To Barlow or not...

[boomboom]

For my 150 f12 Achro I eventually settled on the ES 68º range of eyepieces which I collected over a year or so, some new some pre loved.
At f12 these are sharp to nearly the edge with a bit of field curvature showing in the over 2% so nothing really. The only thing is they stop at 16mm. For higher mags I use Barlows 2x and 3x from TV, as they don't degrade the image, at least to my eyes.
One of these days I'd like to get some shorter FL eyepieces but what??? ES 82º 11,8.8 and 6.7 would fit or KK Ortho's perhaps…
I do binoview Planets with 18mm Orthos and the above Barlows. Very nice it is too though a bit of mucking around.
What I'd really like but will have to wait is a TEC Turret and 5 1.25" eyepieces.
Thoughts on ES 82's at f12 appreciated.
Here is a photo of my scope in final form.
The finder is a Polarex 40mm and the other scope is an Orion 90mm f11, which gives 2.5º with an Agena Astro 38mm 70º eyepiece.
Matt

[mikey cee]

Oooooohhhh weeee now that is definitely a thing of beauty and worship. A truly modern day "golden calf". More pictures at different angles please! That has got to be posted over on CN yesterday!! Mike

[boomboom]

THanks Mike! I have put a pic in the classics section in a thread about something else can't remember which one though.
A bit of a clique over in that section so it got pretty much ignored…A bit of over kill with the 90mm on it but I love it.
ext time I have it out I will give it a photo shoot and post a few pics in a thread in the members gallery.
Matt

[astromanuk]

Matt, Superb setup. Just what that mount deserves.

[boomboom]

Wish granted…on CN post a pic of your Frac part 7.
On the eyepiece front, leaning toward the ES 82's as I have the ortho thing covered with the bino's and barlows.

[astromanuk]

I have built up a collection of TV eyepieces over the years and have recently added the occasional Ethos and Delos to the range. Rather than going for lots of eyepieces I have settled for a few of good quality. My best planetary views have always been with binoviewing Plossl eyepieces. I am a great fan of the 82° eyepieces but when I got my 13mm Ethos that changed. That Barlow very well with the TV 2x 2" Powermate. For me high power in wide field is now covered with 13 Ethos and 3.7 Ethos plus the Barlow giving 13mm, 6.5mm and 3.7mm. Even though the Ethos have not been out long you can find them in good condition on the used market. I have probably read the same reviews as you on the ES eyepieces so won't repeat them here as I don't have direct experience of them. The consensus does seem to be that the 82° series are good value for money.

I have always found that Don at eyepiecesetc.com is very willing to give information and has real first hand experience of comparing many eyepieces. He sells both TV and ES so has no axe to grind.

[rgm]

I just use barlows now for 5/4" eyepieces. I have tried 2" ones in the past, but never really used them. I barlow now for high power planetary and double stars. The benefit I find is keeping an acceptable eye relief.

I have some ES82s and they work well. One of my favourite EPs is the 17T4. One degree FOV and pinpoint stars.

[boomboom]

Bob you have helped me make up my mind on this one...at least for now. I'll keep using barlows and the eyepieces I have. It's a good combo really with the 1.25" eyepieces.
24 20 16 add a 2x barlow gets 12 10 8 add 3x to the 20 and 16 gives 6.7 and 5.3. Don't think I really need anything else.
The TV barlows do not vignette the 68º eyepieces either.
Thanks for the replies.
Matt

[boomboom]

And then I gave in and bought ES 82º 11 8.8 and 6.7mm eyepieces ….I ran out of magnification the other night on Mars with the 3x barlow and 16mm eyepiece.
Naturally it's now cloudy as all get up….

[boomboom]

And then I weakened…... AGAIN…… Bought the ES 4.7 82º a steal at the price Agena Astro is asking US$99. I like the shorter FL ES 82's a lot.  Still have the barlows which I use with my bino's and orthos.

I'm lucky that ER is not on my agenda, so anything goes pretty much.

Matt

[Mike]

Wow! $99 for a 4.7mm 82 degree eyepiece? Depending on performance that is a steal. The original post title was: To Barlow or not? Personally, I have never barlowed. I use Powermates on my planetary imaging rig to get the image size I need. In the past, every time I used a barlow to observe it seemed to darken the field so I wondered whether or not the extra magnification was worth it. It is hard to get any appreciable magnification out of a short focal length refractor without using a barlow or very short single digit focal length eyepieces.

Mike