"ENOUGH" EYEPIECES?

I apologize in advance if I'm beating a horse that's long dead, but I'm curious--How many eyepieces is "enough"? That is to say, how many does the "average" astronomer own/use to cover the neccasary magnifications/fields of views? A simple numerical answer would be interesting, but any other information (such as preferred eyepieces, aperture of scope, f/ratio of scope) would be just as interesting. Just for the record, I'm using a 14" f/4.7, and a 8" f/6. The eyepieces I'm currently using include:
40 mm MK-70
25mm TV plossl
22mm Panoptic
14mm XL
10.5 XL
9mm UO HD ortho
8mm TV plossl
7mm XW
7mm Pentax ortho 6mm UO HD ortho 5mm UO HD ortho
4mm UO ortho
for a total of 12 eyepieces. Anyone who has time to respond, I'd love to hear what does it for you. Thanks,
Larry Seguin
Taos, New Mexico

Larry,

I have 3 basic eyepieces for 16" f/4.9 dob. I don't feel this is quite enough, but budget busted for now with telescope and premium low power eyepieces purchased earlier this year. Am looking for future wide field eyepieces in the 12mm range and 8mm range. Can't wait for Christmas!

35 Panoptic
17 Nagler T4
Paracorr
12.5 mm UO ortho

Mike Ratcliff

How many times do we have to do this? It really has been done to death. It must be the third incarnation of this question. It's such an esoteric query in the first place that it can't possibly be answered definitively.

Don Wyman

I see a gap between 14mm and 22mm, but lots of duplication below 8mm. Don't you have a favorite (short one) and find that you use one and seldom reach for the others?

Also, I hope that 40mm is for the f/6 and rarely. A bit much exit pupil for that f/4.7.

IOW, you have too many to use enough, and should send some of those "spares" to me by Xmas! I'll gladly reply with address to your private message...

Hi Larry.

I'm mostly a Moon/planet/double star observer and I tend to use longer focus scopes of different designs in the f/8 to f/20 range. With any scope I use, I aim for exit pupils of about 2mm, 1.2, .83, and maybe .5 or so (the last maybe with a barlow). Then I try to have a longer focus eyepiece for object finding and wider fields (right now that's a 40mm VernonScope Erfle with a 45mm field stop diameter). So I guess "enough" for me would be those 5 eyepieces. (Not that it isn't fun to try others!!)

Cheers,
John

Enough Eyepieces - LOL

Enough Astronomy Equipment - ROTFL (my side hurts)!!

Ed

Larry,

Lets face it....most of us are addicted to round glass. Refractors, Reflectors and Catadioptrics.

There are available to us as long focus as well as short focus refractors, long focus as well as short focus reflectors...the same story with the cat's.....And each type of scope "can" be used (within it's limitations) for wide field viewing, various types of clusters and nebula's, planetary viewing, double star viewing, solar viewing, lunar viewing....not to mention terrestrial viewing.

It is absolutely impossibly to have "enough eyepieces"

As a matter of fact....they do not make enough eyepieces!

Do I hear a "YES" to to this post?

Roger in Tampa, Fl.

You only have 12??? I have at least 50 eyepieces if I count the one I got out of the scrap heap at B&L back in 1968.

Roland Christen

This is from memory, I may have missed something. I have a binoviewer (Denk Standard) so I may have more eps than average (but I'd bet not).
40mm UO 2" KonigII MK70 (a fave) 8)
32mm Celestron Ploesel (x2)
26mm Meade 4000 (japan) (x2)
25mm Celesron/Vixen Ploesel silver top
25mm Homemade Erfle :S
19mm GRO 2" Super Wide :S
9.7mm Meade 4000 :S (not enough relief)
8mm Celestron X-Cel (x2)
7mm Celestron/Vixen Ortho :S (not enough relief)
5mm GTO LER Superwide :S
2.3mm Celestron X-Cel :S

12mm Radian is next on my list to buy. Do I really need two for my binoviewer? Less expensive EPs seem to be OK with a binoviewer, I notice less difference in the binoviewer than when used as a monocular. Is it just me?

PS I have two SCTs and a Refractor, thus more EPs and I am in the process of deciding on power and field, then upgrading on quality. Eye relief is a huge issue, I wear eyeglasses.