Eyepiece collection finally complete....

Yup, the 27mm Pan arived today


This finishes off my eyepiece collection for some considerable time. All these were bought second-hand via Astromart - fantastic site for buying astro-gear. I simply could not afford to buy these new.
The problem with wide-angle eyepieces is that once you try them, it's very difficult to go back to plossls etc. My best advice is NOT to try them or you'll be as pennyless as I am!

ooh Michael, I'm green with envy. I had a short loan of a 19mm panoptic a while back and I was stunned beyond words with the views through it.

I know what you mean, I've hatching all sorts of plans to get hold of a couple since I used them.

Ahh one of these days.

Anyway wishing you many happy hours enjoying them.

Michael,
A 27mm Pan I read thats a very nice eyepiece, great field of views.
I dont suppose you'll be bringing it along to the whirlpool in October :lol:

That could be arranged alright!

Well done on that M.

So, do I take it that these are all you will use, esentially?
And will you be using a Barlow etc. with them?
Would this be a good spacing of focal lengths, given the use of maybe a 2.5 with them, if you're doing that?

Well, I suppose it's a combination of personal taste and what suits your scope. To me, three good quality eyepieces are all the eyepieces I would need. I prefer to just look at something rather than constantly fumbling in the dark trying to find some other eyepiece to use. I picked these three eyepieces on the following basis:

High Magnification:
With the turbulent atmosphere we usually have hanging over us, the seeing conditions usually limit us to a magnification of approx 200x. For my scope, the 9mm Nagler provides a magnification close to this.

Workhorse Eyepiece:
Advice several people far more knowledgeable than I often recommend is to get a good quality eyepiece that will offer a magnification of approx 100x. This provides a good level of magnification and when combined with a wide-angle eyepiece can yield some fantastic views of deep sky objects. For me, the 17mm Nagler offered something close to this. What it also offered was good eye relief as I wear glasses and find it a nuisance to be taking them on and off while observing.

Wide Field of View @ Low Power:
For this the 27mm Panoptic is reputed to be very good at.

All three eyepieces offer nice steps in magnification from low to as high as is practical on most nights and fabulous wide field of view - no more tunnel vision! As for the barlow, I have a 1.25" one. For my 1.25" eyepieces, I never found myself using it except for taking images with the webcam. These new eyepieces are 2" and thus would require a 2" barlow. However, I've no plans to get one. To me, 3 steps in magnification is perfect. Any more is only more hassel than anything else.