jetstream

I'm very interested in your thoughts on this, actually on how deep the 9mm will go. If there is a 10mm BCO available to compare it to it would be nice.

Whew! I know there are brand loyalties out there but I'm only loyal to my eyeballs and what they show lol! Last night gave a unique set of circumstances -very high transparency and superb seeing, the little 90mm SV APO gave an excellent view of Saturn- all the way up to 262x with the HR2 2.4mm, man I never thought this scope could do this so well!

I wonder if everyones still talkin' to me? Oh well, not much sense doing a review/comparison if I don't report what I see.

Tonight gave a window of opportunity to compare the Lunt 20mm HDC to the 21E on some nebs in very transparent skies with 21.7 mag darkness. So the stage is set... 15" cooled and collimated dob, an OIII and a UHC (Lumicon). The Veil was a tie between them as was Pickering Wisp with all of the features in the borrowed image easily visible in both eyepieces. It was a tie here really but the 20mm HDC did best the 21E on "E" on the map, whereas the 21E did a tiny bit better on the core of the Wisp. The NAN was a tie but the 21E gave a hair more contrast on the closely detached patch just of the tip of the Gulf. The Pelican a tie. Over to NGC 6888-the Crescent and here the Lunt bested the 21E no question, the brightest section of the neb was that much brighter in the Lunt, with no filter and both filters.They both gave a nicely filled "brain" look to the interior- a tie on this part. I'm not sure which direction to go here first... I'll go up to LBN 208 I guess. In this whole area the Lunt excelled- not that the 21E is a slouch, both offered VG views of the area, but I preferred the Lunt. Once you start seeing these nebs around the Sadr area they really do blend together- from the Crescent to SH2-108 to IC1318E with LDN 889 cutting in between, with IC1318D on the other side. This whole area was better in the Lunt, IMHO. The views around Sadr are rewarding and when beginning, confusing. I must say that on the "Butterfly section of IC1318 (E, LDN 889,D) the Lunt was the clear winner. After tonight's somewhat shocking results, I can say that on nebs I prefer the Lunt to the Ethos! Most was a tie, but where the Lunt was better, it was clearly better. Much more comparisons need to be done, next time galaxies I think. This was a great night to observe! ps everything I listed, I saw and very well...

Thanks Niall! there is much to do here to get set up...

Thanks John and yes this is my idea on things too. I'm building a temperature/humidity controlled building so my scopes are equalized all the time and hopefully this controls the condensation issues etc. I will be able to wheel it out assembled, collimate and use it.

Thanks Piero! I just ordered that too... f ratio etc in the f4.5-f4.6 range. We're shooting for January, or possibly the spring. I'm not ready for it yet lol!

I just ordered it.

Well, right now I'm living in very dark skies and with enough property to leave the 24" set up (and equalized) and wheel it out whenever the sky allows (lots). I guess I'm thinking here's my chance...

I find that the 30ES 82 also loses a bit of contrast compared to the Ethos line but it is VG eyepiece. I have heard that the Lunt 20mm HDC is a bit better than the 30ES in this regard and goes a little deeper. In reality I think this must be the "golden age" of eyepieces for us to have such a great selection at the prices offered on some of these. Me, I'm thinking of a 24" dob atm...

Paul, what aspects of the 20ES 100 were not quite right? I'm curious as always about peoples take on eyepieces.

Those are great reviews John. I've had a couple of nights with the 20mm Lunt HDC and this eyepiece so far is VG. In the 15" f4.8 I notice no astigmatism at all and will try it at f3.8 once that scope is up and running. The Lunt is very sharp on the moon @ 91x, and it does exhibit a bit of off axis "gold fringing" to my eyes, not to be confused with the blue ring of fire at the field stop. The 21E also exhibits off axis fringing, thinner than the Lunt with green on one side of the moon and purple on the other. The 21E has a similar blue ring of fire. With the SQM-L between 19.8 and 20.5 and the moon subsiding I caught the Veil and more importantly a bit of Pickerings Wisp with the 20mm Lunt/Lumicon OIII. This is a good sign IMHO. I detect a small amount of FC in both the 21E and Lunt 20mm HDC, but could be scope related. So far I really like this eyepiece.

I have a Stellarvue 90mm APO triplet CF f7 for a 630mm fl. This scope punches above its weight and with the 42mm LVW, 30mm ES gives great views of the NAN etc. Speaking of weight it is around 8 lbs. I believe that TS sold these same scopes and if their 102mm APO triplet is anything like my 90mm it is well worth the consideration.

The Lunt is now in Thunder Bay so its should be here soon and I'll try to watch for the edge abb's etc when I use it but for me the needed characteristic is contrast, with and without filters. I'll be able to tell immediately how good it is in this regard.

I'm hoping the Lunt will allow me to wade through the nebula around Sadr like the 21E does... edit: oops forgot this

Glad to hear this Mark, there are a number of people who really like these eyepieces and when I saw Vogel using them in his DSO pursuits I knew there must be something to them. The 30ES 82 is VG, but behind the 21E, the 18 ES 82 vs the 17E is the same result. There are few eyepieces that match Ethos performance with filters but the Lunt might be one of them.

Uh oh... maybe the Lunt will go!

I read your excellent report the other day John and I'm intrigued by a few user reports that these eyepieces go a hair "deeper" than ES 82's. My main interest is with the filters- and for some unknown reason different EP's work better with filters (to me). The little f3.8 200mm is a good but harsh test platform for many EP qualities, but I'll be able to tell immediately if the Lunt equals the Ethos on some nebs, the Pelican is a good test. The Ethos pops the head into view superbly, like a grey photograph really. The Lunt is lighter than the 21E as well which will be nice for my short little dob.

Well after hearing about this eyepiece I wanted to see if it offers Ethos contrast with a OIII/UHC. ES is good but behind the TV in this respect so we'll see... I wonder if the 21E is in jeopardy?

These EP choices are excellent and covers all the bases superbly. Great stuff Piero!

Don't drop the box Mike!!

Ok, I want one, a FS128.... Great scope! and congratulations!