Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Ethos V's Explore scientific 100 Degree

lardy

By lardy
in Discussions - Eyepieces

Recommended Posts

lardy

lardy

Posted
Posted

First night out with my New Ethos's before returning abroad to work, due to that lovely full moon I decided to just go with some lunar observations and test out the Ethos's  in direst comparison with the ES 100's.

One hour later Im blinded in my left eye with all the light ..... anyway!

9mm ES - 10mm Ethos ...  bit of a funny one this, my finding are colour creeps in from the edges but the same from the Ethos ... the ES snaps into focus better than the TV , the Ethos has better clarity .. Nahh i'm lying, the ES I think is the (very) slightly better EP than the 10mm Ethos, to the point that I though I was looking through the better EP and tried to put the ES caps on the Ethos.

14mm ES - 13 Ethos ... better clarity and sharper focus than the ES, but its very close!

20mm ES - 21 Ethos ... as above but only close this time.

My definition of clarity would be ... the blacks are blacker and whites are whiter .... the ES have a warm white to them were as the Ethos's seem a crisper white.

Are the Ethos's worth the extra? hmmm I paid 60% of the market value for mine, for me Yes ... If I had done this comparison with borrowed Ethos's then thought about buying ....Nahh I would stick with the ES's.

Regards

Mark

Ps ... I do love the Ethos's though, time to move on the ES's and Axiom's 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 48
  • Created
  • Last Reply
alan potts

alan potts

Posted
Posted

Lardy,

I have Ethos down to 6mm and I enjoy them no end. The only thing I would say is both larger scopes listed are rather slow and other two are not very fast, you don't say what you used for the comparison. I have a similar range of scopes though not at large as some of your beauties, the 130mm was the one I wish I had bought.

It is interesting seeing what you say about focus but I will have to take your word for it as I am not going out to buy a range of ExSc 100, though I may well add a 5.5mm at some point soon.

I would love to see what the two types are like at F4.4 or somewhere like that.

You be careful you don't get a visit from the Televue Inquisition saying things like that about the 10mm, it is one of my favourites.

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lardy

lardy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It was all done with the APM 130mm using the Everbright diagonal .... I got the wow moment through the 21mm Ethos looking at the moon, reminds me of my zeiss 8x42, a wow moment every time I use them! It's the clarity over the others  :grin:.

Swapping EP's constantly to get a comparison I thought this is the best of the two i was using, still holding the other in my hand I tried to fit the ES caps to the Ethos. Let the Inquisition start   :evil:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alan potts

alan potts

Posted
Posted

I know some on site don't like looking at the Moon with Ethos but I am knocked out every time that I can put either a 6mm or 8mm in my 115mm APM or M/N 190mm and look at the whole Moon at such magnification. A little smaller than your LX the 21mm is fabulaous in the 12 inch with globular clusters.

When I bought the LX I really wanted the 14 inch but still wanted to keep the wife, though I have to say I think I would buy the same given my time over again, by the time I had finshed adding bits to where I thought the quality should have been I had spent 5,600 quid, I have since bought a mega wedge and never used it. Maybe one day.

Your set up looks superb with the skypod.

Alan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted

Interesting report Mark - thanks for posting it  :smiley:

I don't have an Ethos 10mm but I do have the 21mm, 13mm, 8mm and 6mm in that range. Until recently my ~20mm spot was filled with an ES 20mm / 100 which is the only one of that series I've used.

I love the Ethos eyepieces but I have to admit that the differences between the E21 and the ES20 are very hard to spot with my eyes and scopes, even in the F/5.3 12" dob. I have occasionally wondered if the £200 the switch cost me was really money well spent, to be honest. 

I also use a Powermate 2x with my 8mm and 6mm Ethos to get 4mm and 3mm 100 degree eyepieces and that work splendidly. Despite the 13 or so lens elements the sharpness and contrast delivered is amazing and just as good as my 4mm and 3mm Radians. 

From all the other Ethos v's ES 100 reports I've read, including yours, plus my own limited experience with them, I'd say that here ES have got exceedingly close to matching Tele Vue in all but the eye relief which does seem a little tighter with the ES 100's because of the slightly recessed eye lenses. 

If someone asked me whether the Ethos is worth the additional investment over the ES 100's, unless their scope was a really fast one or eye relief was vitally important to them, I'd be hard pressed to make the justification. Mine is that, with the exception of the 21mm, my Ethos eyepieces were purchased used and before the ES 100's were on the market.

As a matter of interest, I've been loaned one of the new William Optics XWA 101 degree 9mm eyepieces to try out. I reckon the optics inside it are the same as the ES 9mm / 100 although the bodywork has very different treatment. Thats proving to be an interesting eyepiece too, although the viewing experience is a little different from either the Ethos or the ES because of the way the eye cup has been implemented.

Interesting times in the 100 degree eyepiece world :grin:  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lardy

lardy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Alan ....  I had the 12" old school LX prior to getting the 14" and yes I have the gear upgrade on the 14" ... not quite as easy as described but Im a machinist so no great shakes ..  its all about to change though, De-forking and mounting the OTA on my older CGE Pro mounted on the pillar in the Pod. I kinda dislike the forks and Meade control system. Love the big old bucket effect so time to bite the bullet, hopefully will be all up  singing and dancing by the Autumn. 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

Posted
Posted

I can afford an ethos,I just can't justify it being nearly twice the price I paid for my es 100°,especially as most people can't yell the difference.sometimes it seems like having two pairs of trainers, one Nike one gola made the same but 99% of people will swear blind the Nike is better.human nature me thinks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
spaceboy

spaceboy

Posted
Posted

There is no denying that Televue take pride in making some of the best eyepieces available and I would never want to knock them for that as I'm sure for those astronomers who live in the middle of nowhere having the best eyepieces and scopes to make the very best of their good fortune is a given but for most of us who have to contend with LP, smog/ haze, cloud and long hauls to dark skies I feel it will always come down to how much you are willing to spend. As proven in this thread the improvements between better quality eyepieces are often only be subtle anyway. 

I couldn't be happier with my current collection of ES eyepieces TBH. Would I want to own a set of Ethos over the ES 100° ? Sure if money was no object, who wouldn't ? but then if money was no object there would be all sorts of other things I'd want also :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted

I can afford the equivelant ethos over my ES 100° but as this review shows,why both for little if any improvement.it's spending money for the sake of it sometimes.

As you said in your previous post in this thread, "each to their own"  :smiley:

You are not prepared to pay lots of money for very small performance gains. Other are. Theres no right and wrong in this, just the choices that different people make. At least with forums like this such choices are much better informed :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

Posted
Posted

I am prepared to pay for small performance gains,I bought some ES 100° eps instead of a plosl.

It is each to their own but maybe some of us just get bored if televue this televue that when the days of then ring head and shoulders better is long gone.each to my own :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

I think that eyepieces are such an individual thing. I think an Ethos (well, the 13mm I have at least is a performance drop compared with a TV plossl when looking at the moon. Personally, I cannot see anything in performance between TV plossls/BGOs and any other eyepiece I own (other than on the moon), just field of view. People (me included) will, however, understandably have a tendency to defend their own purchases.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AlexB67

AlexB67

Posted
Posted

Not come across those Nikon eyepieces before, after checking prices I now feel like a cheapskate buying a pentax XW at a sensible price, but I don't care or feel I am missing out :grin: .   I am happy with that make of eyepiece, it is darn good enough for me.  Given the 70 degree of the Nikon, even makes an ethos look cheap considering their FOV. :eek: who said TV were overpriced ? pfft, midrange price stuff now after seeing that. :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jetstream

jetstream

Posted
Posted

Not come across those Nikon eyepieces before, after checking prices I now feel like a cheapskate buying a pentax XW at a sensible price, but I don't care or feel I am missing out :grin: .   I am happy with that make of eyepiece, it is darn good enough for me.  Given the 70 degree of the Nikon, even makes an ethos look cheap considering their FOV. :eek: who said TV were overpriced ? pfft, midrange price stuff now after seeing that. :p

 You are not missing anything with that Pentax XW and I hope you find a 10mm XW too,as I understand it may be the best DSO EP out there....You made an excellent purchase with the 7mm XW Alex and now for the lower power,big field stop 17mm Ethos with a fine exit pupil in our scopes.Not only does the Ethos give a big apparent field,they also have a big TFOV which I like on a lot of things.The Veil is truely amazing in that eyepiece.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alan potts

alan potts

Posted
Posted

There was or is a site member, Keith, that has a couple of Nikons but I believe he bought them while in Japan where they are much cheaper and more readily available, I understand in England they are about 1000 pounds each and then I think from only one outlet.

I read a review on CN about them and Ethos and it was reckoned that the Nikon was a fraction better. The odd thing about top line eyepieces is and I have seen this myself, one moment you think one is better then a few minutes later you have changed your mind. I believe that if you tested them over many nights it may well end up swings and roundabouts as conditions vary.

BTW Alex, Nothing much wrong with Pentax eyepieces apart from they don't make enough of them.

Alan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted

Not come across those Nikon eyepieces before, after checking prices I now feel like a cheapskate buying a pentax XW at a sensible price, but I don't care or feel I am missing out :grin: .   I am happy with that make of eyepiece, it is darn good enough for me.  Given the 70 degree of the Nikon, even makes an ethos look cheap considering their FOV. :eek: who said TV were overpriced ? pfft, midrange price stuff now after seeing that. :p

The Nikon NAV HW's have a 102 degree FoV:

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/product.html?info=2769&x317bd=8as10mrcliijspoi1051ab8qg6&x317bd=8as10mrcliijspoi1051ab8qg6

1,720 euros but you do get an extender which gives you a couple of focal lengths from the same eyepiece.

They are reputed to be a bit better than an Ethos as is the less expensive Docter 12.5mm UWA:

http://www.astroshop.eu/docter-12-5mm-1-25l-2l-ultra-wa-eyepiece/p,22974

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.