Celestron regal 80 f-ed, eyepieces, Canon T1i, etc. (1 Viewer)

Aspects of this post probably belong in a variety of forums...sorry if this wasn't the best place to put it!

I am a relatively new, casual birder who's about to purchase his first spotting scope. My biggest problem right now is that I don't know a flipping thing about spotting scopes. One thing that's really irking me is my inability to wrap my head around the zoom function of scopes...if a zoom eyepiece is used with a zoom scope, how exactly does that work? Do you zoom with the eyepiece, the scope, or both?? Surely this very dumb question gives you an inkling of how lost I am here.

I do have some experience with optics in general, so commentary on various optical qualities makes sense to me. That said, and after copious reading on this forum and elsewhere, I am considering a Celestron Regal 80 f-ed. My budget is right around $500 for the basic scope/eyepiece and this seems like a standout in that price range.

A few questions, though...

I've read that the eyepiece that comes with this scope is decent, but not great. I also read, in another thread on this forum, that the Celestron X-Cel LX 25 mm eyepiece was a superior fit for the scope, but as far as I can tell it's not a zoom eyepiece. What are the pros and cons of zoom eyepieces vs. "prime" eyepieces (as we'd say in the camera world)? I'm willing to add another $70-100 for an additional eyepiece if it was worth the trouble.

Finally, although I am nowhere near ready to plunge into digiscoping, I own a Canon T1i and I'm wondering how difficult it would be to attach it to the scope in question for the purposes of picture taking.

Any and all information is welcome, even if it's just linking to an existing thread or another website. Suggestions for other scopes/eyepieces in my price range are welcome as well.

Thanks again for tolerating this embarrassingly green post. :t:

nfbirder,

I can help with some of this.

The zoom eyepiece does the "zooming" not the scope body itself. There is an element inside the zoom lens that moves thus changing the magnification of the eyepiece. A "zoom scope" is simply a scope that has a zoom eyepiece attached.

The zoom eyepiece provided with the Celestron Regal F-ED is a good factory supplied zoom. The key words in this case are "factory supplied". Many factory supplied zooms aren't all that great for a variety of reasons. For one they have narrow fields of view. The Celestron is slightly above average in this regard. It isn't a true "wide angle" zoom in the sense of some of the offerings out there right now but it is wider than what most factory supplied zooms are. Optical performance for the Celestron zoom is also very good in my opinion. I was certainly pleased with its level of apparent sharpness, apparent brightness and CA control. In general I think it compliments the scope body quite well.

You were probably referring to me when you mentioned the Celestron X-cel LX 25 mm. I have posted quite often and quite fondly about it. I certainly feel that it is an excellent choice for my preferences considering its price and optical performance. The only issue that doesn't make it "perfect" for my preferences is the fact that it only offers an advertised 60 degree apparent field of view. I would prefer 70 degrees but 60 is certainly more than adequate. In the astro world 60 degrees is generally considered "wide angle" but not extra wide angle or super wide angle. Those terms are often left to eyepieces that provide 70, 80 or 100 degrees of apparent field of view.

The Celestron X-cel LX is not a zoom eyepieced but rather a fixed power eyepiece. Celestron does not make a zoom in the X-cel LX line of eyepieces. You can buy different X-cel LX eyepieces in various focal lengths which will in turn produce different magnifications. I believe the Celestron 80 F-ED has a focal length of 480 mm. Using the 25 mm X-cel LX eyepiece with it produces a magnification of approximately 19x. This is a good magnification for scanning large areas or for backyard feeder watching. It would also be good for digiscoping considering the larger exit pupil and better apparent depth of field (compared to a higher magnification/shorter focal length eyepiece).

You can, theoretically, use any focal length eyepiece to digiscope but the higher you go up in magnification the trickier camera placement (assuming a universal digiscoping adapter is utilized) can be. In addition, image quality for digiscoping tends to suffer with higher magnifications because less light is reaching the camera's sensors. In my experience it is often easier to just use the camera's zoom instead of increasing magnification on the scope itself.

There are other acceptable eyepieces under $100 out there in my opinion but I don't believe any of them better the performance provided by the Celestron X-cel LX series. You would have to jump up to the $125+ range (something like a Baader Hyperion or Orion Stratus) to noticeably improved image quality over the X-cel LX and then the image improvement is incremental not drastic.

Though I did not mention it specifically you may have gathered from my comments above what the benefits to a fixed power eyepiece are over a zoom and vice versa. Zooms are convenient. They allow you to change magnifications via a simple turn of the zoom knob. To do the same thing with a fixed power eyepiece you would need to a) carry several with you in different focal lengths and b) take the time to interchange them in the scope body.

The benefit to the fixed power eyepiece is two-fold in my opinion. For one, you typically get a wider field of view especially at lower magnifications (longer focal lengths). Your typical zoom provides about 40 degrees of apparent field of view. The X-cel LX 25 mm (for comparison) provides an advertised 60 degrees at approximately the same magnification. At higher magnifications I am not sure if the field of view difference would be mentionable. In the case of most zooms they reach 60 degrees at the high end of their magnification range (45x or 60x depending on the zoom) so that would be the equivalent of using an X-cel LX of the same magnification.

The other difference, which may benefit you more at higher magnifications, is in light transmission. Typically zoom eyepieces utilize more lens elements in their design. With every element there is usually a small percentage of light lost. Most fixed power eyepieces (assuming not the complicated extra wide field with field flatteners) have less lens elements and therefore should provide higher light transmission numbers. This would provide a brighter image for both your eye and for your camera.

As for attaching your camera to the Celestron, that I cannot help you with. I only use a universal digiscoping adapter. If your camera is a DSLR then I have no experience in that area to be able to help. I would suggest checking out the digiscoping forum. I believe there is an extensive, multipage thread in the main forum specifically devoted to digiscoping with the Celestron Regal F-ED 80 mm. It may prove helpful.

Thanks for the enlightening reply, FrankD. I'm having a hard time finding a substantial thread on digiscoping with the Celestron Regal 80mm, though.

I think I'm pretty much sold on this scope. One last question...historically, I have been a very poor judge of how much tripod I need for various applications...might you be able to suggest a relatively inexpensive tripod/head combination that would do this scope justice?