Interesting Comparison of 5mm eyepieces

[John]

I'm making a start tonight on comparing 3 rather different 5mm eyepieces:

- A TMB Monocentric

- A University Optics HD Orthoscopic

- An 8mm Tele Vue Ethos combined with a 1.6x Antares barlow lens.

The 1st of these is an eyepiece that I've read much about but I've never actually looked through one, until now.

Should be interesting

[johninderby]

It'll be interesting to see what you think of them, particularly how you get on with the virtually zero eye relief of the TMB. I think you'll also be in for quite a surprise when you compare the light transmission of the Ethos v TMB.

John

[Antx]

Hi John

what are your thoughts on the baader hyperion 5mm?

I have purchased one recently and have been really chuffed with it on my 200p

this is my first EP purchase after my stock EPs

i guess you are testing some heavy weights there.............

[spaceboy]

I will be interested in the performance out come John but how do the costs stack up for each of the EP's ???

[John]

Hi John

what are your thoughts on the baader hyperion 5mm?

I think the Hyperions are very nice eyepieces although I've not used them for any length of time. I did borrow a set and a set of the similar Vixen LVW's a while back - here is the review I did of those:

Vixen - LVW Comparison Review

I will be interested in the performance out come John but how do the costs stack up for each of the EP's ???

The University HD Ortho's are out of production now but they are very similar to Baader GO's so lets say £70 new.

The TMB Mono's have been out of production since 2005 (they only made around 3,500 in total I believe) but I seem to recall retailed for around £180-£200ish when sold new.

The Ethos 8mm plus the Antares 1.6x barlow would be somewhere around £520 retail I reckon.

All the units I have are used specimens though so I've not invested anything like the above figures

[AndyH]

Will you be using the Mono on an alt/az setup, John? Could be a frustrating experience:evil6:

Always enjoy reports on eyepiece shootouts. Have fun and clear skies !

Andy.

[John]

I've been practicing my tracking with the Ortho Andy

The 30 degrees FoV of the Mono is noticably smaller from my experience tonight though although it's eye relief seems a little more generous than the ortho . I've had about 90mins on Jupiter so far but the thin hazy cloud has just thickened somewhat which has spoiled things for now.

I'll leave the scope (120ED refractor) out for a bit and see what happens.... maybe things will improve again later.

[spaceboy]

All the units I have are used specimens though so I've not invested anything like the above figures

Thanks John. It was just so I could get an idea of the price per view comparison.

[John]

Clouded out completely now so that's it for tonight. Shame as Jupiter was looking really good for the hour and a half I did have

I'm not going to reach any conclusions after just one shortish session on just a single object (Ok, and a quick look at Castor) though.

[Antx]

Hi John

thank you for your feed back and the link to your excellent review

sorry if this a bit 'yesterday'; i am a newbie on the learn

I think am going to get a couple more EPs in the hyperion range............

[Damo636]

Will be very interesting to read your conclusions John. I have tried the 8mm Ethos + 1.6 Barlow on a few occasions now and its superb when conditions permit. It's a pity you couldn't get your hands on a 5mm Radian to throw into the mix as well. I have been very impressed with the 6mm.

[bombassa]

I get the impression that the monocentric has quite some fans on 'that american place' so it will be exciting to see what you make of it.

Enjoy!

[John]

Heres a quick photo of the trio. Goliath and two Davids

The Ethos is made in Taiwan ROC, the University HD in Japan and the TMB Mono in Germany, by a Zeiss sub-contractor apparently.

[andrew63]

I don't think the ethos would come out on top in a beauty competition!

[Damo636]

Jeez, i think back in the day David would have done a runner if Goliath had turned up as big as that

[spaceboy]

Have you left the lens cap on the TMB. Where's the lens?

[Damo636]

I think John has mistakenly photographed his colli cap instead

[John]

I don't think the ethos would come out on top in a beauty competition!

It's a bit better looking without the barlow

[spaceboy]

I think John has mistakenly photographed his colli cap instead

:D:D

[Damo636]

Did you ever get to complete your comparison John?

[John]

Well Damo, over the past month I've had about 7 sessions with these eyepieces. I've compared them when observing the Moon, close binary stars and Jupiter. The conditions have not been good for DSO's but these would not be my mainstay for DSO viewing anyway. I did look at M42 while I was observing the Trapezium of course. I've used my 2 refractors during that period but the 10" newtonian has not been out.

Setting aside the FoV / eye relief / eyepiece size and weight issues for a moment, the actual quality of the views for has been remarkably consistent in all 3 eyepieces - the majority of the time I felt they were providing equal contrast, sharpness, and light throughput. There were just 2 occasions when I felt the TMB Supermono just showed a little more contrast on Jupiter than the other two and those were the nights of best seeing. The difference was that the less distinct features in Jupiter's atmosphere seemed to show themselves just a little easier to my eye. But there was nothing that I could see in one eyepiece and not in both of the others. On binary stars and the Moon I couldn't detect any differences between them.

The narrow field of view of the TMB was noticeable and did require extra tracking work from me as my mounts are alt-azimuth and undriven. Despite that I was surprised that did not find this much of a chore even at 180x and, in a way, it meant that I had to concentrate on the object on view more which may even have enhanced the experience - it was certainly very absorbing !. I'm probably different from many others in this respect as I know they would much prefer a driven mount

The eye relief of the TMB (the spec says 4mm), which I had been a bit concerned about, was actually slightly more comfortable than the University HD Ortho's.

On the basis of the above experience so far my summary of the 3 eyepieces would be:

University Optics 5mm HD Orthoscopic:

Excellent performer and fully as good as the Baader Genuine Orthoscopics. Out of production now but can be bought new for under £50 and represents truly superb value for money in terms of performance per £. Well made but uses screen printed lettering rather than the nicer (IMHO) engraving of the Baader Genuine Orthoscopics.

TMB Supermonocentric 5mm:

Highly specialised eyepiece at it's best under the best viewing conditions showing subtle planetary contrast features. Slightly less light scatter than the others compared here which may have contributed to the slightly enhanced contrast observed on Jupiter. Narrow field of view (32 degrees !) does make tracking a challenge !. Small and light but beautifully made and finished.

Tele Vue Ethos 8mm / Antares 2" 1.6x Barlow:

This combination creates a 5mm 100 degree eyepiece that, despite having 10 lens elements in total (I think !), is still able to deliver images that match high quality orthoscopics. The ultra-wide field eases tracking with undriven scopes but this is a weighty package - around 1.5 lbs I reckon and very expensive compared to the others being discussed here. The Ethos is made to an extremely high standard as are all Tele Vue products.

I've now decided to let the University HD 5mm go (it sold in about 30 mins for a couple of quid less than I paid for it !) and keep the TMB Supermonocentric to go with my 7mm and 6mm Baader Genuine Orthos for use when I don't want to bother with the bulk of the Ethos / Barlow combination.

I'd have liked to hang onto the HD Ortho to continue with the comparison on Saturn and Mars in due course but I needed to release some funds to be honest - it's an expensive time of year

[Damo636]

Thanks John. I find it amazing that the Ethos+ barlow combo is able to keep pace with the other more specialised planetary ep's considering all those glass elements. The Supermono sounds like a real planet killer but i don't think i could live with the tiny fov personally. It sounds like it has made quite an impression on you though.

[andrew63]

Thanks for posting your views so far John, always enjoy reading how differing lens perform.

andrew

[jnc71106]

I've now decided to let the University HD 5mm go (it sold in about 30 mins for a couple of quid less than I paid for it !)

That would be me that bought the ep John

[John]

That would be me that bought the ep John

Congratulations - it's a great eyepiece

As I hope you can tell from the above report, the differences between it and much more expensive alternatives are barely perceptible under good seeing conditions and non-existent 90% of the time.

Is it with you yet by the way ?