Jimmy81

Don’t get Me wrong, the green is a less than ideal colour (to put it politely) but hey, I can live with that.

@cajen2 @Louis D I think you have solved my issue. The Founder 14mm 80° is it. It’s the optics I want but at price I’m willing to pay in compromise for the eyecup issue I had with the 20mm. At that price I’d be willing to try some diy workarounds to get it perfect for me. it’s strange that those eyepieces aren’t listed under the ‘eyepiece’ section on FLO website, you have to search under telescopes!! I would have never just stumbled across these so thank you for the link and all the helpful advice. 🙏🏼

I think I read somewhere on here that you had reviewed the SL 14.5mm 68°. This is something I was looking at as an alternative, what was your overall impression? I think you said it kinda got put back on the shelf when you got the 20mm but I’d be interested to hear how it compares optically. I have the cost of the 20mm (£179) to spend on a different eyepiece and I just can’t stretch to the Morpheus at £229. The 14.5 is £149 and the SL 14mm 80° is £179 but I’m going to have the same issue with the eyecup (unless I can find a cheap workaround)

This is something I have considered as I keep hearing great things about the Morpheus range

I emailed Steve at FLO when I enquired about returning the 20mm and I suggested I might try the Nirvana as an alternative and his response was ‘you will be disappointed’. I have read fairly positive comments regarding the Nirvana eyepieces and figured I could get 2x Nirvana for the price of the 20mm. being a novice I do not demand the best of the best, and would be happy as long as the general consensus of an eyepiece is that is good. I just so happens the 20mm and 30mm are pretty exceptional for their price point and beyond. What I hope to end up with is a 3 piece setup consisting of a 30mm / 13mm - 17mm / 5mm - 7mm. I don’t demand edge to edge sharpness, around 80% + would be great but I don’t mind a touch of edge distortion as at the higher mag I find my eye tends to wonder a lot less. But I do enjoy a wider afov as I think it frames things nicely. So 68° or greater.

@Don Pensack that’s a good shout with the o ring solution. I was just really surprised that they opted for that design?! it leaves me wondering what to do in terms of filling the gap with a 14mm/15mm/16mm in that price range. There is a StellaLyra 14.5mm 68° eyepiece, ES 14mm 82°, or the SL 14mm 80° and try a find a work around with the eyecup?? Decisions, decisions!

Second up was the SL 20mm 80° LER/UWA. First impressions on this are wow! It’s slightly bigger and heavier than the 30mm UFF, but again, not in a bad way. It feels premium and very well made. I wasn’t as keen on colour scheme of the black and red, I felt the all black 30mm looks a bit better. But that just my taste. I popped this into my scope and the first impressions of being wowed were quickly reduced by the hassle of getting the eye relief right. It’s neither a flip up/down or twist up/down. It’s a screw up/down affair. There is no resistance when screwing/unscrewing the eyecup and no stop point when you reach max, so it just simply comes right off in your hand. I found that when I finally got it to position that was comfy and I could see the whole field of view, it felt loose like it could move easily because of the lack of resistance in setting the position. Anyway, moving on to the viewing, the wow factor came back! The images I was seeing were again pin sharp from edge to edge. Each star was a wonderful point of light, contrast seemed better than the 30mm even with the now full moon high in the sky. The 20mm (60x in my scope) framed things really nicely, especially with the 80° Afov. Orion again looked superb, as did the starfish cluster. Optically I just cannot fault it. The only negatives I can comment on are that I was concerned the 20mm was too close in magnification to the 30mm, and for me it is too close. The 30mm gives you the vista, but the 20mm, for me, is kind of at that range where it’s not enough to be considered ‘a closer peek’ at something and not quite wide enough to replace the 30mm full time. the other negative is the eyecup. I really struggled to set it right so I could view without getting that blackout effect from my eye being in the wrong position. Now this is a deal breaker, as £179 for an eyepiece that will just frustrate me and will struggle to use, just doesn’t make sense. if this eyepiece had a different eyecup I would still return it and swap it for it’s 14mm sibling (as this will be a much better useful mag for me). I would still highly recommend this eyepiece to anyone, because if you can get the eye relief right then this is an astonishingly good eyepiece to look through. I hope someone finds this info useful. Both are superb and capable eyepieces.

So I have had a chance to use these 2 eyepieces now over a few nights so thought I’d share my findings. I’m fairly new to astronomy so don’t have or know all the technical talk so this will be a very laymen’s style review. Both eyepieces used in my 8” f6 1200mm Orion Goto dob. First off is the SL 30mm UFF. Going from having 1.25” eyepieces to this was a substantial change in terms of size and weight, but in a good way. It feels hefty and solid in the hand, it looks slick and subtle. I tried out a few clusters - Starfish Cluster, Double cluster, Pleiades etc. Eye relief was comfortable and easy to get set. The views were great, lovely wide field of view and pin sharp stars across the whole view - which is what I expected given what I had read about it. I did have an almost full moon lighting up the sky which affected the overall contrast of the image and prevented me from looking at things to the east and south east. But Orion Nebula looked great, even without any fancy filters, I could make out more of the gas/dust clouds than with my cheaper 28mm 2” Orion eyepiece. The only other eyepieces in my collection to date have been BST Starguiders (which I really enjoyed using). so overall the 30mm UFF is a fantastic heavy weight sturdy well built eyepiece. Pin sharp stars across the 70° view and just comfortable to look through. I will be keeping this lens.

My preferred viewing is DSO and wider star views, but I also like the checking the planets every now and then. I really wanted to limit myself to 3 eyepieces. So at the moment I have: 30mm, 20mm, 12mm. I haven’t had a chance yet but I’m hoping to try the 20 & 30mm tonight as the forecast is for clear skies from 8pm. i may change the 20mm for the 14mm and then change the 12mm for a 10mm or 8mm. We’ll see how tonight’s viewing goes with the 2 new eyepieces.

I think I mentioned before about whether the 20mm might be a bit close to the 30mm in terms of magnification, but all will be revealed. If I find them too similar (40x and 60x in my 8” f6 dob) then I may switch the 20mm for the 14mm LER/UWA. With regards to the light scatter issue, that seemed to come up on the CN forums when I was searching for reviews, but it seems the SL range has been very well received. Maybe a few people who have shelled out on higher priced branded pieces don’t want to believe that they can be bettered or equalled by a lower costing lesser known brand?? Either way, I gotta feeling I made a good decision.

I took the plunge and purchased the 30mm UFF and the 20mm LER/UWA. I’ll leave some feedback when I’ve had a chance to try them out. Can’t wait 😛

These 2 arrived for me today and I’m very much looking forward to trying them out. I’m still a little undecided whether I will keep the 20mm UWA or exchange it for the 14mm UWA to give a bit more range when partnered with the 30mm. I’m hoping for a couple of clear hours one evening this week (although it’s looking increasingly unlikely) to put them to the test and see if they are as good as I’ve read about.

Thank you for your response, I’m not sure hi I missed this?! I had the same thought and was undecided whether to go for the UWA in 20mm or 14mm. I ended up ordering the 30mm UFF and 20mm UWA 80° this weekend so will see how they are once they arrive. I already have a BST Starguider 12mm which is a lovely eyepiece for the money. I may end up returning the 20mm but who knows.

Thanks for sharing. I had read somewhere about the light scatter issue and have since read that this has been addressed in the Stellalyra incarnation. One of the big factors that is attracting me to this brand is what appears to be the value for money. A lot of people are talking about how good some of the eyepieces are and how they compete (and in some cases better) some of the established higher end brands. If they are as good as many others have suggested, then I think I would be happy to give them a try.

Thanks for replying. I actually just found your review of this eyepiece (I shoulda looked harder before asking) and found it to be very helpful. I’m pleased to hear that the eyepiece performs well. I feel for what I want to view the 30mm and 20mm are the way to go. I will retain my BST 12mm which gives a 60° view and is good for wider planetary as this eyepiece gives lovely sharp images but for wider views I would like to go really wide to get that ‘star walking’ immersive feel to viewing.