When shopping around for eyepieces it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the staggering choices available. Naturally one can gravitate towards the more expensive eyepieces dismissing the cheaper ones as being inferior quality. In the case of the super Plossl from Skywatcher this would be a big mistake. Although at £20 these eyepieces could be considered budget, they are far from cheap, with a special mention for the 20mm.
Skywatcher have used 4 lens elements in their design, grouped together in 2 lots. Keeping the amount of glass to a minimal helps to keep the images obtained through the eyepiece as sharp as possible. Each element is multi coated, this improves light transmission making the object you’re observing as bright as possible.
As the 20mm focal length will make this eyepiece less than useful on the planets it will get most of it’s use on deep space objects such as faint, elusive galaxies. As such it’s important that this Plossl yields as much contrast as possible to make faint objects more obvious. Skywatcher have blackened the very edges of their lenses to ensure that contrast is high enough for serious galaxy hunting.
The Skywatcher super Plossl has a 52 degree field of view which is typical of it’s design, while 52 degrees maybe a little on the small side for planetary and lunar work it ceases to matter on really distant objects like nebula and galaxies.
Despite it’s tiny price tag the super Plossl feels solid and sturdy, it’s body is all metal except for a small bobbled rubber grip ring which is especially useful when observing in cold conditions where fingers can become stiff and numb.
Optically the 20mm super Plossl is exceptional for the price but comfort is also an important factor where eyepieces are concerned. Thankfully Skywatcher have made this eyepiece as comfortable as it is beautiful to look through. Eye relief is very long meaning you don’t have to push your eyeball right up against the glass to take in the whole image. When coupled with it’s large objective lens the 20mm is a real joy to use.
For £20 these eyepieces never fail to amaze. They can hold their own against eyepieces 3 times their price. When effectiveness, comfort and practicality meet at such a low price the result is the Skywatcher 20mm super Plossl. A fantastic deep space eyepiece that can also give pleasing Lunar views.
