Review for Celestron Telescope Eyepiece - Filter Accessory Kit - 94303

Author: chuckhawks {!} , Owner/Managing Editor of the online Photography and Astronomy Information Guide, from Creswell, Oregon on Aug 13, 2009
Pros:  Great price and good quality
Cons:  Includes short focal length oculars of marginal usefulness
Would recommend:  yes

chuckhawks wrote:

The Celestron Telescope Eyepiece - Filter Accessory Kit - 94303 is an excellent buy for good quality Plossl oculars. It is an especially good way for the new telescope purchaser to get started with an array of oculars. The drawback to the set is the relative shortage of long focal length oculars for deep sky use (only the 32mm qualifies as such) and the preponderance of very high magnification short focal lengths. Plossl oculars shorter than about 8-10mm are difficult to look through due to their restricted apparent field, so the 4mm and 6mm oculars are basically useless for most purposes. However, the 9mm, 15mm and 32mm oculars are useful with most small telescopes (and large ones, too!). Remember that a decade ago a single Celestron Plossl cost as much as this whole set! I have never found colored filters to be of much use, but the Moon Filter (ND)is definitely required for observing our nearest partner in space and makes the whole filter set worthwhile. Everyone seems to want a Barlow lens, so Celestron threw one in. The reality is that it is almost always better to have an ocular of the appropriate focal length, rather than a longer focal length ocular and a Barlow and this kit already includes three short focal length oculars. (A 15mm ocular will give sharper images than a 30mm ocular and a 2x Barlow.) The case is a nice extra and keeps everything organized in the field. The 32mm, 15mm and 9mm oculars perform well and should get plenty of use; ditto the Moon Filter, so the set is definitely worth its modest price. In summation, this Celestron ocular set is a terrific value, even if some of the components get little use.