Radian v NLV... again!

[Mr Spock]

I still can't make my mind up. I've been looking at Jupiter and the moon tonight with the 10mm Radian and 10mm NLV and I still can't decide which I prefer!

I think the wider view of the Radian is probably better on the moon, with the NLV giving better colour on Jupiter. Sharpness and contrast are similar on both.

Moot point really though - my 9mm VT ortho gave a much cleaner, brighter, detailed and more contrasty view of Jupiter than either... The moon is a bit like looking through a peephole though!

[AlexB67]

Michael, It is a hard life having all that choice available isn't it ? , an ortho, a vixen and a Radian. 

Nice though to have them all in the case, but I don't feel too sorry for you if you are going to let one of them go. There again, you don't have to let any of them go, some nights you may prefer one over another and you'll ultimately never decide.  Anyone of them would sell pretty easily anyway. 

[Qualia]

I don't really have anything to compare by, but in general, I prefer viewing Jupiter, say, with the 8mm TV plossl or the high run of BG Orthos, than with the Delos 10mm. I guess I don't suffer from exit-pupil for I find the higher mag orthos and plossl really quite comfortable to use and Shane built such an outstanding dob for me, that it isn't a case of nudging but more like gliding when following objects. On the other hand, I prefer using the Delos when viewing the Moon in general, but will switch over to orthos for a more detailed inspection.

I could never rid myself of the orthos but I'm figuring that if I had the money a two-tier higher mag eyepiece case would be the business. Those short, manly, roll-up-your-sleeves and 'get-in-there' Orthos EPs, and a more distant, cooler, laid back wider-field. Aye, we can but dream

Glad you had a good night, Michael

[Naemeth]

I don't have a Radian, an Ortho or an NLV, but I do have some LVs (the original NLVs as you well know ) and some TV plossls, and when I compared them they seemed to be almost identical up to the edge at F/5, with, if memory serves, a little of the blue ring of fire at the edge. For sharpness though, I couldn't split them. Perhaps the fewer elements of the ortho is of some advantage?

I'm really considering getting myself a set of Astro-Hutech orthos once I've bought the HEQ-5 for my new Mak, once I no longer need to worry about manual tracking I can stop worrying about small AFOV. Mind you, I seem to be fine using the Nagler Zoom at the 3mm setting on my 10" dob, which is 400x, so it might not be as much of an issue as I think it is!

Some of my thoughts anyway .

[John]

It's quite possible to manually track with the orthos FoV and eye relief but it's harder work I find. Worth it for the quality of views these HD orthos put up but it's nice to have a more relaxing alternative that is pretty close optically 

[Naemeth]

It's quite possible to manually track with the orthos FoV and eye relief but it's harder work I find. Worth it for the quality of views these HD orthos put up but it's nice to have a more relaxing alternative that is pretty close optically 

Thanks John, I'll have another think about it - don't want to take the topic off on a tangent .

[alan potts]

Mr Spock,

I have done similar comparisons between BGO orthos and Radians, but I do not find I could use the word 'much' to descibe the differences, though having had the 10mm Radian I did not have the 9mm BGO at the same time.

Alan.

[m0rt]

I have never used a Radian, but interestingly I have been trying to decide between a Radian 14mm (should I find one) and a Vixen NLV 15mm. I have the 12mm NLV and it is, by far, my favourite eyepiece. Incredibly comfortable to use and pretty sharp right to the edge @ f5.9 and it is a non issue @ f11. The colour rendition is rather nice too, showing up subtle shades easily. My only thought is that 60 deg afov would be nice to have. But still...I doubt I would be unhappy with either choice, but the NLV quality is a known quantity for me.

[John]

I have never used a Radian, but interestingly I have been trying to decide between a Radian 14mm (should I find one) and a Vixen NLV 15mm. I have the 12mm NLV and it is, by far, my favourite eyepiece. Incredibly comfortable to use and pretty sharp right to the edge @ f5.9 and it is a non issue @ f11. The colour rendition is rather nice too, showing up subtle shades easily. My only thought is that 60 deg afov would be nice to have. But still...I doubt I would be unhappy with either choice, but the NLV quality is a known quantity for me.

If you find a design you like and feel confident and comfortable with, stick with it 

Eyepiece choice is quite a personal thing I reckon.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have used the LV9 and 7, Radians 8 and 10, and now am firmly entrenched in the XW/Delos camp (with a little XF8.5 thrown in). Orthos are near useless to me (despite loving a Circle T 25mm 0.965" one years back). Short ones do not work for me at all. The LVs and Radians had very similar performance, with the Radians giving a (very) slightly warmer image, which annoys some, but did not bother me very much.  The XWs were again a gnats whisker ahead of the Radian, again with a wider FOV. Both the XF and the XWs provided a slightly higher transmission (picked up Trapezium F with the XF, but bot with either Radian one night), and more neutral colour. I did look through a 10 mm Ortho a few years back, and whilst the part of the FOV I could see was sharp (once the vibrations of my glasses hitting the EP had died down), I could see no clear advantage over the Radian 10 I had at the time. The image may have been a touch brighter, but that did not compensate for the problems keeping the image still (and not being able to see the entire FOV).