Eyepieces for binoviewer

[Davey-T]

With the onset of old age, eyesight not what it once was and working on the assumption that two eyes are better than one I am planning on purchasing a binoviewer to go with 100mm f/6 refractor.

I have Etho's, Ethi ? of 6, 13, 21mm and was looking for expert advice on which duplicate eyepiece would be favourite for this setup, or would I be better

off buying a new pair for the price of one Ethos and change ?

Also looking at WO binoviewer any thoughts on these appreciated.

Dave

[E621Keith]

I don't know much about binoviewer, but I think you may have problem with interpupillary distance with eyepieces like Ethos 21.

Limited aperture of most binoviewers may also cause problem. Ethos 13 have a field stop diameter of 22mm. WO binoviewers have clear aperture of 20mm.

[Alan_B]

Also thinking of binoviewers myself - started off favouring the WO ones but am now leaning towards the Baader Maxbrights. I'm waiting for the classic Ortho's to become available and hope that TS will have some sort of package deal

[sunshine185]

I love my wo bv's, sry I cannot advise on the ep's as the ones you use are way out of my league. I was blown away just with using 2 x sw super 25mm ep's!

[gliderpilot]

I have used both the WO and the max bright. I must say that I prefer the Baader, it seems to be that few percent clearer but it's small differences. I sold my WO unit and now use the MaxBright exclusively. I do dream about the exotic denks but simply cannot justify the cost.

I originally wanted to use Hyperion eyepieces but then found that I couldn't get my nose between the fat barrels. I would be careful of the ethii fat barrels unless you have a large separation between your eyes.

As for eyepieces, the WO eps are excellent. I was lucky enough to buy two second hand 19mm panoptics on ABS and thoroughly recommend them albeit more expensive.

Hope that helps

Mark

[Capricorn]

Never use binoviewers but I seem to recall that a lot of people like the TV plossl's, as a less expensive option consider the Vixen NPL plossl's.

[brantuk]

I have the WO binoviewers and they are great value for money - you'll not find better in that price bracket. The Maxbrights are in a different league for clarity, crispness, immersiveness - they are a reasonable step up in both quality and price - but I don't know what eyepieces I was looking through when I tried them out one night at Kelling for a few hours. The views were awesome and star fields felt like I was floating in 3D space.

I also had a brief session with two 13mm Ethos's in Denk's but it was in heavy sodium LP and they weren't set up properly - the view was disappointing (worst of the three) and I am positive they would be a lot better at a dark site with proper setup. Wish I could give you a more objective opinion but hope that helps a bit

[E621Keith]

I have the WO binoviewers and they are great value for money - you'll not find better in that price bracket. The Maxbrights are in a different league for clarity, crispness, immersiveness - they are a reasonable step up in both quality and price - but I don't know what eyepieces I was looking through when I tried them out one night at Kelling for a few hours. The views were awesome and star fields felt like I was floating in 3D space.

The Baader Maxbright is in the same price bracket as the WO binoviewer, (£192 for the Baader (365astro) and £179 for the WO (FLO)). May be you are confusing the Chinese made Baader Maxbright with the significantly more expensive German made Baader MkV.

[sunshine185]

Iirc there's about 2mm of difference in clear aperture between the wo and maxbrights.

[Adrian]

The Baader Maxbright is in the same price bracket as the WO binoviewer, (£192 for the Baader (365astro) and £179 for the WO (FLO)). May be you are confusing the Chinese made Baader Maxbright with the significantly more expensive German made Baader MkV.

Debatable, as for the Baaders you have given the price for do not include:

-1.25" or 2" Push fitting = additional £20;

-Barlow (glass path corrector) = additional £57;

- 2 x 60* eyepieces = additional £50 minimum (if you don't already have them);

coming in at nearer £320 for the equivalent setup.

Makes the WOs seem great value to me

[Davey-T]

How about those really expensive Baader binowiewers 1500ish euros could I get a pair of 13mm Ethos in them ?

Dave

[E621Keith]

How about those really expensive Baader binowiewers 1500ish euros could I get a pair of 13mm Ethos in them ?

Dave

The Baader MkV has the largest aperture of any binoviewers on the market, so it should give the widest illuminated field.

However, I don't think main problem comes from the binoviewer, but from the eyepiece themselves. If the eyepiece barrel diameter is wider than your IPD then it will be physically impossible to get the centre of two eyepieces close enough to view through with both eyes.

To illustrate my point, you can take a look at this Japanese website and see how close two eyepieces get in binoviewing configuration.

http://www.ne.jp/asa...Binoscope-3.htm

http://www.ne.jp/asa...Binocular-1.htm

As you can see, those eyepieces are alese eyemost touching each other, if you have a smaller head with smaller IPD then you will have difficulty using thpieces in a binoviewer. If you have a bigger head with larger IPD then you may be able to use the larger Ethos 17 and 21. The question what is your IPD, it's different for everyone.

In addition to IPD, gliderpilot made a good point about nose clearance. Someone who have flatter face with shallower eye sockets may find it easier to use certain eyepieces in binoviewer than a someone with taller nose and deeper eye socket.

[tim r]

Hii own the baader mk'5 and use takashashi eps I have the 5mm, 12mm and the 24 mm and all work brilliantly I would love to buy another 13mm ethos and try them but cannot justify the price of the televue even if there the best EP ever made.

[Davey-T]

Tim can you try one Ethos 13mm to see if it's possible to fit two ?

Dave

[tim r]

Will try hoping to go out tonight

[tim r]

Just tried one in one side of bino's looks like these enought room to fit 2 side by side, if anyone would like to donate another 13mm ethos to me I'll glady oblige. Can only imagine how the moon would look.

[tim r]

Just did a search in google for televue ethos and went to images and about 5 lines down it has a photo of some lucky bloke with just that setup it looks like his nose fits just between the 2 eps hope this helps

[Davey-T]

My daughter lives in North Lincs , don't know when I'll be up there next, perhaps I could bring my 13mm and we could try them together.

Dave

[Pingster]

Hi Dave, i have a WO, Denk II and Baader MarkV.

My favourite eyepiece in all three are currently a pair of 24mm panoptics.

For the price the WO are phenominal. They are optically almost as good as my Baader MrkV. The MrkV being my fav of the three becuase there minial vignetting, and the image is just that extra tiny bit brighter and sharper. The panoptics vignet the worst on the WO. But its not that bad as the view is super crisp. Yesterday during the day did did a shoot out betweenthw Wo and MrkV at x215mag. I struggled to see any difference.

My advice is get the WO, use the fantastic 20mm eyepieces. Then if you get on well with them, then upgrade to a MrkV. Juding by your ethos collection, you wont be satisifed the narrow FOV of the WO. And imo the maxbright is too vlose cost wise to the MrkV.

[Davey-T]

Damn I'm sure that the edit option dissapears quicker than it used to.

Couldn't find picture but on OPT site it says you can use two 13mm in a binoviewer but doesn't specify a make of binoviewer.

Dave

[Pingster]

Two 13 ethos indeed would be a dream. I would love to hear if they vignet in a Mrk V. In anything with a smaller CA i am sure they would vignet?

[Davey-T]

Think I'm leaning toward the Mk5s and another 13mm Ethos if I can justify the expense and get enough use out of it.

I've just got my big Revelation 88mm binos back from long time loan and used them for a couple of nights and really liked using two eyes but the supplied eyepieces aren't up to

much.

Dave

[Pingster]

If you enjoy binos already then you can not go wrong with a MrkV. I can see from

Your ethos collection visual quality is important to you and the Mrk V wont let you down. A few nights ago of great seeing ispent 2hrs comparing brightness and sharpness betweenmy mono 31Ngaler and 17ethos to my MrkV & 24pans. Brightness wise there was next to no visible difference. Sharpness, again i had to look really hard over and over again to find... Very little difference. The Mrk V is that good.

Im not at mono vs bino person, both to me are tools in my tool box and i use the one that is best suited for the job.

Look forward to hearing how your pair of ethos work out. Its the route i cant resist.

[Alma]

I use a Denk II with 19mm Panoptics and they're a perfect match i.m.o.h. I also have a single 13mm Ethos and personally I wouldn't pair it up in the binoviewer - main reason being the sheer weight and bulk of the eyepieces, which produces a very top heavy combination with the b.v. Anyone who's had a binoviewer flop upside down in an insufficiently tightened diagonal will know exactly what I mean.

Eventually I intend to go with a Baader MK V/ Panoptic 24mm combo which for me would be the ultimate.

If you do go the Ethos route just make sure everything's screwed down REALLY tight.

[angusb1]

If you are thinking of spending more to get bigger clear aperture than the WO you could check out Siebert Optics He does all kinds of sizes of binoviewers including collimateable 1.25" ones with 24.5mm CA and 2" ones with 45mm CA. His OCAs are apparently well regarded too.