SVBONY SV233 7PCS Telescope Accessory Kit for Beginner, 6mm 17mm Telescope Eyepiece, 2X Barlow Lens with T Thread, Moon Filter, ND4, 82A Color Filter and Portable Bag, for Astronomical Observations

The filters fit my Dwarf2! I'm excited about that. The eye pieces are better than the standard pieces that come with a basic telescope. They allow for sharper viewing of the constellations and moon. SVBony specializes in many things astronomy and this set is a nice one to get started with. They are of a good quality and durable. I recommend the eyepieces with kid gloves and keeping the case around. Being gentle with the pieces keeps dust and scratches off the eyepieces.

For years SVBONY has been the king of the bargain astronomy hill, providing surprisingly good optics at entry-level prices. However, I’ve recently become quite enamored of Neewer, a new company trying to do the same thing. I jumped at the opportunity to compare products when I saw this set and ordered it immediately. Interestingly, these eyepieces each looked absolutely identical to their matching Neewer counterparts, and in all likelihood come from the same factory. However, I’ve seen this with both different brand eyepieces and binoculars and the actual glass in the product can vary — and of course is what really matters. However, in this case the bottom line is that Neewer was the one still standing at the end of this bout. Viewing bright crescent Venus, the closest round came with the 17mm eyepiece. Comparing it directly with a 17mm Neewer Plossl, the Neewer had a slightly crisper image and noticeably less optical astigmatism (lens flare). Moving to the 6mm eyepiece was a much more demanding and revealing test, and here the matching Neewer eyepiece was quite noticeably crisper and clearer for a solid win. With the 2x Barlow, again the Neewer was the victor with a slightly clearer and crisper image. However, the SVBONY Barlow actually seemed slightly more powerful, possibly 3x, and if that’s actually the case it’s not quite an even test. However, testing the SVBONY Barlow as advertised the Neewer won out. I will note that overall the optical astigmatism and other differences were noticeably less evident viewing Mars and Jupiter, but still more prevalent in the SVBONY than the Neewer eyepieces.There were other issues with this SVBONY set as well. Just one side note is that SVBONY points out that these 2 eyepieces plus Barlow will give you 4 different magnifications, but in reality you are simply not going to be using that 6mm eyepiece with the Barlow — the optical quality at this low price point is simply not good enough for the optical demands of that combination, and especially when used in a telescope at the low price tier that these eyepieces are targeting. So, you really only have 3 usable magnifications, and frankly it might have been better to replace the Barlow with possibly a 10mm or 12mm eyepiece. A couple other minor gripes are that the zipper on the case stuck at one of the corners making the case quite hard to open, and the filters were very hard to get out from the foam insert — anyone trying to use this set in the dark is going to have a hard time. Neewer has a very similar 9-piece set that includes 6mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm eyepieces and a 2x Barlow plus filters in a very nice case for about $15 more, and I highly recommend that set over this one. Also note that Celticbird is another new brand you will see at this price level, but I consider the Neewer products to be universally superior.The bottom line is that this SVBONY set still represents a good value (as their products always have) and earns all 4 stars, but Neewer has now planted its flag at the top of the hill. I hope that SVBONY will step up their game, and that I have the opportunity to test more of their product in the near future.

There needs almost to be three reviews of this kit—one for those who use their telescope only for viewing, a second for those who want to capture images and a third for users who capture images and enhance them with image editing software. Then, factor in the variables of capturing the image with a DSLR camera or a smartphone. With access to imaging software, the best result I’ve had is with my DSLR attached directly to the end of the main optical tube. Using the DSLR with a 90-degree diagonal mirror and the provided Barlow lens produced a large image acceptable for direct viewing. The Barlow was a game saver, using the same setup without it, the camera would not focus. There is not really much of a compromise using a smartphone compared to the DSLR. The optics is very good although the camera IMHO offers more and better controls. For my test photos, only terrestrial shots from indoors were possible, owing to the Upper Midwest winter weather. The kit includes three filters, an 82A light blue filter to reduce glare and enhance planetary details; a neutral density (ND) filter which similarly reduces glare and increases contrast; and a moon filter to dramatically reduce glare and brightness of the night sky’s brightest object. With my daylight test shots, the effect of each filter was subtle, however the purple fringing was not. With image editing software, fringing is easy to correct, although without one, disappointing. I am partial to the ND filter as, in the absence of a city light suppression filter, I think the natural colors of the cosmos should not be disturbed. That aside, the items in this kit appear to be high quality. Everything fits. Everything threaded tightens smoothly. And it comes in a molded foam, zippered carrying bag. The variety of the included filters and magnification levels of the eyepieces are useful and can be combined creatively to pique and sustain interest in the night sky.