M. Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Just looking through eBay, stumbled across a few cheap eyepieces (non branded, generic made in HK) which look to offer up relatively good eye relief and have large sight glasses. I just wanted to know how good bad these really are, anyone used them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Errr, I doubt they would be any good. If I was you I would stick to known brands from reputable dealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 It's what I thought, they don't look too bad (aesthetically) for the money, but I bet it's like looking through frosted glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I like casino games - but I always know my limit and only ever gamble what I can reasonably afford to loose in the name of entertainment. If you employ the same principles taking a punt on an eyepiece you won't be disappointed and might even be lucky enough to come up trumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 That's not a bad point Kim! I'm a tight fisted Yorkshire man so won't waste money gambling on EP's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Lol - I'm a Yorkshire man too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astronigel Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I admit to buying a couple of these such eyepieces in the past... I'm on a very tight budget for such things, so they are very tempting. I did soon move onto better known pieces that to be honest weren't massively more expensive, particularly if you pick up used ones. Brantuk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Couldn't agree more Nigel - most of my half decent eyepieces are second hand - very cost effective way of building a good set. Astronigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I recently bought an unbranded 25mm huygenian eyepiece off ebay for £4.00, just to see what I was missing out on Daft thing is, I then had to pay £5.00 for a 0.965" to 1.25" adapter in order to use it It has a 30 degree field of view and is home to some very interesting ghosts and reflections. It is so tiny I will probably lose it. It was definitely worth the money for the fun value, though it is not one of my favourites Astronigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 You can always take the lens out and use it as a collimating cap. Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 You can always take the lens out and use it as a collimating cap. Excellent idea Kim There might even be as many as two lenses to remove in such a well corrected eyepiece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I generally find that my budget 50 dollar US imports tend to be an improvement on the Hong Kong rubbish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 25mm eyepiece and the sight glass is like a pinprick! I barely noticed it amongst them huge eyepieces! That tiny eyepiece is most likey from a really nasty scope? Isn't that size obsolete more or less? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 (edited) Small does not equate to rubbish Martin. There are so many quality eyepieces that are that small. Almost all of the Carl Zeiss Jena ortho's are 0.965" barrels and they are top notch only beaten by the ZAO series 1 and 2 and maybe the TMB monoconcentrics. The ZAO being the holy grail of eyepieces. Another really small eyepieces are Pentax SMC Ortho's, Clave, and Unitron, the list goes on. Many of these are way better then your normal eyepieces but the downside is the narrow FOV. Edited July 5, 2015 by Doc M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 That pinprick of an eyelens on the 25mm Huygenian is actually 8mm across. I have a 9mm Huygenian with a 2.5mm pinprick of an eyelens! Imagine trying to get your eye in position to see through that in the dark . I think you can only buy very old secondhand eyepieces/telescopes with the 0.965" size. There are some old 0.965" Orthoscopic and Monocentric eyepieces that are of very high quality and still much sought after. Some of the larger old brass Huygenians are collectors items, but the little ones I have are pretty poor and worthless. M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Insightful, as I must admit to judging an eyepiece based on the sight glass aperture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Lots of people do. Bigger does not mean it's better. The bigger sight glass aperture normally means it's easier to look through, has better eye placement but does not mean the glass is better, you will find many times the less glass elements the sharper the image. For example my little 9mm Ortho shows more detail and is sharper, has more contrast then my 7mm Uwan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Generally the larger eye lens helps the eyepiece to provide a larger apparent field of view with greater eye relief (distance of your eyeball from the lens) and are usually much nicer and easier to use. The good quality smaller ones are usually excellent for planets and double stars but do have a narrow FOV and usually short eye relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Sorry Mick, I seem to keep duplicating your posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I keep duplicating yours as well. The forum is big enough for both of us to keep posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 That's alright then We need more posts during this slow astro news time. Good job Martin joined Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Couldn't agree more. Keep the questions coming Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Will do, I like starting new threads I think the reason for my assumption that small sight aperture must equal poor quality is because my memories of being younger, using cheap scopes that had small plastic eyepieces, tiny sight glass and of poor build quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I know what you mean, I have used loads of those cheap plastic eyepieces. But there are quality ones as well, normally if they have names like Carl Zeiss, Pentax, Baucsh & Lamb, Vixen etc you know they are good quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 I perhaps should give them a try then, I do like the lower power plössl eyepieces as they generally have larger sight glasses and eye relief at the larger sizes but I was reluctant to drop under 20mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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