Celestron Accessory Kit with Five 1.25" Plossl Eyepieces, 2x Barlow and Filter Set

I bought this kit in Feb 2011 and love it so much that I have learned to use it in the dark. I use it with an Orion XT10, aimed manually. The eyepieces, which are probably not strictly Plossls if you are a purist, are great and it is great to have a variety to select from - my kit had a 32, a 17, a 13, an 8 and a 6 mm eyepiece, and also a 2x Barlow, which when used with an eyepiece, essentially cuts the mm of each eyepiece in half (doubling the mag) at the expense of some contrast. Many planetary observers prefer symmetrical eyepieces for high-contrast planet observing. The eyepieces are good, with little chromatic aberration even at the edges of the fairly wide fields. The downside is eye relief; if you use the 8 or 6 mm eyepiece without the Barlow, you will be touching the eyepiece with your eyeball occasionally as you try to hit the sweet spot where you can observe most of your object of interest (which, if you don't have a tracking scope, will be moving through the field.) I also dig the 32 mm lens for finding and for observing loose open clusters; and the 17mm piece is optimal for finding the Crab nebula on a dark night. I have used those two to observe a lot of 'faint fuzzies', and on a night with perfect seeing the 6mm shows me the fifth star in the Trapezium, surrounded by green wisps of O2 light from the nebula. The filters are a mixed bag. They fit on the threaded eyepieces perfectly and are quick to swap in and out. For gazing at the moon, they are all welcome - anything to cut down the brightness - and I like the orange one the best, followed by the gray (neutral density) filter. I find the light green filter slightly enhances my view of Jupiter's bands - maybe - and for whatever reason, my best memories of Saturn are definitely through the butter-yellow filter, probably because of the great night I chose to use it. The lens covers are interchangeable and easy to use and keep in a pocket; the filter cases are pretty good and stack in the case for easy storage; the case itself is tough and lined with good eggcrate foam. I have since acquired two more expensive eyepieces, lanthanum-coated bombshells weighing a pound apiece, and their major advantage to my mind is just that the eye side of the exit pupil is much larger - makes it easier to navigate your head to a place where you can see it. Each one of them sold new for about 5x what this entire kit costs and I am not sure I have ever had a demonstrably *better* view out of either of them. So if you took my Celestron kit away, this amateur would want it replaced immediately!

I've been eyeing this kit ever since I bought my first telescope just over a year and a half ago (Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ). I got that one used from the warehouse, it came in almost new condition (in fact, I would not have known the difference if I didn't make the purchase). The same is true here, all original packaging, however it was missing the keys, which I did not plan on using anyways, and it was also missing the filter guide (which is a non issue, really. This is why Google exists). The eyepieces themselves are very nice, metal barrels that are a very tight fit in my scope. I mention this because the two beginner EPs that came with the 114EQ are loose fitting and plastic.The glass is very clear, only viewed a church steeple a mile away (it was cloudy last night when I received them, will update once I view the sky with these). Image was very clear across all sizes. The barrels are threaded for filters, which screw in very nicely. Again, will update this section later. UPDATE: Was able to do some observing with these: the clarity is astounding compared to my beginners. I was able to distinctly see the individual stars in the Orion Nebula, specifically the four star group in the middle of it. Before, I could only just make our that I was seeing M42. A huge plus: the EPs are set to (almost) the same focus, so you don't have to refocus much when switching lenses, unlike the beginner EPs. Other thoughts: The case has enough space to hold my laser collimator, my other two EPs and barlow, as well as my mini screwdriver that I use for collimation. tl;dr: HUGE value, great quality, highly recommended to build your EP collection. I cannot be pleased enough with this acquisition!!!

Nice eyepieces and filters , nice protective foam in aluminum case

I just got my first decent telescope and I needed some EPs to give me a full range of magnifications. Before I even decided on this kit I went through what I already owned (9mm,25mm and 30mm) and calculated what I needed to fill in the gaps. To my surprise, this kit filled in the gaps perfectly. Eye Pieces - Let me start by saying, you can go ahead ignore some of the older reviews for this kit. Celestron has obviously changed the EP range from what used to be included with the kit. For clarity sake, this kit currently comes with the advertised EPs (6mm, 8mm, 13mm, 17mm and 32mm) along with the 2x Barlow lens. I don't have a lot of experience but so far the EPs seem to be sharp especially considering what I paid for them. I'm sure that the high-end EPs that are available are going to be better. If, however, you are someone like me who doesn't have a lot of money after shelling out for your scope, the range of EPs are great for letting you know what your scope is capable of. You can always replace the more often used EPs once you get a better idea of what you want. Filters - I have messed around with these a bit and honestly the only thing they did for me was change the color of the object being looked at and didn't seem to really show any more detail. The exception here is the ND Moon Filter. The moon is so bright when you look at it through your scope it can be blinding. My scope came with a moon filter that tinted it green and it really was ugly. The included ND filter here just reduces the amount of light without losing any color. I will certainly continue to use this filter, the others I'm not so sure about. Case - The case is nice and though not metal as the pic would lead you to believe. It is still hard plastic and the padding is very good. I definitely feel like my EPs are protected well when packed away. The added "feature" of the key is just awful though. I never really understood why I would want to lock this anyway, but just out of curiosity I tried to use the lock. I fiddled with the lock for a few mins trying to get the key to even fit in to no avail. To me this was a useless part of the kit that could have been skipped. Overall - I would recommend this kit just based on the fact that you get a lot for what you pay. Sure there are higher quality items available at a price, but the kit is a great start.

An essential addition to any Newtonian Telescope that enables you to fully enjoy astronomy. Decent quality case to contain the pieces with some spare space to cut out and place your own.

I picked up this set of eyepieces and filters after first getting the Celestron Powerseeker Accessory kit with the 15mm and 9mm Kellner eyepieces to go with my Celestron Powerseeker 80EQ (refractor) and Powerseeker 127EQ (reflector) telescopes in order to gain a feel for how the different sizes of eyepieces worked before taking a big plunge and getting a larger set like this one with more options and advantages with the Plossl type of eyepieces. I did my homework before buying and calculated out the maximum magnifications that both telescopes could support in terms of stand-alone eyepieces or in combination with the included 2x Barlow and all of the set's eyepieces were within the limits of the 80EQ refractor as standalone but beyond the 13mm couldn't be used with the 2x Barlow (the 127EQ reflector could use up to the 8mm + 2x Barlow) and still focus sharply, so bear that in mind when considering this set relative to your own telescope's capability/limitations. Since I have astigmatism and prefer to keep my glasses on when doing observations whenever possible, the biggest advantages of this set have come from using the 32mm, 17mm, and 13mm Plossl eyepieces alone or in combination with the 2x Barlow to get the clearest and most comfortable views. These have proven to be superior to the Kellners I picked up originally and are now my go-to choice for observations. The 32mm is particularly useful for star-hopping and locating what I'm looking for before getting a closer look with either the Barlow or one of the smaller eyepieces and then stacking the Barlow to get even closer views. The multi-coated lenses deliver outstanding clarity for both planetary and stellar observations and I'm very pleased with them as a result. I've combined these with a star diagonal in the refractor and have been successful in observing several Messier objects as well as some splitting out various double and triple stars at high power magnification along with the usual nice views of the Moon, Jupiter's cloud bands and moons, crescent views of Venus, etc. The smaller 8mm and 6mm eyepieces have proven less useful due mostly to eye relief issues and magnification limits but are still good eyepieces to round out the set and provide some options for those who don't have to contend with eyeglass interference like I do. I've used a clock motor drive with them effectively to keep items of interest within the field of view at higher magnifications and allow my eye to 'roam' around freely and see more as a result. The filters that the set includes are a nice value-add, but the best of the lot has proven to be the Neutral Density (ND) Moon filter. It provides sharper views and greater detail than the 'green' Moon filter that comes in the Powerseeker Accessory kit in my opinion and is a marked improvement for sure as it keeps the moon's natural color without adding the green tinge while still reducing the brightness to bearable levels even when beyond Half Moon stage. I've played around with the various planetary filters mostly while viewing Jupiter and didn't really see a huge added improvement with the various filters but they are there as an added bonus. The real value of the set is definitely in the eyepieces and the multi-coated 2x Barlow. The case is also very handy, just the right size, lightweight but durable due to the aluminum construction. The foam inside is typical egg crate type cushioning foam. I've modified the foam inside slightly to accommodate all of my eyepieces (including the Kellners from the earlier set) and my night-vision red LED flashlight so everything all fits in one box. All in all, I'm very pleased with the set and the expanded capability it provides for the price. It's given me a very solid foundation to work from should I decide to go all-out in the future and buy specialized eye-pieces to further compliment this broad range of options I now have with this set in the collection.

This was a great buy. The lenses fit nicely on my Celestron StarSense dx130az telescope and the quality is very good. I have been able to configure lenses and filters to get some really good viewing. I am very happy with this purchase. Additionally, when I upgrade to an 8” aperture telescope, these will fit and I will have all the lenses I need.

Loving these eyepieces! Great selection, quality and easy to use.