Orthoscopics

Looking for some opinions on ortho EP's. Purchased my first scope a few months back (Stellarvue SV70ED) and I'm slowly putting together a set of EP's. At this time, I'm doing mostly planetary and lunar observation, due to the low power of the scope I'm using. I've got a couple orthoscopics from University Optics (9,18) because I think they represent good value for the money. I also have one of their 38mm 70 degree EP's which is a really nice low power EP. Obviously I have some gaps in my collection and I've been looking at other eyepieces.

Can anyone comment on the Baader Planitarium or Televue Plossl EP's? If you've got some of these EP's AND EP's from UO, I would be interested in knowing how they compare.

Also, any discussion on the plossl design vs. the orthoscopic design would be appreciated. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What criteria would you use in purchasing one over the other?

Of course, any recommendations you might have for other EP designs I might consider purchasing would also be welcome.

Greg

There's nothing wrong with good orthos. The do have a couple of drawbacks which may or may not affect you. The field of view is narrow compared to other designs and the eye relief is a little short in the higher powers.

On the plus side they have excellent optics and good prices, and work well in any scope.

Ive been wanting a set of the Baader orthos for a while. I have some vintage Celestron, Meade orthos and a UO 6mm. The UO is a gem of an eyepiece.

The advantage of the Televue Plossl is its parfocal with many other TV ep's, and its parfocal with the Televue barlows.
None of my orthos are parfocal.

Having said all that, I mostly observe with Nagler type 6's. Just as sharp as simple ep's, wide field, parfocal, good eye relief and convinient size/weight. I consider them near perfect...

But...

You will benefit more from increased aperture than fancy eyepieces. Ive done lots of lunar/planetary overving with 60 and 85mm refractors. Been there, done that. Ive seen more stuff this year with an 11" dob than in 3 years with small scopes.

Regards
John

University Optics is selling a super Abbe orthoscopics for about $47.95 Anyone have an opinion on them?

I have both the 9mm and the 12mm UO Orthos (volcano tops) and really like them. They're very sharp and have decent eye-relief. OTOH, my 5mm and 7mm UO Orthos were very tiring to use due to poor eye relief and were sold. They were sharp, however.

Nowadays, my 5mm e.p. is a Tak LE which is every bit as good as the 5mm Ortho, but with better FOV and good eye relief. My 7mm is a Pentax XL which is in another league altogether.

My lone TMB Planetary is a 3.2mm which I've not been overly impressed with. FOV is good and eye-relief is fine, but I've yet to see any detail in the 3.2 that I don't see as clearly in the 5mm Tak. But even that is an endorsement of sorts since the TMB cost about a third of what the Tak LE did.
Bob