Ethos vs Orthos

[Adz]

Hey all,

Don't have much time for the forum at the moment which sucks. But I would like to start this thread to ask about peoples preferences towards high performance eyepieces.

I have 3 BGO's which I use in my dob and they do deliver good views. I find their field of view quite constricting as I manually have to track everything - normally high power planets.

Recently I am not sure whether there is a difference in the performance though, compared to when I barlow my 13mm nagler or 8mm Plossl.

I have been doing a lot of reading up on the Ethos range and the 13mm gets great reviews. Damo recently got one and based a lot on his experience with the same scope, I must say I am tempted!

This would mean selling some eyepieces to afford it.

What is it like for:

> Planets

> Moon

> DSO

I hear the massive fov is nice and the contrast is highest in these expensive eyepieces.

Also are they as heavy as my 35mm Panoptic? Because that is a bit of a faff to get balanced.

Thanks,

[John]

Hi Adam – sorry you are having problems finding time for SGL.

I have the 13mm, 8mm and 6mm Ethos and use an Antares 1.6x 2" barlow to give me 5mm and 3.75mm which covers all my observing needs from medium to high power.

Earlier this year I decided that I would like to try running a set of orthoscopics to compliment the Ethos eyepieces and perhaps to act as more uncompromising planetary eyepieces. I invested first in a set of the well respected University Optics "volcano top" orthos (4, 5, 6, 7 and 9mm) and then moved on to a set of 4 of the renowned Baader Genuine Orthos (4,5,6 and 7mm).

I used the above quite extensively on the objects you are interested in and binary stars and often compared the views directly with those being delivered by the Ethos / barlowed Ethos equivalents. After a few months of this I found that I was simply not finding a reason to use the orthos as the Ethos views matched their sharpness, contrast, light scatter control and light throughput but were also more comfortable to use and have that massive FoV to boot.

So, despite being great performers, the orthos have been sold now.

There is no comparison on the price of course but I assume that’s not what you are interested in. For the used price of around £50 each the Baader GO’s certainly deliver premium performance levels.

In my opinion the Ethos range (even when barlowed) deliver at least as good performance as Baader GO's (which are themselves slightly better optically than the volcano tops but not ergonomically, where I prefer the VT’s).

The Ethos are heavy eyepieces but, even with the 13mm, not to the extent of the 35mm Panoptic. They are a number of times heavier than the ortho's though – but I’m sure that’s no surprise.

I know that the views I’ve expressed above probably won’t be shared by some others and that’s fine – eyepieces are a pretty personal thing. But I’m 100% sure that, for me at least, the Ethos that I have are the best eyepieces in those focal lengths, of any design, that I have used.

Just as well really – they certainly cost enough !

[andrew63]

A very interesting read John - those BGO are exceptional value - if you can live with the limitations!

andrew

[crazyjedi]

A well balanced review, it seems TV's are just hard to beat (apart from on price)

[MjrTom]

Yes really useful info John

I have single 9mm Circle T Ortho which is a volcano top and was very surprised how they perform. Really sharp and contrasty.

I have been tempted to look at getting a BGO or two but then they would be competing for scope time with my 7mm T6 and the very good 3-6 Nagler zoom.

I would be very interested to see how the BGO's compare to these two eyepieces

[ollypenrice]

A guest recently brought along a Baader giant binoviewer, AP 2x Barlow and two (ahem!!) 13mm Ethi.

I was first blown away when Linton Guise brought one down shortly after they came out. This time blown away doesn't suffice. We put the setup in the TEC and Jupiter was devastating. My default planetary EP is a 4mm Radian giving 245x. Not a bad EP but the Barlowed Ethi were better. And on the moon the field would be splendid, as it is on DS.

Very expensive stuff can attract detractors and, yes, the 13 Ethos is expensive but it is also probably the best eyepiece in the world.

Olly

[vince 66]

I have just purchased a Nagler 3-6 zoom eye piece. When the weather picks up I will be comparing it to my much loved BGO's. My BGO's seem to get more use than my Pentax XW's but then I am a firm believer in the less glass you put in front of an object the better the view but it is as John says eye pieces are a personal thing. Wide field eye pieces for DSO's and Orthos for planets thats how I work for me the BGO's give better planetary views than the XW's.

[Damo636]

Have to totally agree with John and Olly. I took a gamble and sold all my Nagler's and Panoptics to fund the two i now own. Fortunately the gamble was worth it and they have both surpassed my expectations and then some! Another thread on here somewhere described the TV Delos as a 72 degree BGO, i would say the Ethos are like a 100 degree BGO! Optically they are easily the finest ep's i have looked through to date.

[Revs]

It was I who said that I would put some serious consideration in to the Delos 10. I Couldn't be happier with my D6. But!.. for the ultimate detail and contrast nothing will beat a BGO. The Delos is an excellent compromise, though.

[andrew63]

There are 'better' ortho out there than BGO such as Zeiss- but will probable cost as much as an Ethos!

andrew

[John]

There are 'better' ortho out there than BGO such as Zeiss- but will probable cost as much as an Ethos!

andrew

Thats a good point. There are also the Pentax XO's (5mm and 2.5mm) which are reputed to be right up there with the Zeiss orthos and the TMB Monocentrics. The XO's cost around half as much as an Ethos but have the small field of view and tight eyerelief of an ortho. I'd like to try one though

[RikM]

With higher power EP's on planets, to my eyes a smaller field emphasises the magnification. I know it is purely psychological but that's how it feels to me. Never looked through an Ethos though.

[johninderby]

I've owned a couple of the TMB monocentric eyepieces. I would have to say no they were no better than the Ethos eyepieces, and they had so little eye-relief and that ridiculously tiny 30 degree FOV that they were really, really unpleasant to use.

One thing that can give the perception of an ortho being better than a ultrawide eyepiece like the Ethos is that with the ortho you're concentrating on just that small area, and so you do tend to notice small details more. With something like an Ethos you have to adopt a different observing technique and learn to focus in on small areas to see all the fine detail. Once you've adopted the technique of looking at a wide area and then zeroing in on different items of interest the Ethos becomes a real pleasure to use and it becomes hard to go back to the narrow FOV of an ortho.

John

[Charon]

Has anyone used the Ethos 21mm? (I have 900 euros burning a hole in my pocket thanks to a lotto win). Using it with my Antares1.6x barlow would give me 13mm.

[vince 66]

Oh I do wish people would stop ranting on about how good the Ethos EP's are it's making me want to try one out. Which will involve me wanting to purchase one and I thought I was in a happy place with my eye pieces .

[Stu]

Does it help if I say I love my 13mm Ethos and wouldn't ever part with it?

:-)

[Moonshane]

I am one of the detractors which although I love my 13mm Ethos I really do prefer the view for planets/lunar/doubles through my BGOs and 6-3mm Nagler zoom.

I am lucky enough to have a large dob in which I generally use just two eyepieces, a 26mm Nagler and my 13mm Ethos. This is undriven. I also have a 6" f11 which is used as a planets/lunar/doubles scope and works on a driven equatorial platform. For these circumstances I find the smaller field of the BGOs/TV zoom preferable although I concede the Ethos is almost certainly just as good as the BGOs it is no better (to me) than the much cheaper BGOs.

This is a good thing as I am also a fan of having eyepieces in closely packed focal lengths for higher powers and I could not afford to buy a number of Ethoi! In these circumstances (I have 3-6mm zoom, 7mm BGO, 8mm Radian, 10mm Radian and a 15mm TV plossl - and plans to rebuy a 9mm BGO and 12.5mm BGO) I like the flexibility of having a number of different eyepieces which whilst still not pennies, are certainly relatively cheap.

There is no doubt in my mind that the 13mm Ethos is in general terms my favourite eyepiece tied with the 26mm Nagler. I don't think I'll ever part with either.

[Stu]

I just happen to have a 12.5mm and 9mm (and 18mm) in perfect condition which I am just about to put up for sale. I just don't seem to be using them so drop me a line if/when you are interested.

Stu

[Damo636]

Has anyone used the Ethos 21mm? (I have 900 euros burning a hole in my pocket thanks to a lotto win). Using it with my Antares1.6x barlow would give me 13mm.

I haven't used the 21 but i can tell you this with complete certainty, if i had your €900 burning away in my pocket i would have it in a heartbeat

The Antares 1.6x works excellently with the Ethos. I got to try mine out with the 8mm Ethos on Jupiter the other and was really impressed with my improvised 5mm Ethos.

[MjrTom]

Just out of interest how do the Circle T orthos compare to BGO's and the Nagler 3-6mm zoom?

[Damo636]

Just out of interest how do the Circle T orthos compare to BGO's and the Nagler 3-6mm zoom?

I used to have a 6 & 9mm UO version and found them excellent. Comparing them to BGO's would take more experienced eyes than mine to seperate them, that's for sure. I would agree with John in that the volcano top is a bit more user friendly. I sold them for less than £30 each, amazing bang for buck!

[MjrTom]

Thanks Damo I shall keep my 9mm Circle T then

Might be tempted by the 6mm or 5mm BGO though

[Adz]

Thanks for all the replies and helpful information guys, sorry I didn't get back soon.

Seems to be a lot of high praise for both TV and BGO - quite rightfully so!

Does anyone know if a televue sale is coming along anytime soon?

[m.tweedy]

Has anyone used the Ethos 21mm? (I have 900 euros burning a hole in my pocket thanks to a lotto win). Using it with my Antares1.6x barlow would give me 13mm.

A bit late coming into this thread-sorry. The 21 Ethos is presently sitting in my C11 blowing me away with views from Jupiter to the blue snowball and Uranus.

If you still have the money it is worth every cent

[Adz]

I wish I did for the 21mm! One day...one day.

For now I shall have to *ahem* settle for a 13mm Ethos when I have the funds