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Don Pensack

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Posts posted by Don Pensack

  1. With some people reporting vignetting on the 17mm Ethos in the P-II, I looked for it.

    It certainly wasn't severe if it is there at all.  I'm not as sensitive to vignetting, I guess, as some people, since I regularly used a 41mm Panoptic in an 8" SCT

    and eyepieces that yielded up to 1.3° at f/5.5 in the same scope.

    I didn't find either the 17 Ethos or 21 Ethos had notable vignetting.

    Currently, my largest field diameter eyepiece has almost exactly the same field diameter as the 21mm Ethos, and I see no vignetting in that eyepiece.

    That would not carry over to a larger field diameter such as those in the 31mm Nagler, 30x82ES, 41mm Panoptic, 40x68 ES, 35mm Panoptic, 34x68 ES, 36mm Hyperion.,

    all of which have larger field diameters.

    • Like 2
  2. On 17/08/2021 at 19:03, Louis D said:

    I will agree to disagree with Don on the spacer length again.  I use a 25mm spacer to good effect with my range of eyepieces.  Most focus within 5mm of their shoulder and I get 95%+ of the coma corrected out without messing with the spacing on most of my eyepieces.  As I stated above, my 12mm NT4 is the only one needing parfocalization because it focuses 20mm from its 2" shoulder.  That's just too far off to work well with the GSO CC.  The uncorrected coma is intrusive without parfocalization.

    Different eyepieces focus at different points.  I've had sets of eyepieces that focused 1.2-1.4" apart at times.

    They will focus that far apart in a coma corrector too.

    It's why I suggested parfocalizing your eyepieces with the in-most focusing eyepiece, since that one has its focal plane the farthest from the bottom of the eyepiece

    and needs to be closer to the CC lens.

    How close is that?  It would depend on how far in the eyepiece focuses.

    The size of the spacer in the GSO Coma Corrector that would be added would depend on how much infocusing that eyepiece needed, and whether or not you wanted that eyepiece

    to focus the CC + eyepiece ensemble perfectly when sitting in the CC without any parfocalizing ring.

    The key is to achieve the correct placement of the CC in the light cone of the scope and that will be done when the focal plane of the eyepiece is the working distance from the CC lens.

    I described a method for determining what that spacer length should be in my previous post.  It could be short, or, as in your case, it could be longer.

    With a few eyepieces, that spacer might be quite short or even removed.  I have had eyepieces with focal planes 0.5" to 0.7" above their shoulders that required a lot of infocusing.

     

    • Like 2
  3. 2 hours ago, Spile said:

    Is that not what I am already doing  - see above post?

    No.  Your extension tube pulls the eyepiece out of the focuser a minimum of the length of the bottom barrel of the eyepiece.

    If that works, then fine.  it might not work for other eyepieces, though.

    Most of the time, you won't need that much pull-back distance, but only, say, 1/2", which is much shorter than the length of the lower barrel on the eyepiece.

    In that case, adding a barrel extender (it merely extends the barrel of the eyepiece, but it is the same diameter as the barrel) works better, since you can simply pull the eyepiece out 1/2" and tighten it down

    and know there is enough barrel down inside the focuser for safety.

  4. 1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

    Thanks Don, I assume the 19mm spacer doesn't come with the kit. Can I still use it as it is, albeit it wont be parfocal.

    Baz

    No.  it is not a simple "drop the eyepiece in" device.  At least, not without first adjusting the eyepieces.  I'll explain:

     

    A coma corrector has an operating distance, wherein the focal plane of each eyepiece needs to be a set distance from the CC lens.

    If your eyepieces focus at different places in the focuser travel, they will also be at different distances from the CC lens.

    As I understand, the top of the GSO coma corrector is not long enough to place the CC's focal plane far enough away from the CC lens, hence the spacer.

    Now,  no spacer is necessary if the barrels of the eyepieces are long enough you can pull them out of the CC to the correct point, but that is less likely.

     

    What is typically done is to find a spacer that puts the opening of the CC at the correct working distance away from the lens.  That information is online many places.

    Translucent scotch tape is placed in an X pattern over the hole sans eyepiece.  The scope is pointed at the Moon and the moon is focused on the tape by moving the focuser.

    The focuser is then locked in place, the spacer is removed from the CC, and every eyepiece is inserted until it is in focus and the distance above the CC the shoulder of each eyepiece is is recorded.

    If all eyepieces focus when pulled out of the CC by over a certain minimum amount, say, 14mm,  that spacer's length can be inserted into the CC between lens and upper.

    Done right, your in-most focusing eyepiece will be perfectly in focus at that point, when simply dropped into the CC.

    All other eyepieces should have parfocalizing rings added to them so that when they are dropped in they too are in focus.  Essentially, you have parfocalized all your eyepieces.

    [You can do this in advance by starting with your in-most focusing eyepiece]

     

    When starting out for the night, any eyepiece, then, can be inserted in the CC, the ensemble put in the scope, and the scope focused, knowing that so doing puts the CC lens in the exactly right place in the 

    light cone of the primary mirror to correct coma.  Every other eyepiece inserted will encounter the CC in its optimized position and will be in focus when dropped in (or very close).

     

    You only have to do this once.  Any new eyepiece, just insert the new eyepiece and pull it out until it is in focus and that will be the optimum position for that eyepiece.

    Parfocalizing rings are a nicety.  You can, of course, merely pull the eyepiece out of the CC until it is in focus and simply tighten it in place.

     

    After this is done, you will still need a mm or two of focuser travel for the very best fine focus, but that's all.  Moving the CC back and forth more than that results in poorer correction.

    I suggest you read the long thread I linked to earlier.

     

    Complicated?  Not really.  Time consuming?  A bit.  This is one of the reasons why the ES and TeleVue CCs are more expensive--they have helical tops that replace the necessity of parfocalizing rings.

     

     

    • Thanks 1
  5. One should remember that no matter how short the upper section of an extension tube is, it will still raise the eyepiece out of the focuser by at least the full length of the lower barrel of the eyepiece.

    That will require a LOT of in travel at the focuser to get back to focus.  So if you need 1/2" of out travel to focus, it may not be the best solution.

    It might be better, where focus travel is more limited, to utilize a barrel extender that threads onto the eyepiece but which still inserts fully into the focuser, and then

    pull the eyepiece out to the focus point, knowing there is still enough in the focuser for safety.

     

    I know this does not solve the problem of moving a filter from one eyepiece to another, but does get around the huge refocusing problem when an extension tube is used.

     

    Creative solutions to the hassle of transferring filters from eyepiece to eyepiece (as a side note for the above):

    --filter on the front of a coma corrector or Barlow.  This applies to newtonians or any scope with a Barlow.

    --filter on the bottom of a 2" to 1.25" adapter.  This is a preferred method for planetary filters, where multiple high power eyepieces might be used.

    --filter on the front of the star diagonal (refractor, SCT, MCT)

     

     

  6. 6 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

    Massive Thank you to @Louis D @Don Pensack & @Sargares for your help with the CC.

    I have ordered one from Omegon via the above link. Not a bad price either at £112

    Appreciate all your help!

    Baz

    Ah, the Omegon re-badged GSO unit.

    One of the starting points for use as a visual corrector is to add a 19mm spacer between the upper barrel and the lens housing.

    One very easy way to use it is to parfocalize all your eyepieces first to your eyepiece that needs the most in-travel at the focuser.

    Here is a long thread on optimizing the GSO coma corrector for visual use:

    https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/462985-setting-up-the-gso-coma-corrector/

     

    • Thanks 1
  7. 7 hours ago, Louis D said:

    My questions about this:

    1. How much back focus is required for it?  I'm seeing ~55mm of spacing to the image plane, but that doesn't address in-focus.
    2. If a lot of in focus is required, how do you insert it deeply into a 2" focuser with all those knurled rings hanging out?
    3. How do you insert 2" eyepieces into a 1.25" holder?  Most CCs come with 2" eyepiece holders.
    4. How much spherical aberration is introduced at high power?  Will you need to remove it to get the best image in the center at high powers?
    5. How much does it flatten a curved Newtonian field?  It doesn't mention this at all.

    Most folks in the past simply attached the MPCC to the 2" filter threads of low power 2" eyepieces with the appropriate amount of M48 spacer rings.  They didn't not use it as a general purpose CC.

    The MPCC won't change the focal length of your scope, but I also see nothing about it doing any field flattening, only coma correcting.

    I ended up getting the GSO coma corrector and added a 25mm M48 spacer ring between the holder and the optics section.  I parfocalized my 12mm Nagler T4 to work with it.  The rest of my eyepieces come to focus close enough to the eyepiece shoulder so as to not need parfocalization to get good coma correction.  The GSO mildly field flattens as well, which is a welcome benefit.  It does add some SA, so I remove it at high powers.

    1. The amount of infocus varies according to the scope's f/ratio.  The Paracorr is ~14mm, and the MPCC seemed to be less when I was fooling around with it.

    2. The knurled ring is for certain camera adapter attachment.  It is removed for visual use.

    3. you don't.  One of the accessories needed for the MPCC is the 1.25" adapter which allows 1.25" eyepieces to be used with the 2" MPCC.

    You do need a 2" focuser--there is no 1.25" MPCC.

    4. I saw a lot of spherical aberration in the out of focus star images, so I think it would be wise to remove it at high powers for planet viewing.

    However, you will also need to have a tracking mount, then, as only the center of the field will be coma free.

    This makes the ES HRCC and TeleVue Paracorr better, since they do not add spherical aberration.

    And, they add a bit of magnification as well, not a bad thing for planets, Moon, double stars, planetaries.

    5. I didn't see any evidence of field flattening.  In my f/5 dob, the 35mm Panoptic has a slightly curved focal plane, so a different focus in center and at the edge.

    I saw the same thing when the MPCC was used.

     

    6. I agree the GSO is a better choice and easier to optimize for all eyepieces.  It's 1.1x also has some field flattening.

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  8. 13 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

    Hi all,

    I am looking to purchase the attached Baader Coma corrector for my 300p to use in conjunction with my Morpheus EPS. I have a few questions if I may..

    https://www.firstlightoptics.com/coma-correctors/baader-mpcc-visual-photographic-set.html

    Is the coma corrector a permanent install on the scope or do you only use it when the need arises?

    At the moment I have a 2" 47mm clicklock on my scope with 2" to 1.25" clicklock reducer - This enabled me to do away with the standard 47mm extension provided with the scope. If I install the CC will I need to do away with this combination or can I still use the clicklocks.  In fact I may do away with the 2" to 1.25 and use the Morpheus eps in 2" instead. Is there any benefit to doing this?

    Will the CC change the focal length of my scope or does it just flatten the field?

    Anyone have any experience with this cc? Silly question but does it take away the slight comet shape I occasionally see off axis?

    Thank you

    Baz

    It is hard to use--it attaches directly to the eyepiece, but to get it the required distance from the focal plane of each eyepiece, it's necessary to have a different length of spacer stack attached to every eyepiece.

    The easy way to do that is to optimize the spacer stack on one eyepiece and focus the scope.  Then, add or subtract spacers from every other eyepiece until it is parfocal with the first eyepiece you optimized

    without using the focuser of the scope.  You won't be able to perfectly parfocalize all the eyepieces, but if you get them all within about 2mm, you're OK.

    There is also a 1.25" adapter it can attach to that, because most 1.25" eyepieces are closer to the same focus, can be used with parfocalizing rings on the eyepieces themselves.

    If all the spacers are correctly chosen, all the eyepieces will become approximately parfocal.  Typically, you leave the spacers on the eyepieces and merely transfer the CC to the next eyepiece like a filter.

    The GSO coma corrector is easier to use, and the Explore Scientific and TeleVue coma correctors require no spacers and are the easiest to use.

    If the scope is f/5 or faster, you'll want coma correction at all powers.  At f/5, only the center 2.2mm of field is coma free otherwise, and it's only 1.1mm at f/4.

     

    1) the working distance between lens and eyepiece focal plane (or chip) is ~55mm.  It requires a placement closer to the mirror than the focal plane of the scope, so the focuser may move in some

    while the eyepieces move out.

    2) The Morpheus eyepieces cannot be used in 2" mode with the Baader MPCC--you'll never get the eyepiece far enough away from the CC lens.  You must use them as 1.25" eyepieces.

    3) It does not change the focal length of the scope and has negligible effect on field flattening.  It will also add some spherical aberration on axis, so might be a negative for planet viewing at high powers.

    4) Yes, it will correct the visible coma down to about f/4.5 in a full-field eyepiece.  Below f/4.5, the field size corrected shrinks.

    The aberration you see in the outer field could be astigmatism combined with coma.  The MPCC can correct the coma, but won't help the astigmatism.

    • Like 1
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  9. 21 hours ago, globular said:

    With a measured field stop of 21.7 that gives a calculated AFOV of 71 degrees.

    So a measured FOV of 74 gives geometric distortion of about +4.2%.

    Sounds fairly high…  ?

    At that apparent field, figures as high as 10% are not uncommon.  4% is close to the figure found in many 55-60° eyepieces.

    • Thanks 1
  10. 4 minutes ago, John said:

    Thanks Don.

    Have you compared the Morpheus 17.5mm to the 17.3mm Delos and / or the ES 17mm / 92 ?

    (to save me the trouble of doing so !)

     

    They are all nice eyepieces.  The Delos is probably the sharpest of the bunch at the very edge, but it requires even more in focus than the 17.5 Morpheus.

    The ES 92° is a very nice eyepiece and has a comfortable eye relief, but I found the exit pupil more finicky to attain and hold compared to the others.

    It's now by far the most expensive of the 3 here in the US, recently going to $800USD (only £410 in the UK) versus $259 (Morpheus) and $352 (Delos)

    It's also by far the heaviest. of the 3.  And I see a little edge of field astigmatism at f/5.75 and f/5.18.  I haven't used it in a faster scope yet.

    The "Critical f/ratio" at which the eyepiece begins to perform more poorly are f/3 (Delos), f/4.5 (Morpheus), and f/4.75+/- for the ES.

    They can be used at shorter f/ratios, of course, but with lesser edge performance, even in a coma corrector.

    The respective weights are:

    Morpheus--305g

    Delos--409g

    ES 17x92--1159g

    • Like 5
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  11. 3 hours ago, Spile said:

    I had hoped the same but the issue remains regardless which adapter is used. In fact the problem is exacerbated IIRC with the 1.25".

    Not necessarily.  2" to 1.25" adapters come in many different heights, from -12.7mm to +16.5mm

    So you could change to a lower height adapter and get the 1.25" eyepiece just as close as the 2" eyepiece.

    Ultimately, though, there is nothing prohibiting you from using the eyepiece as a 2" in the scope without the adapter at all, and using the 2" adapter when using the Barlow.

    The focuser works without the 2" tall adapter.  You could even use the telescope as a 2" without any adapter and drop a normal 1.25" adapter into the focuser if you needed a lot of in-travel.

  12. 33 minutes ago, John said:

    Like the term "Super Apochromat" which is being applied to a few refractor lines now ?

    Back on the Morpheus range, does the actual AFoV of the 17.5mm Morpheus match the spec of 76 degrees ?. Has it been measured independently ?

     

     

    Yes, it's been independently measured and no, it doesn't match specs claimed.  The 23.55mm field diameter they claim turns out to be ~21.7mm and the apparent field about 74° instead of 76 (all the other focal lengths are 78-79°).

    Still, use the eyepiece, and it is so nice and pleasant to use, and sharp, and has such superb contrast, that that simply won't matter.   It became a favorite from the first hour I used one.  If you don't wear glasses, the 17mm Ethos is a tad better,

    but then, it's, uh, a bit more expensive.

    • Like 1
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  13. 2 hours ago, jetstream said:

    Yes, our US cabin owner neighbors are here now and seem pretty happy to be back. It will sure be nice to be able to go to the US again. We're all double Pfizered up here.

    Too early.  It's still not safe due to the spiking infections in most of the US.  Even fully vaccinated people are getting it, though vaccinated people only represent 1/10000 among the hospitalized.

    But infected, but fully vaccinated, people can carry the same load of virus as the unvaccinated.

    They've just approved of a 3rd dose of the Pfizer vaccine for the high risk individuals.

    I'd wait until the case load on this current spike diminishes substantially before I'd even think about visiting the US.

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

    • Like 1
  14. 3 hours ago, Sargares said:

    Aye. I really don’t like barlows for the above reason, the faff, and the fact they usually throw the focus out miles. In this case it’ll only be 200 and 300 approx magnifications. 
     

    the levitating above the eyepiece isn’t the end of the world for me though. Just a minor nuisance. 

    Not a nuisance at all.  The Morpheus eyepieces come with an eyeguard extender, and you can even add another extender.

    If you did that and used the rubber eyeguard in the UP position, you'd need to press hard into the eyeguard to even get to the exit pupil.

    With Morpheus eyepieces, never a need to hover.

    • Like 2
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  15. A couple notes:

    1) The UK now requires that an American merchant collect the VAT at time of sale and pay the British government the tax separately upon shipment.

    So all US prices exclude VAT but it will be charged.  Any American seller selling to the UK now and not charging VAT on top of the price is probably selling below his cost.

    I have given up selling to the UK because of this.

     

    2) I'm in CA, and when I sell to the other 49 states, I need not charge sales tax.  So the price listed, which does not include tax, is what the consumer pays.

    In CA, I not only charge tax, but there are 509 separate tax rates for residences in my county, so the tax charged is not only not standardized, it varies according to zip code!

    I have to note that when I pay sales tax collected to the state.

     

    3) Merchants in other states with Sales Tax (not all states have a sales tax) also charge their local state rate for purchases made in state but do not charge sales tax for purchases from out of state.

     

    4) Because of the internet and many/most people buying from out of state to avoid the sales tax, local governments are missing billions of dollars in revenue  that they got before Covid-19

    when a lot more sales were in local stores.  There is, because of that, a move to require all merchants to collect sales tax for purchasers in all the states that have a sales tax, and pay sales tax to each state.

    That would be such a nightmare that a very large number of retailers would simply close up shop rather than have to pay 4 dozen separate taxes monthly or quarterly.

    That is why it has not be instituted.  But if sales continue to shift to the internet and away from stores (a shift that started long before Covid), that may happen.

    The possibility is to devise a central bureau to receive all the sales taxes for all 50 states and distribute it to the separate states for the merchants.  At a cost, of course.

    One other thing that has kept this collection of taxes from happening isn't logistical, it's the long history of anti-tax sentiment in the US.

    The obvious answer is a VAT that covers all 50 states, but this would cause a revolution in the US, so it won't be done.  Remember George III and the tea tax?

    Also, there is a substantial argument this affects the poor more than the rich, which isn't viewed as fair, and a VAT percentage cannot be computed based on one's income.

    I could really get into the weeds with this since a very good friend is a tax attorney and we have debated this for decades, but I won't.

     

    To get back to the price of the 31mm Nagler, any UK denizen buying from the US should add 20% to the purchase price and not forget that shipping is now quite expensive compared to only 5 years ago.

    So $666 = $799.20 and there would be at least $75 for freight and insurance (maybe more) = $874.20, which is £630.67

    So UK prices are in line with US prices.

  16. On 06/08/2021 at 14:05, Louis D said:

    Unless they go with a design similar to the 30mm APM UFF which uses a compression instead of expansion section ahead of the field stop.  Of course, it wouldn't be the same negative/positive design methodology as the rest of the line.  However, the eyepiece width could be kept fairly narrow to allow for binoscope usage.

    At a higher cost and higher weight, so it doesn't really get to the same point--a 1.25" eyepiece longer than 17.5mm with an ultra-wide field.

    And Ackermann was only able to pull off a 70° field in that 30mm APM in 2", not 76° .

    It could be like the 22mm Nagler, but despite a slightly narrower apparent field, the desire for a longer eye relief would increase the size and weight, so you'd be back to Nagler weight and price (maybe a bit less), which

    again would defeat the purpose.  

    Seriously, a 2" Morpheus with a longer focal length than 17.5mm would be expensive and heavy, so just quite unlikely.

    Just as there is no 2" TeleVue Delos, or 2" TeleVue Delite.

    Could it be done?  Possibly.  At a price and weight the current Morpheus buyer would buy?  Probably not.

    • Like 3
  17. Not exactly.

    The US has no national sales tax, so prices here are quoted without any taxes:

    TeleVue 21mm Ethos--$854, or £615.56 or €725.97

    Explore Scientific 20mm 100°--$799.99, or £576.63 or €680.06

    [I used the big bank exchange rate because it was easiest to compute.]

    FLO lists the 21mm Ethos at £810.00, but remember that that price includes VAT.

    As does the €990.00 price that APM charges for the same eyepiece (€831.93 without tax).

    Plus, you have additional shipping and importation fees added to the cost, which the US does not.

    Except now, where ES is paying a 25%+ tariff on the importation of eyepieces, while TeleVue, with no Chinese sources, is not.

    So the same eyepiece, sent to Europe or the UK will not pay the 25%+ importation tariff that ES pays in the US.

    • Thanks 1
  18. 14 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

    Evening (here) Don

    That was an interesting read. I understand that the 17.5 was added to the range a few yrs??  After the other 5 EP's and this is down to the redesign. I also read that the 17.5mm was the longest FL that Baader could produce due to the design of the EP. In your opinion do you think it is possible for Baader to continue producing longer FLs in this EP range such as a 20mm or even 25mm - I assume anything over a 25mm would need to be a 2" maybe?

    Cheers

    Baz

    Baz,

    In this design, I think anything longer than 17.5mm would have to be a 2" eyepiece, so, no, I don't think there will be longer focal lengths.

    It isn't just about the size of the field stop, it's also about how light is handled in the design.

    It would have to be fatter, heavier, longer, and a lot more expensive--look at the 31mm Nagler for an idea of shape.

    It's easy to make an all-positive design with a field stop up to the diameter of the barrel interior (like the 24mm Hyperion), but it doesn't work with a negative/positive design.

    The lenses above the negative lens have to be significantly larger in diameter or have very complex curves, both of which add price and weight to the eyepiece.

    You wouldn't buy a 20mm Morpheus if it were 2" and twice as heavy and twice as expensive, but it might need to be.  Think 22mm Nagler, for example.

    Baader has not really gone in for long focal length 2" eyepieces except the 31mm and 36mm Hyperions, which aren't in the same quality range as the Morpheus eyepieces.

     

    • Like 1
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  19. 53 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

    I was thinking of 17.5 mm Morpheus for bino usage, any others I should consider?

    For larger magnifications the 9 mm Morpheus also looking interesting, again any other EP's I should consider?

    Thanks

    Think a 40% magnification progression: 17.5mm>>12.5mm>>9mm>>6.5mm>>4.5mm

    Now you see the WHY of the focal length progression.  the 14mm is the odd man out--the largest focal length in the original internal design.

    The 17.5mm has a different internal design, which is why it has a different eye relief, focuses at a different place, and a slightly different apparent field.

    It feels remarkably the same, though, which is a credit to the designers.  It took them 3 tries to get it right.

    • Like 4
  20. 2 hours ago, jetstream said:

    Rumor at the coffee shop has it that the 9mm Morph is the sweetheart of the line- thoughts?

    I don't really think so.  It just might correspond to an excellent magnification and exit pupil in a lot of scopes.

    It depends what you're sensitive to.  I hate astigmatism, and have very little tolerance for any in an eyepiece.

    Other people might hate slight chromatic aberration or field curvature, or something else.

     

    In Ernest's tests at f/4 (f/10 was much much better--more or less perfect), the star images were:

    4.5mm--4' center, 10' 1/2 way, 14' edge   largest issue CA

    6.5mm--4' center, 10' 1/2 way, 16' edge   largest issue CA

    9mm--5' center, 11' 1/2 way, 14' edge   largest issue Astigmatism

    12.5mm--5' center, 12' 1/2 way, 16' edge,   largest issue FC

    14mm--5' center, 18' 1/2 way, 24' edge   largest issue FC.

    [the 17.5mm was not tested]

    Note: 10' is essentially a perfect star image, so judge accordingly.

    If you cannot see the very outer parts of the star images due to light pollution or small aperture, the edge stars drop to <1/2 as large in size.

    And all of them are pretty much perfect at f/10.

    It's my impression from testing them at f/7, f/5.75, and f/3.45 that the Morpheus line probably has a minimum f/ratio of 4.5-4.7 for best performance.

    At f/5.75, the 14mm (the weakest in the test) is pretty much sharp to the edge in a flat field scope, so the f/4 results have to be judged as a "worst case" scenario.

    Stick to longer f/ratios and the performance is high-end.

    A coma corrector will work wonders at f/5.5 and shorter.

     

    • Like 4
  21. Magnifications the Morpheus eyepieces produce in my scope and how they work:

    Scope is 12.5" f/5.75 (the f/ratio with a Paracorr), 1826mm focal length

    17.5mm--104x.  A good, fairly low power eyepiece for larger objects--frequently used on large clusters.  I don't often go below this power because few objects look better at lower powers.

    14mm--130x.  A popular all-around magnification for many objects.  Not high enough for a lot of objects, but seeing never interferes at this power, so it is often used on large nebulae and clusters.  My #1 finder eyepiece.

    12.5mm--146x.  a comfortable magnification for nearly everything large and a frequently-used focal length.  I use the Apollo 11 a lot more (166x) because the 11mm focal length is more usable for galaxies.

    9mm--203x.  THE galaxy focal length, large planetaries, etc.  Very frequently-used focal length.  Sold my sample, but will acquire another one when they're available.  

    6.5mm--281x.  Not too high.  Good for nearly all small objects and good for Jupiter and Moon in average seeing. I use the 6mm Ethos a lot more due to a wider field and MUCH sharper optics.  I don't use glasses at this magnification,

    so the eyepiece needs the eyeguard extender ring.  The extender ring also helps block peripheral light, so the eyepiece has excellent contrast.  If anyone uses any Morpheus without glasses, I recommend the extender ring. 

    4.5mm--406x  Not used because my 4.7mm Ethos SX has a field 45% wider, which is more useful in an undriven scope.  The Ethos SX is sharper and brighter, too.  It isn't just seeing, because the 3.7mm Ethos SX is sharper than both of them.

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