I have the complete set of BGO eyepieces, having replaced my set of volcano-top Circle T orthos with them. I have used them in scops of various focal ratios, from f6 (8" Dob) to f14.4 (90mm achromatic refractor).
Primarily, they've been used to study Jupiter and the Moon through the winter of 2011/2012 in the f14.4 and f13 refractors that I own.
The eyepieces are very well made with a real air of quality about them. The caps fit well and the boxes are durable. This quality only increases once you actually look through them. The longest focal length is 18mm, and tends to be the first one in the eyepiece holder each night.
Working up through the magnification range, the series is not quite parfocal but not far from it. The quality of view stays the same through the set though with ultra sharply defined field edges and superb clarity and flatness of field.
The BGO's have the slightly narrow field of view and shorter eye relief on the shorter focal length eyepieces that are common traits with the orthoscopic design. I have found that the short eye relief can be combatted by sitting while observing. This enables the head and eye to be held more steady with smaller likelihood of contacting the eyepiece lens with eyelashes etc.
The seperations between the 7mm, 6mm and 5mm focal lengths are well thought out. At the higher magnification end of things a small difference in focal length can make a significant difference in magnification.
In a comparison I made between the 12.5mm and a volcano-top 12.5 that I had I found there to be much less scatter in the Baader, which when viewing a bright planet like Jupiter was very noticable.
Overall a superb range of eyepieces with well-thought out focal lengths and great design and manufacture quality.
Antony McEwan
Baader Genuine Orthoscopic
Rating (max 5):
5
A truly excellent planetary and lunar performer - Shane
In terms of much of the competition, these eyepieces at just over £70 are effectively 'budget' units. They are everything but budget in their build and optical quality. Like all Orthoscopics they have relatively tight eye relief (approx 0.85x the focal length) and a narrow field but I have found them easier to use than plossls of the same or in some cases greater focal lengths. They provide a true coloured image which is sharp, full of contrast and extremely 'clean'. I have high quality wide field eyepieces which I prefer for putting globular clusters and the like in context but I genuinely also prefer the Baader Genuine Orthos to these for many targets. If you wear spectacles to observe then you will struggle with the shorter focal lengths. BGOs are not just for planetary / lunar observing. Due to excellent light transmission and contrast they are also very good to excellent for all targets that fit into the narrow field of view. These are highly recommended eyepieces subject to the caveat regarding eye relief. For me they are a 5 star product, if you prefer or need longer eye reief then they will not score as high.
