planetary eyepieces

Hi all,
For those who might have one, what do people think of TMB eyepeices for planetary viewing? or what would you consdier to be the best planetary eyepiece ??
I came across an orthoscope a few months back and the planetary views through it were notiably good, anyone else seen similar examples?

(is there a difference between eyepieces? I taught it was just quality of the lens... are there specific eyepieces for different objects assuming the quality of the make is the same?)

Well,
Some say that for planetary viewing that you're better off with less lenses in the eyepieces and that some designs perform better then others on the planets. On the other end of the scale, there are some widefield eyepeices that just will not work properly in a fast scope, but thats not what I'm talking about here.
I remember using the clubs 18mm orthscopic eyepiece on Saturn and comparing it to a standard plossl and the ortho gave a visibly sharper image, no question about it!
Some say that the high magnificatio (5-9mm) type 6 naglers could have problems given the 7 lens design, more lenses can reduce contrast, I've even heard someone say that these lenses have chromatic abberation around planets edges while others say they're very good.
I have used them regularily and found them to be excellent with no such defects, BUT I'm not one for letting it go at that,I'd love to give the eyepeice a run for its money against to likes of a TMB of similar power, always searching for that niche eyepiece.
I do find the 9mm and 7mm give good sharp star points but do find the 5mm gives slightly fuzzy star points, I'm wondering is it the seeing given that this is a magnification of 500x, only a shoot out with another 5mm eyepeice will tell.

Dave

I have a few of the original TMB supermono planetary eyepieces and they would always be my eyepiece of choice on planets. They are really sharp and, I think, noticeably better than my naglers but they are not much good on anything else except maybe globs, they only have 30 degree AFOV

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the reply, thats interesting about the TMB, so you definitely think they give a visibly better planetary image. what size one do you use ?

Dave

Yes I think the image is definitely sharper, some observers in the states think the view is too sterile and cold through the supermonos but I do not mind it.

I have the 10, the 8 and the 4mms, though the 4 gets very little use it is quite hard to use.

I will have them at the Burren and you can give them a blast in the Obsessionator if you want.