Eyepieces for ZenithStar II 80ED APO

[Jack]

Good day

I have recently bought a William Optics ZenithStar II 80ED. It has a
focal length of 545 mm @ F / 6.8 and a 2" diagonal.

I would like to know which eyepiece brand and type would you suggest
for high-power planetary viewing. I expect 120x will be my maximum
magnification.

What should I consider when choosing between a 33mm and a 40mm super-
wide angle eyepiece for low-power viewing? I am not interested in
zoom eyepieces.

Televue products are unfortunately not sold in my country!

Some of the brands available are Orion, Celestron, Meade, William
Optics, Baader and Pentax.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[Mark D]

Tough to beat decent Orthos, for their price, and for their performance.

I wonder if you can purchase University Optics Orthos? If you can find
the site, I'd bet they would ship anywhere. Problem is, all those
taxes-custom fees you folks probably get stuck with. (Have a US friend
ship them as a gift?)

Tom Baader usually sells, and markets nothing but the best, even less
expensive products would most likely be good through him, and he would
stand behind what he sells.

Again for wide field views, and a cheap eyepiece, I recommend University
Optics, with their 40mm Mk-70 Eyepiece. Mark

[john@optcorp.com]

On Aug 2, 1:08 am, Jack <newsgroupread...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jack, You named some great eyepiece manufactures and of that group
Pentax will stand out alone, as their design of eyepieces with sharp
to edge star points in a dark rich black field are hard to top. The
one manufacture, you can't get that can really give Pentax a run for
their money is of course Televue. Both manufactures cater to the
senior crowd with adjustable eyecups for more comfortable viewing,
even if you're 15 or over 50. Pentax eyepieces are well worth
considering because even at the steeper price tag, when you apply
power this is when you need good glass. IMHO

OPTwebman

[Jack]

So this is what I have done:

I have ordered the William Optics SWAN 33mm

wide angle eyepiece. Not the best but good

value for money.

Here is a review by David Knisely
www.cloudynights.com/documents/swan.pdf

I have also ordered the red-dot-finder

bracket and hopefully I can make my Baader

red-dot-finder fit it.

After reading a lot on CloudyNights, I have

decided on the Baader Genuine Orthos in 5mm.

I already own Meade series 4000 Plossls in

6.4mm, 9.7mm and 25mm. If the Baader

eyepiece performs well, I will get some

other focal lengths in the future.


I would have loved to get Televue eyepieces

but we do not have a local dealer in my

country. Generally, all astronomical

equipment is super expensive once they

arrive here.

For instance, the $40 r.d.f bracket on the

WO website costs me $67 from my local

dealer.

The 33mm advertised at $118 will end up

costing me $156 and the 5mm Baader at 98

euro will cost me $142!


But money is no object if your hobby is your

passion.