Celestron X-Cel/Orion Epic ED2 eyepieces

Hi all. This is my very first review so here goes!!!
I have 4 Celestron X-cels , 8mm, 12.5mm, 18mm, 21mm & 2 orion Epic ED2 pieces, 9.5mm 7.5mm

First of all (and youll have to excuse me but im not sure if the next point is widely known!) there exactly the same type of eyepiece, and there not alone. I recently bought an 8mm generic brand eyepiece of similar construction off ebay only to discover its IDENTICAL to its celestron counterpart. I will include pictures if i can in my next post, but everything from the packaging right down to the basic construction is identical.

Secondly (and this is the important bit) there seriously good eyepieces! Aside from having amazing eye relief (!!!!20MM!!!!) these pieces are quality at an affordable price. The view of the planets is awesome. Using my 4" refractor i get a fantastic view of Saturn and mars. The moon is un-viewable without a filter(to bright) but once i add one its oh so different to anything else ive used!

The view of Deep space objects is different. On this one il stick with my series 4k meades. objects appear faint and hazy. Even the brightest such as orion or the andromeda galaxy look slightly duller. This is obviously to do with the amount of glass in these pieces.

So in a nut shell there one hell of a piece for planetary viewing! Amazing. The eye relief on the 7.5 puts my 6.4 series 4000 to shame. But for Deep space il stick with the super plossls!
These pieces are 60euro in store, sometimes available on the net for a bit less! The orion epics are slightly more expensive but are basically the same! (i didnt know that when i bought it!!! ) :lol:
And there are some generics available which are also identical.
They come in a handy bolt case and with eye caps for protection. il include pictures soon folks!

I'll vouch for the Excels, Ive a 10mm and a 25mm and they are superb. Big and heavy with a huge exit pupil. Superb at planetary and DSO's depending on the scope. On my 8" reflector they are super on DSOs, but the view is a bit dimmer on my 4" refractor and for that scope I'd stick to the plossls, which give a brighter view.

The Celestron X-Cels

The Orion Epic and an OEM version i obtained

The Lot!!