TheSkySearchers

I am thinking about getting an Agena 1.25 8mm-24mm zoom EP for my ES AR102 to use with family and friends and me too!! I would like any opinions on this. Thanks very much.

Dear Mods. Please excuse my fat fingers for making two posts.

Easy to fix
The zoom should do a good job though the AFOV will be backwards, narrow at low power and wide at high power. Contrast can suffer a small amount due to the mechanicals when compared to fixed focal lengths but for a general purpose eyepiece they will work fine.

People love zoom EPs at outreach. Ability to easily view the targets at different powers enriches the experience.

The drawbacks of budget zooms as Gabby indicated are narrow FOV at low power, lack of brightness, contrast and sharpens. In my side by side comparisons budget and even mid-range zooms were noticeably darker compared even to modest fixed FL EPs.

What I would recommend is to get Baader Mark IV or III zoom. I know it is pricey but it delivers the image quality on pair with your fine ES EPs.

Your eyepieces are better than the zooms mentioned. I think you'll notice this.

Generally, a zoom has about the same quality of a fixed focal length eyepiece that costs a third as much.

Ruud wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:00 am Your eyepieces are better than the zooms mentioned. I think you'll notice this.

Generally, a zoom has about the same quality of a fixed focal length eyepiece that costs a third as much.

This is a good rule of thumb.

Thanks very much for the info. I am going to have to rethink. $290 for the Baader is a bit more than I was thinking of ,but I understand what you are saying.

Hi Michael, I agree with all the posts mentioned; I had a Celestron 8-24mm zoom for two months. Less contrast, detail, but at the same time handy for showing the family. Still, I sold it used for what I bought it for used, and used (again that word) the proceeds to get another KK 18mm ortho. Now my daughter/wife and I have two 80mm f/11.4 achro scopes with the same quality lens in both. Not for everyone maybe, but it was a good decision on my part for our circumstance.
I have heard good reports on the Baader zoom, though...

Be interested to see what you do and all the best,

Thanks Mark. Maybe I will steal a little from the stimulus money and get the Badder. Still will have to wait until I get back to CA because of the shipping cost to Mexico. If anyone is reading this and has the Baader I would appreciate any info. Thank you

Michael131313 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:42 am Thanks Mark. Maybe I will steal a little from the stimulus money and get the Badder. Still will have to wait until I get back to CA because of the shipping cost to Mexico. If anyone is reading this and has the Baader I would appreciate any info. Thank you

Well, I do have Baader Mark IV and it is a nice zoom. I only recommend (or don't recommend ) equipment I had hands-on experience with.

Thefatkitty wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:24 am Hi Michael, I agree with all the posts mentioned; I had a Celestron 8-24mm zoom for two months. Less contrast, detail, but at the same time handy for showing the family. Still, I sold it used for what I bought it for used, and used (again that word) the proceeds to get another KK 18mm ortho. Now my daughter/wife and I have two 80mm f/11.4 achro scopes with the same quality lens in both. Not for everyone maybe, but it was a good decision on my part for our circumstance.
I have heard good reports on the Baader zoom, though...

Be interested to see what you do and all the best,

I would take a good quality Ortho over not so good zoom any time.

The Agena 1.25 8mm-24mm zoom is a very versatile and fun to use eyepiece. I use my Zumell 8-24mm eyepiece mainly for solar observations (filtered, of course) to quickly zoom into the best magnification to match the local seeing conditions. The Zumell Zoom is the same eyepiece (China: MZT8-24) as the Celestron, Meade and Agena models.

The Agena eyepiece also has the built in male t-thread under the rubber eye-guard that makes it easy to attach a camera with a T-ring adapter for eyepiece projection photography.

The Agena Zoom is a great buy at $60 USD.

DSLR attached to Zoom eyepiece: Zoom eyepiece attached to DSLR camera on a Meade ETX-125 Maksutov scope: Partial Solar eclipse at sunset with Zoom set at 10mm with a 70mm f/5.6 refractor (pine tree at bottom):

Thanks very much Sky. Great capture but now you're making me rethink this whole thing .

Michael131313 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 2:59 am Thanks very much Sky. Great capture but now you're making me rethink this whole thing .

You are not alone there Michael. There are as many opinions as people and sometimes the only way to figure it out is to try yourself.

Like you I was curious about the zoom EPs, but was not ready to drop big $$ on a premium zoom yet. So, I got used Vixen zoom of CN, gave it a shot and realized that half of the folks are right (darker than fixed FL EP, narrow FOV, etc.). I sold it at minimal loss and put the money towards Mark IV, which is a keeper. Still, there was other half of people perfectly happy with Vixen zoom. It could be great on Moon, Sun or for casual viewing.

You have to find what works for you.

Once again Bigzmey thanks very much. I still have some time to make a decision but you know how it is your little finger wants to push the button. Luckily the cost of shipping to Mexico puts a constraint on that finger.