20mm widefield eyepiece - suggestions?

[michaelmorris]

For many years I've used a Moonfish 20mm widefield III eyepiece as my default standard eyepiece. It gives a nice wide field of view (70 deg) with no kidney beaning in a nice compact 1.25" package. Earlier this year I decided to upgrade this and bought a Baader Hyperion 21mm.

It gives very nice views, but, try as I might, I just can't get on with it. I find it too bulky and the eye relief is too long for my taste.

Can anyone suggest alternatives (with a small compact barrel diameter and relatively short eye relief)?

[paul mc c]

What about a Meade 5000 SWA, i own one and it is an excellent eyepiece and it barlows really good.

[Andrew*]

If you can stretch to it, a safe choice in the Widefield range would be a 19mm TeleVue panoptic - very nice and compact and optically beautiful.

Consider the 18mm Celestron X-Cel at a bargain £70 - very comfortable to use and optically excellent, but of course a little narrower FOV, around 60 degrees....

[michaelmorris]

What about a Meade 5000 SWA, i own one and it is an excellent eyepiece and it barlows really good.

The sales literature says they have long relief - a feature I am not a great fan of.

[John]

Andrews suggestion of the Panoptic 19mm is a good one. Alternatively the Nagler T5 20mm is pretty compact for a 2" eyepiece. It's eye relief is 12mm:

[michaelmorris]

A 2" eyepiece is out of the question. I am after a compact 1.25" design.

[Moonshane]

I'm biased but would also suggest 19mm Panoptic or 20mm Nagler. The whole field of both is easy to see and very sharp.

[Moonshane]

19mm Panoptic would be my recommendation then.

[John]

19mm Panoptic would be my recommendation then.

Mine too Michael - I'd not noticed that the 2" format was out of bounds

[paul mc c]

Meade SWA is 15mm ER and 91 pounds posted new.

[Andrew Chapman]

If you want maximum FOV in the 1 1/4 barrel then it would be my favourite, the 24mm Panoptic with 15mm ER. Otherwise the 19mm.

If you normally wear spectacles and have any astigmatism these large exit pupil eyepieces may give you problems.

Andrewc

[swamp thing]

From your list of needs, I would also recommend the 19mm pan

Regards Steve

[andrew63]

I have the meade 20mm swa and works beautifully in my F7 scope. Forget the meade PR - these are not long eye relief as radians or hyperions - in practice like comfortable plossl would be similar relief to the Pan. At these discounted prices of around £100 unless you have very specific needs ie fast scope, optically there is little between them, accept of course a price difference of £100!

andrew

[michaelmorris]

Looking at the Meade website, it appears as though the 5000 series SWAs have been discontinued. Does anyone know if this is the case?

[Andrew*]

Yes, the Meade 5000 UWAs and SWAs are all discontinued, but there should be a few around second-hand.

Oops! Before, when I mentioned the Celestron X-Cel, I meant the newer LXs. Do not underestimate them because of their price - they are very good performers indeed. I also find the FOV a little more generous than the advertised 60 degrees. Eye relief is pretty generous, but kidney beaning etc. is not an issue. If you find it too long, the twise up eye guard is very effective at cutting it down. They are also fairly compact. I found the 18mm slightly better optically than the 25mm.

Andrew

[Damo636]

Another vote for the 19mm Panoptic, a real little gem of an eyepiece.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

If the meade 20mm SWA is just as good as my 14mm UWA, It should even work in fast scopes (used mine to great effect in Olly's 20" F/4.1 last summer).

[Andrew*]

Meade's Series 5000 SWAs are okay, but not of the same standard as the UWAs are by any means. To draw on common comparisons, while the UWAs are of similar quality to the UWAN/Nirvana, the SWAs are more like Hyperions, i.e. good down to f/6, mediocre below...

[michaelmorris]

Unless other suggestions come along, it looks increasingly as though I might be in the market for a secondhand Panoptic 19mm or a Meade 5000 series 20mm SWA.

[paul mc c]

Meade Eyepieces < Telescope accessories

I have bought the 20mm and the 28mm from here with excellent service,they have the 20mm in stock.

Paul

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Meade Eyepieces < Telescope accessories

I have bought the 20mm and the 28mm from here with excellent service,they have the 20mm in stock.

Paul

My experiences with them are very good too, and I am often amused by the automated translation from German to (alleged) English

[paul mc c]

As long as you can see the pictures and price, that will do me!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

As long as you can see the pictures and price, that will do me!

True, but sometimes I do have to switch to the German-language version, just to get the details straight.

[Adrian]

Hi Michael

I wasn't sure that you would be saving much bulk by changing to the Meade 20mm SWA, but then I found this comparison:

Astronomy & Living by Hernando: Meade SWA 20mm 5K Series vs. Hyperion 21mm

Hope this helps

Adrian

[michaelmorris]

Hi Michael

I wasn't sure that you would be saving much bulk by changing to the Meade 20mm SWA, but then I found this comparison:

Astronomy & Living by Hernando: Meade SWA 20mm 5K Series vs. Hyperion 21mm

Hope this helps

Adrian

Thanks, that is very useful and confirms my inclusion of the Meade 20 mm SWA on my shortlist. Has anyone any other recommendations?