Celestron 93230 8 to 24mm 1.25 Zoom Eyepiece

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.

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

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.

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).