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Eyepiece around 20-25x for Celestron Regal ? (1 Viewer)

kristoffer

kristoffer

Used Register
Hello, perhaps the question has been asked before but I can not find any good answers so I ask again.

Can someone recommend a good fixed EP for the Celestron Regal scope? Since it accepts astro EPs the market is huge and I really need some help here. From 18-25x would be nice, I´d like it for sea watching where a good FOV is nice to have, for other usage I prefer a zoom.
 
..but I not understand if they to make focus with the Regal 65.
You had proved this spotting with the zoom eyepiece? How much is the wide angle ? I think it is 2.3º for 16X and 1.2º for 48X...?
 
Kristoffer,

Consider the Baader Hyperions. I have the 80mm Regal and will definitely get a fixed EP someday. Luckily the supplied zoom is REALLY good.

From what I've gathered (I could be wrong) you won't have vignetting caused by the prisms with the Hyperions.

Anybody have direct experience with Regals and Hyperions??

Mark
 
I have a pair of BST Explorer eyepieces - 15mm (26X) and 12mm (32X). Both are extremely sharp and bright. If I had to choose one it would be difficult but probably the 15mm for it's better fov and slightly brighter view. I think this ep would give you everything you need. Other mags are available at a bargain price of £36. Check out ebay as the UK distributer sells on there and i can't remember the company name.

Andy

Andy
 
Same criteria? I have tried several 21-25 mm eyepieces in both the Theron mag82 and the zen ed2. Not all would work with the regals because of the prism edge.
 
I do remember a fairly thorough discussion on the style of eyepiece that would work with the Regal, in terms of the field edge intruding into the light path. I believe Henry suggested something with a 60 degree field or less should work but there was also comments surrounding the specific focal length of the eyepieces and where the optical elements were located within the eyepiece. I can say that the Celestron X-cel LX 25 mm did show about a 5% blockage of the lightpath because of the prism intruding. It is advertised as having a 60 degree field of view. Its predecessor, the regular X-cel and its clones (Agena Astro ED) advertised a 55 degree field of view and did not suffer from any prism intrusion into the light path...at least with the 25 mm units.

If I was looking for an eyepiece in the focal range you are considering then I would probably start there. The Agena Astro units have ED glass and do reach focus at infinity with the Regal spotting scopes. Price was around $60 IIRC.

If you are looking for a wider field of view than 55 degrees then I am not sure I can help. I did not really experiment with lower focal length eyepieces in any of the scopes simply because the provided zooms offered wide enough apparent fields of view at the higher mag settings. I was just looking for a wider field of view in the lower magnification range.

I no longer have the Regal 80 in my possession so I cannot experiment more at this point.

...and on a related note....if you decide to try one of the SWA style eyepieces (usually around 68-72 degrees) then I would suggest ordering the Knight Owl SWAs. They are identical to the Orion Expanses but cost only about $30-$35 a piece...and you get a discount if you order 3 of the 4 focal length choices.

Hope this helps.
 
I now have the Baader Hyperion 17mm for my Regal 80mm scope. That yields 28x. It is a great combo, reaches infinity, no vignetting. The Baader is 68* I guess, so it gives a really wide view. It doesn't appear to be any sharper than the Celestron zoom, but the view is big and relaxed. I love it.

It's physically bigger than the Celestron zoom as well, at least in diameter. Quite a big piece of glass.

TheBirdGarden, over on a digiscoping thread, has taken some really impressive pictures with this combo. Check them out. I think the thread is called "Celestron F-ED pics" or something.

Hope this helps,
Mark

PS: I don't know how I mucked up the font size.:-O
 
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The maximum real field available in the Regal 80mm before the prism edge comes into view would probably be around 2.5-2.7 degrees given the 10% cut-off Frank experenced with the 65mm and a Pentax 20mm XW that produced a real field of about 3.5 degrees. Real field is what matters here, not apparent field. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to compute the real field from eyepiece apparent field specs. Even if the spec is correct it doesn't indicate how much of the apparent field width comes from distortion.

BTW this impinging prism doesn't act the same way as the impinging prism in the Zen ED2 scope. This one is located at the very back of the scope near the eyepiece field stop so it restricts the field width at low magnification, but it has no effect on the quality of the image within the field. The impinging prism in the Zen scope is well ahead of the eyepiece, so it slightly degrades the image everywhere in the field, but doesn't restrict the field width at low magnification.
 
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Regal and Hyperions

I agree w/ the 17mm Hype on the Regal, I have been using that EP for a year or so now and it is a cracking combo, at least on the 65 version. The 13mm is also quite good. I tried a 21mm, but as mentioned there was a very slight shadow intrusion of the prism at the very bottom of the field, maybe 2% or so, not bad but overall the view was not as sweet as the 17, which is ideal for this scope. I also have the Hype zoom, but AFAIR it will not reach infinity focus in the Regal.

I am going to try an 1 1/4" barreled Explore Scientific 14mm 82-degree w/ this scope in the next few days (hopefully- if I can stand the heat outside long enough) just to see what kind of view I turn up. It is a very good astro EP, but havent tried it during the daytime yet to see if I can get a full field circle.
 
UTCbirder said:
I agree w/ the 17mm Hype on the Regal, I have been using that EP for a year or so now and it is a cracking combo, at least on the 65 version. The 13mm is also quite good. I tried a 21mm, but as mentioned there was a very slight shadow intrusion of the prism at the very bottom of the field, maybe 2% or so, not bad but overall the view was not as sweet as the 17, which is ideal for this scope. I also have the Hype zoom, but AFAIR it will not reach infinity focus in the Regal.

I am going to try an 1 1/4" barreled Explore Scientific 14mm 82-degree w/ this scope in the next few days (hopefully- if I can stand the heat outside long enough) just to see what kind of view I turn up. It is a very good astro EP, but havent tried it during the daytime yet to see if I can get a full field circle.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, UTC.

Kristoffer, if I did the math right, the 17mm will give you 23x in the 65mm Regal. Sounds like a good choice for your needs: lower power, wide field, but no vignetting.

The Hyperions are really nice for those with glasses too. The eye relief is a very relaxed 20mm. And when it comes to scopes, extra ER is nice for everyone I think.

Mark
 
Thanks guys, lots of interesting info!
Kammerdiner said:
Thanks for the info, UTC.

Kristoffer, if I did the math right, the 17mm will give you 23x in the 65mm Regal. Sounds like a good choice for your needs: lower power, wide field, but no vignetting.

The Hyperions are really nice for those with glasses too. The eye relief is a very relaxed 20mm. And when it comes to scopes, extra ER is nice for everyone I think.

Mark
Click to expand...

Sounds like a winner, just the specs I'm looking for!
 
Personally i found the baader htperion annoying to use for seawayching. The 20mm ER works against you when you are panning around alot, as you keep getting blackouts. I found it uncomfortable having to correct where my eye was all the time.

However that could be purely personal preference. I now only go for eps with 20mm ER if they offer a twist up eyecup. Baader have one on their zoom, no idea why not on the fixed mag eps(
 
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