Pentax SMC-XL 14mm

5.0 Pentax XL SMC 14mm eyepiece - best bet for eyeglass wearers

Pinpoint stars across the field, long eye relief, medium power

Needs an adapter for a 2" focuser

This is my favorite eyepiece. It has a relatively wide field (65 degrees AFOV) and very long (20 mm) eye relief. This latter feature is important to eyeglass wearers, like me, with astigmatism. The view through this eyepiece is very pleasing - high contrast and sharp across the field. It has a 1-1/4" barrel so it fits smaller filters (a cost saver). One difficulty is that it doesn't fit easily into 2" focusers without an adapter (unlike some Naglers that fit nicely into either). I use this eyepiece on my fairly fast 15", 12.5" and 6" dobs (f/4.5 to f/5.2) as well as my C8 (f/10). At all focal ratios and focal lengths, this remains my favorite eyepiece.

I also own the 10.5 and 7mm XL SMC from Pentax. Both are excellent, but because of their higher power, they are a bit less useful. Each gives outstanding wide views with 20mm eye relief. I think these eyepieces are as good as the best from TeleVue.

These eyepieces are no longer made, but you can find them on AstroMart for ~$200 most of the time. This price is nearly what they cost new ($220), so you can use these eyepieces for years and then sell them for what you paid.