Celestron93422 X-Cel LX Series - 1.25'' Eyepiece, 7mm
B**N
Solid buy for a 114mm 500FL reflector
I got the 4mm eyepiece to use with a 114mm reflector with a FL of 500. At first I was skeptical, I read reviews and had many "experts" tell me it would provide too much magnification. I assume they saw 114mm and assumed the worst. This thing provides excellent magnification and produces a detailed image!Full Review:For people looking at this eyepiece there are 2 factors more important than the size of the primary mirror. The first is quality, I'm using an Orion telescope but there are other good brands out there. Is you are using a cheap barska or some other department store brand you are sadly wasting your time. The second most important thing is focal length. Based on my research the best a ground based telescope can do in magnification is about 300x simply due to the atmosphere. There are exceptions like remote locations and unusually calm atmospheric conditions but those will be rare occurrences. In my experience there will be times when atmospheric conditions won't let you see much detail at 100x, that's just the way it goes. Additionally if you want to get the best view of planets you want to wait until they are as directly above you as possible to minimize how much of the atmosphere you are looking through. So that said, to figure out a eyepieces magnification simply take your focal length and divide it by the size of the eyepiece. So (500/4 = 125x)... That is well below the scopes limit of 228x. You can figure out a reflectors limit by multiplying its size by 2 so (114 x 2 = 228). So the greater your FL the more magnification this will apply. This eyepiece will certainly give you more bang for your buck with a FL of 700 but it's still great on the lower ends and I recommend it. Knowing what I know now the only way to potentially do better is get a 5mm and a Barlow 2x, I have the latter.
F**D
More Magnification is Not Always Better
At 25mm, this eye piece is ideally suited for those wanting to view large chunks of the night sky at one time. Why is this important?If you are looking to just explore, feel like your floating in space with the stars, and see what you can find in space, that is the type of eyepiece you want.If you already know what you want to look at, say for example, Jupiter, then you want more power so you can see the storm clouds, and the moons. This may not be the eye piece you want.I use a 7 to 12mm to see details of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn. I use 15 and 25mm to get lost in the night sky.What's the benefit of just getting lost in night sky with a 25mm eyepiece? The sudden surprise you get when you catch a satellite streaking across your view. The lump in your throat you will get when you are looking at the sky and you accidentally 'run into' the Andromeda galaxy for the first time.So 7mm to 12mm when you know your destination and exactly what you want.12mm to 25mm+ when you want to just enjoy the journey of exploring.
G**N
Baby's first plossl
I know that this isn't the best plossl eyepiece on the planet (i bought the 12mm) but it is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than the stock eyepieces that came with my scope (Celestron Astromaster 130eq). I plan to slowly upgrade all of my eyepieces but dang, I love this one! The Omni line feels nice, like the build quality is good (i also have the 2x barlow). Overall, i'm quite pleased with my purchase.I took the attached photo by using a phone mount to the eyepiece (i have an iPhone XS), taking a short video and then using software to stack the images and remove noise. :)
H**I
Decent for its price, lesson learnt - get the 32mm instead of the 40mm.
I wanted the widest eyepiece I could afford that I could use with my Celestron Omni XLT 120 refractor. I purchased the 40mm version first before buying this thinking I will get the widest view because of the longer focal length. The 32mm eyepiece has an apparent field of view of 50 degrees whereas the 40mm has a 43 degree view. I had overlooked this but waited for both the eyepieces to arrive so that I can test it myself and compare them both in my scope which has a 1000mm focal length.Both of them are pretty sharp but start getting slightly blurry towards the edges which is expected for eyepieces in this price range. The 32 mm has a slightly wider view than the 40mm. This might be because of the 1.25 inch format of the eyepieces which restricts wider views beyond a point. That's why it makes sense to go for 2 inch format eyepieces which have larger openings for wider field of views provided your focuser supports it. What I noticed was that the 32mm's slightly wider view was also slightly more magnified than the 40mms because shorter eyepiece focal length translates to more magnification.I tested it in clear skies last week and the Pleiades cluster still doesn't fit into the field of view with the 32mm but it still provided bright crisp views almost to the edges. The star cluster just spills outside the field of view but note that my scopes focal length is 1000mm which is not a wide scope.The finish and build of the eyepiece is very good and the rubber eye cap is excellent and very useful if you wear glasses like me. Even otherwise, it acts as a shield preventing stray light degrading your image. The eye relief is good as well.The conclusion - the 32mm is a clear winner here and I don't understand why Celestron would even offer a 40mm version in 1.25 inch format. I am going to be returning the 40mm and I hope this experience helps others in making a decision if they are confused.
B**N
Good product but please read before buying
So I have the Powerseeker 114 EQ. It comes with the Standard 20mm and 4mm lens. Both are okay yet I wanted a mode sharper image of Jupiter and Venus. I live in the American South West. At 3,000 ft of elevation.Before I got this I consulted customer support from Celestron about my telescope and he recommended this lens and the X-Cel LX 5mm lens. I got this one now and it works really well. Quick tip get the 20 mm lens to help you find the object the swan it out with this lens to save your self time. Once that’s done you can do the minor adjustments needed to focus and see these distant objects like I have.Things to note my telescope is a Newtonian scope and has a focal length point of 900mm.Please consult celestron customer support before making a decision this will help you with the type of telescope you have
T**N
Celestron X-Cel LX 18mm - !.25 Inch Eyepiece.
I chose the the 18mm eyepiece as it gives good magnification for deep sky objects such as galaxies and planetary nebulae. My new telescope is a Celestron NexStar SLT 127mm. It has a focal length of 1500mm, so the magnification is 1500 divided by 18 = 83 times. The eyepiece is much better than the two standard eyepieces that came with the scope, both in field size, ( difficult to judge as the two that came were 25 & 9 mm.)and also field clarity, ( more easily judged.) I live in the north of Scotland where we are blessed with little light polution, however at this time of year, June, the skies never get dark. Despite this the 18mm eyepiece works well at spliting double stars i was particularly pleased to split Polaris, it has a fairly wide seperation of 18.4 seconds of an arc but the primary is very bright 2.0, and the companion dim 9.0. As the experience has been so good i intend to buy the entire range of Celestron X-Cel eyepieces over the next few years, without going below 5mm, ( my telescopes 300 times magnification limit ) making the 12mm eyepiece my next purchace. Philips " Stargazing with a Telescope " by Robin Scagell, says : "Top of the accessories list is extra eyepieces." I recommend the 18mm X-Cel LX Eyepiece.I bought the eyepiece from Amazon. It arrived promptly despite my remote UK location. Amazon are one off very few companies that do not add hefty postage charges to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
J**K
Solid build
Bought this Lens on the advice of reviews, the lens has a solid and quality feel about it, the image from the lens (18mm) if a clearer than the 20mm it replaces (included with the Celestron 102az telescope that I bought) only concern is that at £79 not sure it is value for money for the amateur astronomer when the telescope that I bought along with 2 lens 10mm and 20mm for a total of £179 was quite good.
T**.
Amazing!
This was bloody perfect! Great detail, great field of view and the telescopic lense makes it very easy to take pictures with your mobile...The difference between the standard lenses that came with my scope and this, is phenomenal! (Check pictures) Absolutely LOVE this product, worth every penny! Thank you!
T**Y
Got 100x magnification on our travelscope
We got this to increase the magnification of our celestron travel scope.We now get crisp detailed views of Saturn!
M**K
Worth every penny!
I have a Skywatcher 130p GOTO with the stock eyepieces. The X-Cel LX is such a HUGE jump in quality! Jupiter has never looked so good! And in widescreen!My advice is to buy this and then replace your 'stock' 10mm & 25mm eyepieces too! If you get the right focal lengths you can ditch the Barlow and get full magnification without the quality loss.Great product, great service.
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