HollyHound

22 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

If there is any way to stretch to a Tak 100 (any model) I’d go for it. I wish I’d got one much earlier than I did. And you’d always be wondering what you missed.

😊

I'd second this... my FC-76DCU is wonderful and makes the perfect grab and go scope (and a great travel scope as @Nicola Fletcher pointed out earlier), but the FC-100 (any model) really steps the view up a gear. If it was just the one refractor (and not just for travelling), I'd go for the 100mm aperture, if you can 🙂

On 02/02/2023 at 11:31, globular said:

I've given up waiting for an ES92/17 (to go with my ES92/12) and am excited to try the XW16.5 instead....

Spoiler alert... I suspect you will adore this eyepiece 😀

I love mine so much that I'm getting the XW23 too, and have already sold my XW20, XW30, Masuyama 16 & 26 and my XW14 is up for sale 😁

A full set of XW (3.5, 5, 7, 10, 16, 23 & 40) will now be my main eyepiece set going forward, with the APM SuperZoom 7.7-15.4, Nagler 3-6 & ES24 for the lightweight setup 👍

Just a quick session a couple of hours ago, on the Moon, Jupiter and Mars... just the FC-76DC and the APM SuperZoom.... total setup time was less than a minute... true "grab and go" 😁

First session for weeks and great to get out for a bit for quick, relaxing and lovely views 😀

On 29/01/2023 at 14:51, SuburbanMak said:

and (incredibly excitingly!) a pair of Canon 10x42 IS Binoculars

Nice one... You will love stabilised binoculars 😀

Sounds great… can’t wait to hear how you get on with this.. plus photos of course 😃

25 minutes ago, dantro said:

At age 70, I acquired this preowned F100DC as my first and only telescope.  Now I near 76, and I am beginning to suspect that it is aging at a considerably slower rate than I am.  It is lightweight, works well. and I enjoy it, even on cloudy days.

That’s a beautiful setup… congratulations, that’s a superb scope for pretty much anything 😀

1 hour ago, josefk said:

The good news is my refractor is pretty much directly connected to the mount via the Takahashi cradle (no dovetails or rails involved). It can't slip out of its own clamp due to OTA lumps and bumps.

I do the same with my FC-100DZ... I have a second cradle bolted directly to one side of my AZ75 and it works really well 👍

Beautiful scope that TOA-130 😀

1 hour ago, Don Pensack said:

As long as your scope is longer than f/8, you'll like it.

At f/5, I could see almost 50% of the field out of focus with astigmatism, so the Masuyama (which has excellent contrast, BTW) is not an eyepiece for the shorter f/ratios.

Agreed... that's exactly what I found too. The Masuyama 16 and 26 really do have superb contrast and rendering (if that's even a term we can use here), but in my FC-76DCU (f/7.5) there is field curvature visibly for quite a significant portion of the FoV. However, when used in the FC-100DZ (f/8), FOA60-Q (ff/15) or Mewlon 180 (f/12), it's really not an issue... at 56 years old, I find I'm really quite susceptible to field curvature and astigmatism, but don't have an issue in those scopes.

Confirming what I mentioned earlier, I found only the last 15% maybe of the FoV had field curvature on the XW 16.5 in the FC-76DCU... this was removed with a (very) slight shift in focus only (just a nudge on the focuser) 👍

6 hours ago, Louis D said:

It seems like you'd want to keep the Masuyamas for the lightweight set given how big and heavy the new XW-85s are.

I would agree, except that this lightweight set is also minimalist now too and basically consists of Nagler Zoom 3-6, APM SuperZoom 7.7-15.4 and ES 24 (68 deg)... All 1.25" 😁

Therefore, both the Masuyama 16 and 26 (just) are already encompassed (discounting the extra FoV) 🤔

However, I'm still thinking about how this might all work out 🤣

33 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

Now you've got me worried🙂 

I have invested quite a bit in eyepieces that are generally less than 55 degrees AFOV and am hoping for financial's sake I don't get the wide FOV bug 🙂.

I like my existing Pentax's (5, 10, 20) though find them too big and heavy for ease of use.

I'm not so keen on my Nagler 16. It's reasonably small and light, but I find it a little tricky to use (look through). Can't really explain why!

I do love the Tak Erfle which is light but only 60 degrees.

I have a Masuyama 32 on order and will be very interested to see how I like it. I think you have one? It seemed a good compromise between wide FOV and weight. I'm hoping it'll beat the Stella Lyra 45mm; very similar weight, very similar real FOV and the shorter FL will hopefully darken the background.

Malcolm

Don't worry... if you're comfortable with what you have, continue to use them... I've been through pretty much every eyepiece made in the last three years, deliberately so as I like to experiment and then settle on what works best for me.

My existing XWs aren't going anywhere, except possibly for the XW14 and XW20 (but only as they will be duplicating focal lengths now),

I have the Masuyama 16 and 26 and they are both superb for clarity, contrast and colour and they're also very lightweight... they have the same FoV as the new XWs though, so for that reason only, I may be moving one or both of those on, and settle on a full set of XWs (3.5, 5, 7, 10, 16.5, 23 and 40). I have reached the stage now where I want one choice for a given focal length in my main set (keeping another small set for grab and go or travel) 👍

2 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Somehow I missed this thread. The 16.5 isn't that interesting for me (I have the ES 92 deg 17 mm and 12 mm EPs). The 23 mm would offer a slightly larger FOV than the Nagler 22 mm I have, but I wonder if the switch would be worth it. The ES EPs replaced my Nagler 17 mm T4 and 12 mm T4, and proved a step up both in performance and FOV, but the 22 T4 is in my view the best Nagler I have, and just 3 deg extra is perhaps not worth it.

I've had the Nagler 22mm, and if you like it ergonomically then there is absolutely no reason to switch... it's a great eyepiece 👍

I prefer the XWs because I just get on with the eyecup design... it's stable (doesn't adjust up/down when you handle it (both the Nagler and DeLites do), rubber (so feels warmer to the touch) and comfortable (I can place my eye against it and it holds my view steady) 😀

Optically, they're close enough to not be choosing based on that for me 🤔

12 hours ago, Alan White said:

Gary, so glad you have got to use it and report back, thank you  👍

I cannot remember if you need to wear glasses to observe or not, 
this is the one reason over an above the wonderful views of why I love the XW's.

So far the report back sounds good.



 

Thanks Alan... I was very impressed indeed with this eyepiece 😀

I don't (yet) wear glasses to observe, but am aware that as age progresses, I may need to... this is another reason I'm moving to eyepieces with decent/good eye relief 🤔

12 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Sounds a great eyepiece. Thanks for the report. It sounds like you think they are an improvement on the 70 degree ones? I think the size and weight would make me think twice before giving them a go, though I do like the few 70 degree ones I have.

Malcolm 

The XW 16.5 has the same optical qualities as the other XWs, but where it does improve things is against the XW14, which although fine in scopes f/8 and above (or my 10" f/5 Dob with Paracorr), does suffer from some field curvature in my FC-76 f/7.5

I would (now) argue that the 85 degree field (which is all visible to me) does improve the "immersive" feeling too 😀

Well it's not a comprehensive report, but I've had a brief session with the XW 16.5 on my Tak FC-767DCU... unfortunately the weather really isn't co-operating yet (hopefully more clear skies during this week 🤞)... spent 30mins between in and around Orion, with some time on M42 and also M45.

Finally, I have a wide(r) field eyepiece that I can comfortably use 😀

I've tried Ethos and Nagler, all lovely but they just don't seem to work for me ergonomically (eye relief, eye comfort and handling), whereas this XW 16.5 works perfectly, and just like my existing XW and Masuyama, I am able to enjoy looking around the full 85 degrees without any issue. The adjustable eyepiece allows a perfect eye position to be dialled in and I can rest my eye gently on the eyecup and look around with ease.

It provides the same sharpness, contrast and colour too. Field curvature is still present very slightly towards the edge, but much reduced from the XW 14. The FC-76 is a very harsh test for this normally (I have no issues using these in FC-100, FOA-60 or Mewlon 180).

The only real downsides are that it's a big and (quite) heavy eyepiece (but then so are the Ethos, Naglers and indeed my XW30 and 40), and it's not inexpensive (again neither are Ethos, Nagler etc).

Given my desire for a single primary eyepiece set (all XWs), I think it's clear that I need to obtain the XW 23 and then probably reduce the set to XW 3.5, 5, 7, 10, 16.5, 23 and 40 🤔. I'm mostly using my FC-76 with the APM Superzoom these days anyway, which works wonderfully alongside the Nagler 3-6mm Zoom 

I'm very impressed that they seem to have produced a really great eyepiece and heartened to see Pentax (Ricoh) producing new astronomy products again 👍

Now I just need to the XW 23 to come into stock in the UK 😬🤣

5 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

often thought about these EPs , as they get a good write up . ... hmmmm may be tempted to buy ... 

 

Not wanting to over tempt you, but 😁

Wow.... Newquay airport has come on a lot since I used to live there... my dad was based there on Nimrods and Shackletons, when it was RAF St. Mawgan of course 😀

Really cool that we might be (re)entering the space race 🤞

Well it’s arrived and it’s a beauty 😃

Quite sizeable too (although expected) when compared to even the XW30😮

Just need some free time and clear skies now 🤞

Yay, finally the XW 16.5mm has arrived… thanks @FLO 😃

Now we just need some free time and clear skies 🤞

Just received the "order shipped" email from @FLO (thanks guys 👍) for my XW 16.5mm, so looking forward to giving this a go, when we get some clear skies 🤞

On 02/01/2023 at 09:39, skybadger said:

heres my toy. Christmas prezzie after seeing it on here but manfrotto counterweight addition since the built in 2kg weights just weren't enough for the 20x80s, even on shortest arm extension

Great piece of kit... I used this same Neweer system with my Lunt 16x70 and it works really well... You do however need a slightly heavier counterweight as you found 👍

I still have mine, but don't need it too much anymore, as I've picked up some Canon IS 15x50s... much easier to grab and go, but less light gathering capability than these 😀

7 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Perfectly balanced... Dual use for astro, and in this configuration, birding.

What a beautiful little Tak 🤔🤣😍

Not 100% Astro related purchase… although the 40mm is by all accounts a superb lens for astrophotography scene shooting 😃

I’ve had my Lumix S5 just over a year, and have been getting back into photography a bit (time permitting) since then. The kit lens (20-60mm zoom) has been great, but I wanted to spread out a bit in versatility, aperture, reach and also close distance (macro).

So, after much research and reviews… these two have arrived. Both highly regarded, very sharp and quite versatile:

Sigma 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

Sigma 105 f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art

The 40mm f/1.4 is an absolute monster… 155mm long, 88mm wide and weighs 1.3kg 😬

Comparison shot included alongside an XW30, and also mounted (with lens hood) on my S5 (which itself has a sizeable additional battery grip!)… seems it’s not just astro eyepieces that can be massive 😮

Can't wait to give these a go over the Christmas break... have a safe, relaxing time everyone 😀

21 hours ago, jock1958 said:

Hi John

Pics below of my diagonal with click lock and 2” nose piece. Baader are really good at making bits & bobs that swap over really easily, basically screw on and off.
If you need any more info don’t hesitate to ask, cheers Iain.
 

 

I have two more of these exact diagonals, one permanently connected to the MaxBright binoviewers, the other for use with just 1.25” eyepieces.

That one is configured exactly how you have it and works brilliantly 👍

2 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I had some thoughts of getting a 100 DZ as a potable instrument possibly to take on holidays to Tenerife, and possibly to the 2024 Mexico Total Solar Eclipse.

If there is no discernable difference in performance, maybe the cheaper DF (which I understand is also more readily available) would be a better option with its shorter tube length, which could make the difference regarding what you are allowed in cabin luggage. Takahashi claim that the 100 DZ on be easily carried on most commercial flights, but someone advised me that this is NOT in fact the case.

I think I should clarify... on paper, the DZ is optically superior to the DC/DF and DL... however, my own experience is that there is little (to no) discernible difference in my skies. That is not to say that if we get an exceptionally good night of seeing, or it's taken to somewhere where the seeing is exceptional, that it wouldn't out perform those other scopes. Just that for "most" nights in the UK, I'm not sure it gives much extra optically... other more experienced observers, who've had both, might agree or not 🤔

For a reviewers perspective, this might also help... http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/TakFC-100DZ.htm

I note in this review, that Roger does mention it's more portable than the other FC-100s, but it is still quite heavy... the sliding dewshield would help though 👍

Certainly can't go wrong with either, but the question of whether to spend the additional for the DZ will arise... I was fortunate to get mine used in superb condition... in fact mine is the exact same scope that Roger reviewed on that site 😁

11 minutes ago, ukskies said:

Yes Gary I agree I could still get a DZ if I wanted to however as the DF came from RVO it's not a straightforward swap.

Bearing in mind I haven't even looked through the DF yet plus it's beautiful it's here and it's 700 pounds less than the DZ I'm not planning to swap it yet.😉

 

I'd say that's an excellent move... you don't be disappointed for sure 😁

I'd also say, that I'm not sure I'd pay the current retail for the DZ over and above the DC/DF either, no matter how much I love mine 🤔

Enjoy it, have a great Christmas and hopefully some clear skies over the festive break 🤞