When I started, I purchased less expensive eyepieces to learn about them and how I would use them. If you want to buy him $200 eyepieces so he can grow into them, that works. - 32mm plossl. 1:10 . Orion Q70 38 mm works well. I recently purchased the SVBony 7-21 zoom from Amazon. I have several 10mm eyepieces in my eyepiece boxalmost all of them are eyepieces that came with some telescope I boughtand I will almost always choose to use one of the Kellners over one of the Plossls, because the Kellners have a longer eye relief, which is comparable to the focal length. I had a TV 20mm Plossl once. It was grueling, because I couldnt even get the entire field of viewI had to keep my eye hovering above the exit pupil. a Celestron 8-24 Zoom with a 2x Barlow 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. Explore Scientific recently extended this offering by adding a series of 82 degree eyepieces labeled LER, or Long Eye Relief. They have a pop-up eye guard and they are threaded to accept filters. Hello sir, thanks for your article its realy helpful. Plossls and Kellners, like other simple eyepiece designs, have moderate fields of view and tend to have short eye relief as you scale them down to shorter focal lengths. The downside to this type of lens is that they can cause chromatic aberration which creates colored spots around bright objects such as planets or stars due to the different wavelengths not going through equally. Many compare these favorably to eyepieces that are much higher priced. Remember that visual and AP have very different requirements, so plan on at least two different optical tubes. Typically a Barlow does not add or subtract from this, but there again we have bad Barlows and Good Barlows. You will get varying opinions on this but I would not worry too much about this. That can only be shown through actual testing. Most telescopes come with one or two eyepieces. Not really. Good value. I have the 38 mm and recommend it often. Take the AFOV of the eyepiece (provided by the mfg) in your case 82 degrees Plossl eyepieces have wider fields of view than Kellners. Kellners are often sold with cheaper, even more entry-level telescopes than Plossls. As the clear cut worlds best eyepiece manufacturer, their name should at least be mentioned in an article like this. 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. 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. This can be debated 100 ways, but that is my advice. Now, for my one or two low power eyepieces, I also like to know the field of view provided by that eyepiece. There is one aspect in which a Kellner can actually outperform a Plossl: eye relief. 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. And that is pretty much what Super Plossl are today. I think some of these kits even include 4mm eyepieces, and thats ridiculous! Celestron 2026 Erecting Prism Barlow Lens Set is another great choice for those looking to get a variety of magnifications. An exit pupil larger than 6 mm may start to show a shadow of the secondary mirror. Plossl eyepieces have an eye relief equal to about 80% of their focal length. You might be able to find a Kellner, or perhaps a high-quality Orthoscopic. I beleive this is the same as they ones you asked about. Are Plossl eyepieces good? 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. None of my fancy EPs have enough contrast for this application. philhas Members 61 459 Location: North East England Sorry but I am not offering a configuration and pricing service. Yes, eyepieces is a large and complex topic. The longer FL Plossls (>15mm) have some distinct advantages over more complex designs without the major disadvantage of Plossls which is short ER. How important a consideration is this when deciding on an eyepiece? Where a difference can show up is that a lower number focal ratio scope will make it harder for an eyepiece to provide a uniformly good, in-focus image all the way across the field of view due to the steeper angle that the light arrives at the edges of the eyepiece with a low focal ratio scope, as compared to a high focal ratio scope. 1. Tele Vue has eyepieces that approach $1000. Non-eyeglass wearers can usually tolerate Plossls as short as about 10-12mm before their eyelashes start brushing the ocular lens. The Big Bang Optics 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. I really enjoy usingPlssls. Why two sizes? In stargazing, eyepieces are as important as telescopes are. Ideally, you want a minimum of three eyepieces for (1) low power (2) peak visual acuity and (3) high-power viewing. If you are just testing the waters or on a tight budget, get the Celestron, which is still pretty good. I currently own a Mak127 ( that can't use 2"eyepieces) and a 80ED ( that one can hold 2"eyepieces). Note that we also gained a 16 mm magnification at no additional cost. https://telescopicwatch.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-dx-102-130-reviewed/, If I was to upgrade these lenses, I was planning on working toward something like this: The Plossl eyepiece is a type of optical system that was invented by Ernst Abbe. You can add the specialty single FL eyepieces later if you wish. AP is all about the mount and accurate tracking. The way a Plossl eyepiece works is by using the convex lens and concave lenses to create an image that has both total magnification of what youre viewing, as well as erect images. Such eyepieces are able to offer great performance, i.e., satisfactory degrees of deviations, to about a 50.degree field. No results, please adjust your filters. I expect such eyepieces are available but I have never seen or used one. 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. They deliver sharp images in almost all telescopes. This will become more apparent the wider the AFOV is of the eyepiece, in my experience. For me personally, even though I don't use glasses to observe, I still don't want to dig out the view through a plossl or ortho eyepiece which tend to have short eye relief. In essence the design differences between Kellner and Plossl comes down to the number of lenses within the eyepiece barrel. So, even if you have a Maksutov-Cassegrain scope, you should get a good experience from this eyepiece. Typically, these will be 25 mm and 10 mm or something close to that. 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. Not everything in the sky benefits from high magnification. This number can range from 30 degrees to 120 degrees. The field of view of a p Plossl eyepiece is typically 60 to 120 degrees. eyepiece shows signs of use with caps and bolt case, 32 mm Plossl very good cond. A Televue Plssl may be better than a generic one, but the difference is probably not worth the additional cost. We have compared Plossl against Kellner eyepieces in a previous article. 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. 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? I also have a 25mm plossl and am happy with that. In this article, we will only focus on the differences between Plossl and Kellner eyepieces. Some reviews also suggest replacing the diagonal. But the one I am recommending here is the Tele Vue Nagler series. However, you may see them at higher prices for the short term. This means you will be able to see a greater expanse for the objects in space but with fewer magnification levels than Kellner or Plossl lenses. Worth it is a tough question to answer. None of my fancy EPs have enough contrast for this application. The views through it are very impressive, and it always amazes me when I get that one out. If we look at the range I provided above, we see that we could replace several eyepieces with one zoom. Is there much of a difference between the celestron and haader? THANK YOU x 12! Newer multi-coatings are better, I suppose, but newer does not always mean better in the ocular game. I purchased the Celestron Starsense 102mm refractor, focal length 660mm, stated highest useful magnification is 240x; it should arrive in about 2 weeks. 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. Meade telescope maksutov eyepiece ETX-105EC Super Plossl 6.4mm 1.25" w capsule. That's hard to beat IMO. 14 = 128 = .6 In this case, I am going to define this by the focuser and eyepiece size. Inexpensive Plossls that are manufactured using low-quality lenses are susceptible to internal reflections when viewing bright objects at high magnification. Soft rubber eye guard that's custom fitted . Dont worry about the math, as its simple stuff you can do with any calculator, on paper, or perhaps in your head. The "sharpness" you are seeing may well be better explained by the focal length of the ep than the quality of Plossls in general. The one exception I would keep in mind would be when working with Newtonian reflector telescopes below F5. Modified vs Unmodified DSLR Astrophotography: The Ultimate Showdown! Be aware of the focal ratio of your scope. 6.7 = 268 = .3 It also produces an erect image, meaning you see what youre viewing rather than seeing everything upside down or sideways as some types do. I started with the Celestron zoom. This would definitely matter to observers who wear eyglasses when viewing. . Does this sound like something you would recommend based on the telescope I have? My Barlow is a 2X with a removeable Barlow element that can be screwed right onto an eyepiece giving a 1.5X effect. This may be enough for many eyeglass wearers. Kellner eyepieces have 3 lenses cemented together and have a 35-50 degree field of view. These eyepieces are technically called Symmetrics, since Plossls can have different focal lengths for each doublet, but they are always marketed as Plossl. But for AP you should really start your planning with the mount. The price can run to over $1000 per eyepiece. Since it's such a popular eyepiece and allows for quality, planet-viewing, that makes it a great instrument for attracting newcomers to the hobby, especially children. 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. 32 mm = 18.75X 16 mm = 37.5X (32 mm eyepiece with a 2X barlow), 12 mm = 50X (If you have a 25 mm that came with your scope, use Barlow for 12.5 mm), 4 mm = 150X (8 mm eyepiece with a 2X Barlow), 3 mm = 200X (6 mm eyepiece with a 2X Barlow), 24 mm = 25X (the low power end of the zoom), 8 mm = 75X (24 mm zoom setting in a 3X Barlow), 2.66 mm = 225X (8 mm zoom setting in a 3X Barlow), True field of view or FOV = Apparent field of view (AFOV) eyepiece / magnification. The difference isnt that severe, and I often track more often than is strictly necessary to keep the object centered anyway. Warranty Limited Warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for one year from date of purchase. 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. Now put the zoom on a 3X barlow and you have: Using the zoom approach with a Barlow your eyepiece set would consisit of a 32 mm low power eyepiece. NEW. 70 mm scope will have a max of 140X for planning purposes. Yes, Plossl eyepieces are some of the most popular with amateurs and professionals alike. Look at the apparent field of view specs and understand what this means for the field of view. There are inexpensive adapters that will let you use standard 1.25 eyepieces in a .965 focuser/diagonal. 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. Even big telescopes are subject to limitations imposed by the atmosphere. very happy. i didnt have all this simply-put information when i bought my orion st-80 as my christmas present to myself in 2020. i started out with several pair of binoculars i bought used off ebay, then bought the scope. If you are very demanding and must have the very best, this is where you want to be. And I continue to read excellent reports on the AT Paradigm and similar under different labels. Just give yourself some time to learn the app and to understand the scope. Sometimes you want to see a wider field of view to locate an astronomical object like a nebula by using nearby stars. As said, they are cheap to compare. The magnification range that is appropriate to your scope. EP-mm = magnification = afov At least you'll have one budget eyepiece that will give you a larger part of the sky at low magnification. 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. A Kellner eyepiece has 1 double lens and 1 single lens. You could base this on 3, 4, 5, 6 or more focal lengths/magnifications. Perhaps you have read about planetary eyepieces, DSO eyepieces, and other types of specific eyepieces. And certainly, if you are getting into AP you are going to need that big budget. Many brands of eyepieces are available, including SVBony UltraWide, Astromania UltraWide Angle, Agena Astro StarGuider Enhanced UltraWide Angle and others. Many thanks. By having a range of magnifications, you can optimize the image, which means you need more eyepieces. 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. 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. There is a little bit more to it than that and there are other design . Plossl eyepieces have 4 lenses that are paired in two doublets. They have decent eye relief and little curvature of field. Plossl and Kellner eyepieces are two very common examples of a simple eyepiece design, and they are probably the most common type of eyepiece you are likely to come across when eyepieces have been bundled with a telescope; they are also a very common aftermarket accessory. Regular Plossl eyepieces with maybe just a slightly better coating or build quality. I have owned wider eyepieces, but ultimately I just prefer the Plssls (must be a mental defect). Other than the limited AFOV, which you are apparently fine with, and limited eye relief in the shorter focal lengths there is certainly no reason not to choose Plssls. So its best for use during duller times when there isnt much brightness visible. The Plossl eyepiece has 4 lenses, consisting of 2 identical double lenses. Outstanding job Jack. But you need to know, first, if you will be wearing glasses when you observe. Any 1.25 diagonal should work. 6mm Kellner eyepiece that I enjoyed a lot. 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. However the package includes a 1.25 to 2 adapter so if you have a 2 focuser you can treat this like a 2 eyepiece leaving the adapter normally included with the scope for use with other 1.25 eyepieces. Their 50 to 52 degree AFOV is wide enough for general observing. Just search on Astronomy Club and you will probably find one in your area. The TFOV of the Hyperion will be greater than the TFOV of the Plssl, but the magnification will be about the same. A very good quality eyepiece for a reasonable sum. I really like the simplicity and compactness of these simpler designs (ie: Plssls, Orthos, Kellners, etc). Astrophotography with Nikon D3200: Can It Be Better? Plossl eyepieces are perfect for astronomical viewing because the field of view is wider. The field of view of the eyepiece has a few effects when it comes to actually using it in the telescope. I often recommend the use of a barlow to achieve the higher range of magnifications. 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. When I was getting my start in the hobby, I bought an ultra-cheap ($15?) Was compairing the Apertura standard 15mm Plossl with their 15mm super wide angle eyepiece (70 afov). Despite this, I also have some Plossls which are indispensable. But for the targets requiring higher mag Im still undecided between: How do you focus - I would have expected helical focusers in the eyepiece holders but don't see any? Come join the newest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors. Eyepieces are a religion. This saves money and helps you shop in an organized manner. Plossl eyepiece is one of the reasonable options when it comes to telescope eyepieces for stargazing or astronomy. But dont fear that you will waste your investment as eyepieces are standard sizes. I did sell them all when I adopted Dioptrx, and the Naglers are amazing! Lower power almost always looks better than higher power. Do I need an adapter if my scope has a Plossl lens? My most used eyepiece is an 8-24 mm zoom. 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. I have a custom-built 32mm Plossl that has been opened up as wide as possible to 60 or 70 degrees, for use as a 2 eyepiece, although in my 10 Dobsonian at f/5 the edge distortions prevent it from seeing much use. Whether it is cars or telescope eyepieces, there are inexpensive ones, upgraded models, and very expensive ones. I foolishly destroyed it while experimenting with solar projection, because I hadnt realized the metal-and-glass construction was aided by a plastic retaining ring on the field stop, and I hadnt realized you do not need to change the eyepiece focal length when doing solar projection. However, if you want to optimize your viewing experience, youll need to invest in a better-quality eyepiece. Major telescope brands such as Celestron supplies Kellner eyepieces with their r least expensive telescopes and still may. These sizes have become the industrys standard sizes. Yes, Plossl eyepieces are some of the most popular with amateurs and professionals alike. 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. 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! After these, we have mostly proprietary designs from various eyepiece companies. 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.