1.25" Zoom eyepiece

BobY · Guest

You recommended the Meade 07199-2 and either the Pentax 70509 or 70530 as good quality zoom eyepieces for use with the Bushnell NorthStar 90mm Mak telescope.

The Pentax's are out of my price range. The Meade is steep, but possible. I did notice you also offer the LOMO A9771, Celestron 93230 and Zhumell 721Z-O and 824Z-O, all of them substantially less expensive than the Meade.

Is the Meade that much better than these others to be worth over twice as much as the next cheapest? It might be better on an absolute basis, but is the improvement that significant when used with this telescope?

I don't want to dramatically impair the image quality of the scope, but I want to make a prudent choice.

Has anyone tried these eyepieces with the Bushnell for comparison? If the result is that much better using the Meade, peace, but if cheaper eyepieces look as good, or nearly as good, I'd rather not spend that much given the cost of the telescope.

Thanks

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 12:46 pm Post subject:

Hi Boby

If you want decent image quality, I would stay with a quality zoom. Zoom eyepieces are inferior to fixed-power eyepieces from the start and going to an inexpensive zoom will cost you dearly in terms of optics. Yes, I think you will notice a difference.

My first choice will always be a fixed power eyepiece, regardless.
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