Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces

Comments about Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces:

Got the 3x Barlow and it is definitely high quality. Easy to mate with lens and provides great views. Excellent product!

Comments about Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces:

Eyepieces (EP) are like home entertainment speakers. Until you've listened to them and compared them against other speakers you really have no idea how good they are. That being said, these are very good, nearly "spectacular view" EPs. I own the 25mm, 18mm, 9mm and I use them in my 11" (f10/6.3) Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT). I use the 25mm EP as my wide field nebulae EP. The Orion nebulae (M42) looks 3-dimensional through this EP and I actually said "WOW" the first time I used it and I've been looking at Orion for 42 years! I use the 18mm for globular clusters, the Hercules Cluster (M13) can be resolved to the center with ease. I use the 9mm for the planets and planetary nebulae. I hope you can see my picture of Jupiter to get an idea of what you can see. This was an eyepiece projection (through the 9mm) photo.

I own 12 EPs: Plossls, Erfles, Orthoscopics and Kellners, these X-Cel EPs are the 3 I use most often.

I see that some other reviewers have said that the "Cons" are "heavy" and "bulky". To me this is not a "Con". These are well constucted, solid feeling EPs that are easily handled with gloved or cold hands.

There are better EPs, but not at this price.

Comments about Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces:

I have the 12mm X-Cel LX, which gets used mostly in a 10" f4.5 Newt/dob, and some in my 90mm f13 mac/cass. The 12mm is right about 100x for both scopes. Most of my comparisons of my X-cel are against a 10mm plossl (generic). I also have several other plossls, and a Edumands RKE 28mm.

The Good: it is better than my generic plossl. Much better eye relief, noticeably larger field of view, maybe a bit bigger sharp sweet spot in the middle, but not as sharp as my Edumands RKE. Colors/brightness seems comparable to the plossl.

The not-so-good: Eye placement is important, or you get blackouts and kidney-beaning. Adding a barlow makes the blackouts worse. Raising the eye cup helps a lot, but then eyeglasses become an issue (if you wear them). Also, while the field of view is noticeably larger than my plossls, it is not a big jump - enough to notice, but not enough to wow. Also, it is a LOT bigger and heavier than my 10mm plossl. If your scope is like mine, and already a bit heavy on the eyepiece end, the X-Cel could un-balance it.

Overall, my 12mm X-Cel is probably my most used eyepiece, and I do like it. Considering the price compared to a Plossl, though, I don't think I would re-buy it if I broke/lost it.

Comments about Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces:

I am a total novice, so I do not have the experience to compare with anything other then the stock pieces that came with my astromaster 114. The field of vision is much wider. I can see contrast a bit better as well I think. These eye pieces to me at least seem a good value for the price

Comments about Celestron X-Cel LX Telescope Eyepieces:

I used the 2.3mm eyepiece on a small tabletop telescope, and even on that, it gave a reasonably bright & clear image.