Customer Reviews

Celestron 93230 8 to 24mm 1.25 Zoom Eyepiece

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a bit leery of buying a "zoom" eyepiece and suspected that the movement within the lens assembly would greatly effect the optics. I took a chance because I wanted a quick and dirty spotting eyepiece that would give me a sneak peak at objects before I bothered switching eyepieces. I have now tried this eyepiece on my Celestron 130SLT and compared it side by side with a set of comparable fixed Celestron Omni Possls, which should be of comparable quality. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I saw very little visible difference when viewing Mars and Saturn. I had expected the zoom to cause significant distortion outside the center of the viewfield, and to give substantially less sharp views. However, I found the views very nearly the same. I also tried the zoom over my Celestron Ultima barlow with good results. Some minor refocusing was required with any significant change in zoom, but this was not unexpected. That said, there was a difference between the zoom and fixed lens eyepieces. I did see some differences at higher magnifications, particularly with the barlow. As such, I don't think a zoom lens is a replacement for a range of fixed eyepieces, particularly if you're doing photography or viewing deep sky objects. However, this zoom exceeded my expectations and will probably become my main eyepiece for locating and previewing objects. I should note that the barrel of this eyepiece is a few mm wider than other 1.25" Celestron eyepieces and barlows. It still fits nicely and functions well. It just looks a bit bulky when mounted over a narrower barlow.

Ive been into astronomy for 20 years and have probably 18 eyepieces ranging from 3mm to 40mm, plus a 3x barlow lens. One of the frustrating things in astronomy is fumbling around in the dark looking for that higher/lower magnification eyepiece... and can be costly if dropped. The Celestron Zoom Focus has eliminated all that digging around in the dark for me and has bascially replaced almost all my eyepieces from 24mm and lower.

Now I can just instantly lower or raise the magnification with very little re-focusing and also works great with a 3x barlow lens. I was very impressed with the quality, clarity and detailed views given with this eyepiece. The field of view although was slightly less than my other eyepieces it was not really noticeable and everything I viewed fit in the field of view. I have been using this eyepiece with my Meade Lx200 8 inch scope and Meade ETX-125 5 inch scope with outstanding results. Very smooth motion to transition from the different magnifications.

If your new or an old timer in astronomy this eyepiece is a must. For the newcomer it can save alot of $$$$ spent on many different eyepieces with leaving only the need for the wide field 30-40MM+ eyepieces. For those that have many eyepieces in their case this is a great addition giving you easy trasition to different magnifications. I dont think its a total replacement to the much higher end fixed eyepieces..but to the casual observer like myself this is almost all I need. I wish i had purchased one of these many years ago, absolutely the BEST money ive spent on an astronomical accessory to date....a must buy.

I bought this to try out on my son's new Nexstar 4 SE. I also bought the Celestron larger eyepiece/filter kit. I thought we might like the convenience of the zoom (we did!) and I did not see much of a difference in the images between the zoom and the fixed EPs. Unlike the fixed EPs, the focus barely changes when changing the magnification on this zoom, and only slight adjustments are required. I also REALLY like the better eye relief and larger "field of view" vs. the smaller f/mm kit EPs.
The barrel of the zoom is bigger then the stock 25mm, and seemed to be a nice quality item. I kept this, and sent the kit back. I will also get a good Barlow and the moon filter, and feel pretty well set (for now).

I am really glad that I bought this eyepiece. The bottom is threaded to handle 1.25 filters. (There was another that takes .965") The lens is large with smooth movements. I have a manual focus and it is often difficult to fine tune. I am able to use the zoom on this lens to some extent to focus. The lens covers and plastic case are nice to have.

I am no professional so I am not using a $10,000 telescope. I don't need a $500 lens. I have the full Mead 4000 eyepiece set and find myself only using a 40mm or 32 mm, the zoom lens, and a 2X balrow. Get a Barlow with this eyepiece if you don't have one. The barlow makes the zoom more like 8 lenses than 4, and is nice to take the telescope beyond its limits then back quickly.

If anyone was interested this lens does have a green tint.

I purchased this for my Nexstar 6se based on the price and Celestron name. For general viewing this is a good zoom eye piece for the price. I used it to zoom into the moon and Saturn and both worked fairly well. One thing I noticed with this unit is that when you zoom you had to adjust your alignment on the object you were viewing and sometimes I had to refocus. I didn't mind those as the adjustment was not very much. The one thing I didn't like was the zoom control. I found it annoying at times to do the actual zoom with the way the zoom is setup. The zoom wasn't smooth and I often had to grab the eye piece with two hands with one hand to hold the eye piece and the other to turn the zoom. For me that was annoying so in the end I returned the eye piece and plan to instead look for a more refined piece rather then going for the cheaper Celestron.

I bought this for my modest Meade 90mm refractor, and it works very well. I find it to be about as clear as the medicore stock Meade eyepieces I own. It will not be as good as premium eyepieces though. For the price, I think this zoom eyepiece was a good buy. It takes the place of several separate eyepieces. If you using a higher end telescope, you may want to look at a higher end zoom eyepiece such as the Baader Hyperion.

I bought one and it is fitting good for my Celestron 130 Astromaster. A little refocusing if move zoom in-out extremely. Image is sharp and clear, very confortable, large field of view. Personal, I like it. By the way, I saw the moons of Jupiter this year through zoom eyepiece ! I can saw also two colour bands of Jupiter, in town light polution. Jupiter scale like a pea.

I was reluctant to order a zoom eyepiece because I've read that it can cause some distortion. I am an amateur astronomer with an 8 inch dobsonian. I did not notice any distortion in my field of view if there was any. Perhaps my eyes are not trained enough to notice these differences yet. As a beginner, I think this is a great purchase! This zoom eyepiece saved me a lot of money on several different eyepieces... especially considering I didn't even know exactly which mm eyepieces I would need for the viewing I wanted to do. It's easy to use, and I got it at a great price. I'm VERY happy with my purchase.

Tried it on my first telescope - Celestron 80ED Spotter. Good and convenient. No need to change multiple eye pieces. Good buy.

I purchased this in April 2011-after the March Supermoon and it quickly became my primary eyepiece! AFOV is wider than my standard MA (Modified Achromat) eyepieces and the wide exit pupil allows for an easier stance over whatever telescope I am using at the time of viewing. I will admit that while adjusting the zoom the view would often show some distrortion, but, in the beginning, I was able to spin the zoom function back and it would self correct. Over time, that 'self-correction' stopped unless at either stop (8mm or 24mm focal length).

Problems:

1) See above for distrortion issues. (Mine may have passed QC by mistake).
2) Weight. Small, beginner scopes are impacted severely. Most impacted are refractors, as they 'balance' on the mount.
3) No clicks during focal length. Must turn on light to see where length is.
4) Overall EP assembly gets loose. I needed to tighten the chrome sleeve to the body of the assembly every time I used it.
5) Mine cracked during use on a cold night? The focus changed and the view went distorted. No visible broken glass, but, something went loose (I can hear it when I shake the EP!)

With these things noted, I must say that while it worked- it worked great. I'm not sure if all of the glass was mutli-coated because I did get quite visible reflections- but, the view was clear with a nice big exit pupil. So large in fact, I was able to use a high quality, multi-coated (multi lens) 3x achromatic Barlow lens with it- creating very crisp lunar views under exceptional seeing conditions. However, that only worked on my largest GOTO scopes: a 90mm refractor & 114mm reflector-both of which needed to be balanced with all of that weight mounted. Anything smaller was at risk of toppling over and could not be locked down hard enough to bear the excessive load.

So, if you have a smaller manual refractor, say 60mm, 70mm or 80mm or even a smaller manual reflector- make sure that your mount will bear the load and that you can acheive balance prior to buying one of these. Otherwise, you'll be very frustrated!

I strongly recommend this EP to someone who has limited funds for buying a variety of high quality lenses. If purchased with a very high quality 2x Barlow, it will cover many lenses that can be purchased separately. I think mine passed QC in error, or was dropped during shipping because my distrortion issues & constant need of tightening haven't been mentioned by other reviewers. Also, I cannot imagine that mine would 'crack' during use, unless something was already defective.

Now, I'm hoping that Celestron will repair or replace mine (it's still under warranty), but, I don't want my issues to prevent someone from seeing the value in this pretty high qaulity eyepiece. The glass is very clear, the exit pupil is very forgiving and the views can be tremendous!

Clear skies to all!

Dave