Used to spend hours stacking eyepieces for my Dobsonian, now I just use a cheap zoom eyepiece and call it done

Back when I got my first scope in 2018, I'd line up like 6 eyepieces on a folding table every time I went to a dark site. Had a whole routine with filters and a barlow, swapping every 5 minutes to get the perfect view of Saturn or whatever. Then I snagged a Celestron 8-24mm zoom for like $60 on Cloudy Nights last summer, and honestly I haven touched the others since. It is just so much less hassle when it is freezing out and my fingers are numb. Am I losing anything compared to a set of fixed focal lengths? Like does that glass even come close to a good 10mm? I keep wondering if I'm being lazy.

3 comments

3 Comments

willow4071mo ago

Man I feel this so hard lol. I used to obsess over having every mm covered with premium eyepieces and now I just grab my Baader Hyperion zoom and call it a night. The convenience factor especially on cold nights is just too good to pass up. You are definitely not losing that much compared to a good fixed 10mm, especially if the seeing conditions are average. Most people probably can't tell the difference in a blind test anyway, especially with the cheap zooms that are way better than they used to be.

paigem451mo ago

Wait... you're telling me those cheap zooms are actually decent now? I thought they were all like looking through a straw with blurry edges or something. Maybe I need to give them another shot cause lugging around a case full of eyepieces is getting old fast.

margaretm2329d ago

Girl, that freezing fingers thing is REAL. I'd rather have warm hands than perfect glass!