Nagler vs. ?? for f/11 SCT

Hi - I'm a long-time user of fast Newts. Recently sold off a 16" f/4.5 an got an older C-14. [A transportation and setup issue]. I used Naglers and MegaVistas with great results on the 16". Very wide fields with little or no coma almost out to the edge. Cheaper wide field eyepieces all had terrible performance on star images with the 16". So now with this C-14 working at f/11 [and f/7 with a reducer] what do you all think about the need to stay with Nagler eyepieces? Will the longer focal length C-14 scope perform just as well with GSO or other so-called wide field eyepieces? TIA for your thoughts. - Chuck

Cheaper wide fields will perform well. Not necessarily "just as well". But you will have more price options for focal lengths you don't have that you find you want.

Telescopes come and go, but good eypieces last a lifetime.

The Naglers will also work great on that short-tube refractor you will eventually get as a piggyback or grab-n-go scope.

Regards
John r

Hi Chuck, Outstanding eyepieces for the C-14 (I own one myself) would definitely be the 27mm, and 35mm Televue Panoptics. The 31mm Nagler, which I don't own myself, but have used through a friends Compustar C-14 gave just awesome views too, but as you know, is a quite costly eyepiece, even on the used market (Typically around $550 used) A less expensive eyepiece I once owned, and thought was a very darn good performer, but I had traded straight up for a badly needed mint 35mm Clave plossl in 1-1/4: to help fill out my Clave collection, was the 2" University Optics 40mm Konig Mk-70. This was a very nicely built eyepiece, that exhibited pin-point stars to the edge with my 5" F-12 Apomax Refractor, and I would assume should also works quite nicely with the C-14 at F-11. this is an eyepiece that can usually be gotten for around $20o, or less off A-Mart. With eyepieces such as I mention above, they would not necassarily need a FL reducer to utilize/enjoy. The less glass in the path, the better. Hope this helps, Mark D.