Review on Astromania 1 25 Plossl Telescope Eyepiece by James Rogers

I was very impressed with the eyepieces in this range. I have seen the same eyepieces sold under different brands and they are all very high quality. This is the first one I've bought from Revain so I thought I'd go ahead and share my experience. Brief summary for those who don't read: Pros: - Clear image with a wide field of view - Safety undercuts in the tube prevent accidental falling out of the focuser/star diagonal. The lens is less recessed than others, making it easier to access when it needs cleaning. Excellent value for money and quality. - No rubber grip. My obvious comparison is with my set of older Meade 4000 Super Plossl eyepieces. I placed the Astromania 32mm next to the corresponding Meade 32mm for comparison. Using both at night, it's hard to notice much of a difference between them, at least in my lay eyes. The Astromania eyepiece is nice and sharp with a good field of view and comfortable eye relief. It's a good weight and feels like it's made out of quality materials. It doesn't have the grippy rubber sides of the old Meade, but neither does the current-generation Meade 32mm eyepiece. In fact, they may be identical to current generation Meade eyepieces. I see that Astromania has an eyepiece set with a housing very similar to the Meade set. The Meade appears to have the best possible anti-reflective coating as evidenced by the "Fully Multicoated" label on the label rather than the "Fully Coated label" on the Astromania eyepiece. In the side-by-side view, you can see more light reflecting off the Astromania. The photo shows that Mid has a greenish tint, but the faint purple tinge is not visible through the Astromania eyepiece. In practice I don't notice a big difference, at least in my illuminated garden. Internal reflection can be stronger when looking at bright objects, but if it is, it doesn't bother me. I liked that the top lens was set back less than the Meade, which apparently made it easier for me to place my eyes, and it was also easier to get to the lens when dusting. Both have good eye relief so I don't have the problem of lash oil getting on the lenses like some shorter focal length models do. I bought some of these eyepieces: 32mm(3), 25mm. (3), 20mm (2), 12.5mm (6), 10mm (2), 6mm (4). They were mostly bought as relatively cheap upgrades to the crappy "standard" eyepieces that came with the entry-level scopes I bought as gifts for friends/family. To that extent it is a heavenly union. The price is similar to the Plossl 500 series eyepieces I've sold under different brands, but they have a significantly wider field of view than the 500 series eyepieces I've tried (30mm, 15mm and 10mm ). spend more time than anyone fiddling with small, inexpensive telescopes. I've found that most entry-level budget telescopes, even well-known brands (the Celestron Powerseeker line), have decent primary optics but are fitted with inferior Huygens and Ramsden eyepieces to keep the price down. Worse perhaps, they often come with focal lengths chosen only to advertise unrealistic (and useless) zoom ratios. No wonder so many people buy telescopes and never use them more than once or twice. I cannot stress enough what a difference it is to have decent quality eyepieces with reasonable focal lengths: one for 20-30x magnification, one for maximum magnification (primary lens/mirror diameter in mm x 2) and one or up to two Fill in the gap between low and high. These Astromania Plössl eyepieces offer a great way to do just that without breaking the bank, and that's what I like about them: they're an affordable way to significantly upgrade your telescopes. Even if the scope comes with better suited Kellner or Modified Achromat (MA) eyepieces (like Meade's entry-level scopes), you'll still see a noticeable difference when you switch to Plössl eyepieces. Best of all, if you get a bigger, better telescope, these eyepieces will still come in handy and make them an investment for the future. All in all I have been very satisfied with each of these eyepieces that I have purchased. As an upgrade for beginner telescopes, they are unbeatably cheap. I recommend them without hesitation.