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!

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'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!!!