture in link below). After talking it off I was able to connect the camera directly to the celstron eyepiece. But here was the problem, I couldn't focus. I made the eyepiece come out all the way by turning focus but it won't fully focus (but got a little bit towards the right focus amount). I decided to then change the Celestron eyepiece focal length since it's a variable 8mm to 24 mm. I can't tell u at what value it finally focused but I was plesently surprised. Anyway long story short I had a variable focal length eyepiece that helped me focus after the focuser reached its limits.
Amazon! But celestron sells it directly as well.
No that's a good budget :-)
Maksutovs
The Maksutovs are more expensive than other telescope types, but they are very compact and make good spotting scopes.
You may have seen the Celestron c90 or so on Amazon if you're looked at spotting scopes.
Limits
The larger the aperture, the higher you can magnify without the image getting too dim (and the higher the resolution). http://blog.pixelgiraffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/200x.jpg (and especially the later would be increasingly blurry)
So while the atmosphere often limits how high you can magnify, the c90 would have a pretty dim image at 150x compared to a 4"(102mm) or 5"(127mm) Maksutov.
Conditions
Over 100x things really depend on seeing conditions and how clean the air is (both regarding dust and fog).
Look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYhIKRd-yBM for example. Not because of the mirage/reflections, but how the air flimmers, moves. If you were to zoom in even further, all you'd see is blurry colors dancing around.
If your view looks like this, you couldn't magnify high either. The further the target, the more washed out due to air pollution. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Los_Angeles_Pollution.jpg
Field of view
Just to estimate magnification.
Degree is used to refer to a "piece of the sky". 360° all around you;
Our eyes have a field of view of about 135° x 180° (But the center vision where things are sharp is of course smaller, ~100° possibly).
So with 10x magnification, binoculars for example, you can get about 7-8° true field of view or so, as the eyepieces have a limited apparent field of view.
In a telescope at 100x, it's 0.7°.
Simulations
I did a quick simulation,
http://blog.pixelgiraffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/truefield.jpg
http://blog.pixelgiraffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/zoooom.jpg
But other than not having a high resolution image, seeing will kind of do the same at higher magnification. You can't quite get it sharp enough if the conditions aren't good or if the telescope is being pushed beyond it's capabilities.
The TL;DR of that: Telescopes are awesome, but you can never magnify as high as you want :-)
Shopping
So what telescope exactly?
If you first want to try what's possible, go to the classifieds and get a used 70mm refractor for ~$20. Their accessories aren't good (mount, eyepieces) but you can estimate what's possible.
You could get a c90 and it will work very well. It costs $160 and works on almost any camera tripod if it's halfway sturdy.
The larger 4"(102mm) costs $230 without mount. Given the prices of some sets, it almost makes sense to go with the 4" or even 5" ;-)
If you don't mind spending a bit more right away, go check out a 5" Maksutov and a range of eyepieces.
One of the cheaper 5" is https://explorescientificusa.com/products/fl-mc1271900tn?_pos=6&_sid=3cf57ffbf&_ss=r (The 4" is $100 less). The mount is a compromise but should work.
The 5" Mak is also amazing for moon and planets. Stars will remain dots. 200x magnification isn't an issue.
I'm not a fan of zoom eyepieces as they have a narrow 40° apparent field of view at the overview magnification, but for terrestrial they are quite nice. https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93230-24mm-1-25-Eyepiece/dp/B0007UQNV8/ (Do not get eyepiece sets, they are mediocre at best. Never look into the sun without a suitable filter!!!! Permanent, instant blindness).
The eyepiece would give you up to ~238x magnification, so it really maxes out what's possible. Still, a dedicated 15mm or so could be nice as you can rarely magnify that high... And at 15mm the zoom eyepiece has a narrower apparent field of view.
EDIT: Size Video of a 5" but on EQ3 mount https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmU4v2jJLg
> moon
Awesome! :-)
Do you have a guide? It's pretty difficult to find deep-sky objects when starting out, and the narrow field of view with the Maksutov does make it even harder. That's where binoculars come in handy IMHO.
HR Planetary clones
These have 58° afov. Some more modern "descendants" are BST Explorer, Dual-ED (60° afov) and similar. They start at around $30 (some cheaper, some more expensive).
Many sites specify the maximum magnification at around 180x for the Mak's 90mm aperture.
But don't push the telescope to it's limits! The Mak's relatively large obstruction will also cost some light/contrast.
180x (~7mm eyepiece) might sound tempting, but it's not worth adding a tiny bit more magnification as it'll cost you contrast, brightness).
gold line
The "gold line" are Orion Expanse clones, sold under various names. You can find them with their typical 66° apparent field of view.
They have a large afov compared to other cheap eyepieces, and that can be very nice. But they are only available in 6/9/15/20mm, which aren't ideal for your Maksutov (6 is too short, 9 close to your 10mm, no larger overview with the 20mm).
BUT again, the 6mm will be too much magnification (208x!) for the 90/1250 Maksutov.
The 9mm is pretty close to your existing 10mm (but better eye-relief, larger afov) - 139 vs 125 Magnification will be more or less insignificant.
They are also available through Amazon, eBay and can be found at many astronomy stores (Orion Expanse, Skywatcher wide-angle). There are now the "red lines" 68° which I personally haven't tried, but they seem similar / slightly better?
DO not get the even cheaper 62° "copper tops" as especially the 4mm is pretty bad.
There are also now fake "gold-lines" that are just Plössl. Recognizable by it's 52° afov.
Plössl
Plössls are a decent eyepiece type, but under 10mm, their eye-relief is very very short. Over 10mm they are decent.
The Plössl-type is easily recognizable by it's 52° afov. Only the 40mm has a narrower 43° afov due to the limitations of the 1.25" form factor.
For the largest overview, a 32mm Plössl will give you a slightly larger field of view.
Barlows
Barlows are available in different variants, e.g. 2x, 3x, 5x, 1.4x... They double (or tripple, or...) the magnification. But they also introduce chromatic aberration, reducing the contrast. At the price of a good barlow, you can get some decent eyepieces. So it's usually better to get some better eyepieces in addition to your kit eyepieces first.
Zoom-eyepieces
Zoom eyepieces have a narrower field of view on their larger focal-length. This means their use as overview eyepiece is very limited as it'll produce a narrow field of view.
They aren't that much cheaper at Aliexpress compared to local astronomy stores or Amazon, and with those, you'll know what you get.
https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93230-24mm-1-25-Eyepiece/dp/B0007UQNV8/
8mm 60°, 24mm 40° afov.
There are other zooms, some better, some worse.
There is a sub-$30 7,5-22,5mm. It has a very plasicy feel, narrow apparent field of view, much worse contrast than the TS7-21mm I have.
I haven't tried any of the $200 zooms (Orion, Vixen...) but even those typically have a narrower field of view at the longer focal-length.
I have the TS 7-21mm zoom, and I only use it for day-time spotting in my Maksutov. At night, I prefer fixed focal-length eyepieces. Zoom always sounds nice, but it's just not ideal for all use scenarios. Especially the cheaper zooms are basically just Plössl and barlow with adjustable distance.
Depends mostly on the zoom.
And yes, those eyepieces I linked to are "gold lines".
That 102mm mak looks really nice. Now if that would work with my current tripod. How would you rate that setup with these two lenses added on as well?
Celestron 93230 8 to 24mm 1.25 Zoom Eyepiece https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007UQNV8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_1lK0Cb6GJXVDM
Celestron 93428 X-Cel LX 1.25-Inch 3x Barlow Lens (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00810N364/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FnK0Cb0603G9Y
Really appreciate your in-depth answer.
This is exactly what I was looking for. Seriously, thank you for taking the time to write this out.
I think I'm going to get a decent 8-24x zoom eyepiece so that I can get an "o.k" look at everything on different magnifications on a budget.
But I'm going to get one nice eyepiece along with that for ideally planet viewing. So I'm looking at either a 5mm or a 9mm Celestron LX (I'm not a die hard Celestron customer, they're just easiest for me to get online here in Canada). I thought I read that really low focal length eye pieces aren't good for shorter focal length telescopes.
I'll be getting a decent barlow eventually (when the budget allows). So I'm kind of torn on the 5mm or 9mm, since I'll have the 8mm option on the zoom piece. Do you think the 9mm Celestron LX will be a much better view than the 8mm on the zoom? If it's barely noticeable, I'll get the 5mm. But I like the idea of having a nice eye piece in the magnification I'll be spending 90% of my time in.
I'm probably over complicating things... I'm a student with a low paying job though. I've gotta get bang for my buck and buy smart.
I'd also add a zoom eyepiece as an option. It's not a big deal to swap eyepieces, of course, but if you've got the financial flexibility, something like this is a nice investment:
http://corvus-optics.com/product/plossl/ I haven't ordered from them myself (they didn't have the eyepieces I wanted in stock), but Paul's always responded rapidly to my inquiry and seems to be a stand up guy.
For the zoom, Amazon has the cheapest prices: http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93230-24mm-1-25-Eyepiece/dp/B0007UQNV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433195887&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+zoom
Alternatively, you can look on http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/category/13-eyepieces/?sort_key=date_added&sort_order=desc for some used ones.
Looks like it's 8-24, not 25.
It's this one:
Get the Celestron zoomable eyepieceit will replace a whole line of different sized eyepieces. I'm actually annoyed that I bought it because my brand new set of eyepieces doesn't even get used anymore.