Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

Discuss telescope eyepieces.
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StarBru United States of America
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Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#1

Post by StarBru »


I would be using it for planetary, the moon, and binary separation in my scopes from f/4 through f/10.

At this moment I am contemplating either an Orion 5.2mm MIJ Lanthenum or the Orion 5mm Planetary eyepiece, both used and at around the same price. I have a 10mm Radian that I can use with a 2x Meade #140 triplet Barlow. Should I just stick with that? I am thinking it would be easier to just insert a 5mm eyepiece into the focuser. Which eyepiece would give a sharper view with the most contrast? Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bruce

Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
Reflectors/Catadioptrics: Meade 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newtonian, Galileo 120mm f/8.3 Newtonian, Meade 2045D 4" f/10 SCT, Meade ETX-90EC f/13.8 & Sarblue 60mm f/12.5 Maksutov-Cassegrains.
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro & Meade LXD55 Equatorial mounts, ES Twilight II and Meade 2102 ALT/AZ mounts, a modified 10" SkyQuest Dobsonian mount, various 60mm EQ mounts.
Misc: Celestron 20x80mm binoculars, Revolution II Imager/accessories, & lots of optical accessories/eyepieces.
Projects: 8" f/2.9 and 65mm f/10 reflectors, Dobson-style binocular mirror mount.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Hi Bruce
I had experience with both and believe using 4mm Radian or 10mm Barlowed Radian are better options.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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StarBru United States of America
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#3

Post by StarBru »


Thanks, Bigzmey! I see it clearly now, what was I thinking?! I already have what I need.
Bruce

Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
Reflectors/Catadioptrics: Meade 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newtonian, Galileo 120mm f/8.3 Newtonian, Meade 2045D 4" f/10 SCT, Meade ETX-90EC f/13.8 & Sarblue 60mm f/12.5 Maksutov-Cassegrains.
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro & Meade LXD55 Equatorial mounts, ES Twilight II and Meade 2102 ALT/AZ mounts, a modified 10" SkyQuest Dobsonian mount, various 60mm EQ mounts.
Misc: Celestron 20x80mm binoculars, Revolution II Imager/accessories, & lots of optical accessories/eyepieces.
Projects: 8" f/2.9 and 65mm f/10 reflectors, Dobson-style binocular mirror mount.
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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#4

Post by John Baars »


Bigzmey wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 7:38 pm Hi Bruce
I had experience with both and believe using 4mm Radian or 10mm Barlowed Radian are better options.
Exactly my idea!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Ylem United States of America
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#5

Post by Ylem »


I haven't had much luck with EPs under 10 mm or maybe 7.5 mm

So yes, maybe a Barlow?
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
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Coronado PST
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Mandrew
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#6

Post by Mandrew »


I never use an EP under 12mm. I always use a Barlow or Powermate for high power. Better eye relief.
Devout bino lover and Lunaholic! Scopes - Celestron RASA 8, Orion 180mm Mak-Cass, 6"f8 dob, ST80. binos - Orion 7x50, Oberwerk 8x56 LW, Oberwerk 10x50 Deluxe, 15x70 Deluxe, Oberwerk 100mm ED Binocular telescope.
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Re: Which 5mm eyepiece should I buy?

#7

Post by MistrBadgr »


I think any eyepiece that you would buy, in the focal length range you are talking about, with anything but a small amount of eye relief, will be a longer focal length eyepiece with its own Barlow or some equivalent built into it. The only difference between what you are using and that new eyepiece will be that the new one will have a Barlow custom designed for that particular set of lenses. Most likely, the difference in the quality of the image, or the amount of information you can get out of the view, will be marginal and possibly not detectible.
Bill Steen
Many small scopes, plus a Lightbridge 12, LX 70-8R,6R,6M
Many eyepieces, just not really expensive ones.
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