Mk-III Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Clickstop Zoom

[4lefts]

Malc - you migt want to read around the reviews of the 24mm hyperion. I was looking recently and a lot of reviewers were saying the field of view is a fair bit less tuan the advertised 68 degrees. Though having said that, I dont actually own one maybe someone who does can chime in?

[m80her]

I've read around that some people have used this EP with a Celestron Ultima 80 spotting scope.

Anyone here have any experience of this or know if it will fit straight out the box or if an adaptor is required?

[m80her]

For anyone interested, I came across this pdf - page 6 explains the modular nature of this fantastic EP with respect to Synta / Celestron spotting scopes:

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/pdf/hyperion_brief_description_e.pdf

[F15Rules]

I've just ordered a new Mark III and barlow deal from FLO..I had one of the first MK IIIs about 15months ago and have always regretted selling it. They are superbly built, very flexible and to my eyes at least (and that's an often overlooked consideration, that our eyes, not the eps, may be our limiting factor), the Zoom is just as sharp as the ordinary Hyperions (of which I've owned a few). The one compromise as I see it is a slightly reduced FOV at lower magnifications, but I'd use wide angle singe eps for that application anyway. And they barlow well: but I've gone for the Baader Barlow option as the FLO deal seems to good to pass up!

Hope this helps anyone thinking of getting one.

Dave

[Uhwaz]

I have this zoom EP aswell, since i got it others EPs gathering dust

[F15Rules]

My new Baader MKIII Zoom arrived today, so apologies in advance for all the cloudy this is going to cause. The barlow accessory gives me mag ranges from 3.5mm to 24m and FOV from 50deg to 68 deg. On the Equinox that equates to around x300 down to around x36 so will cover virtually all my needs..Daytime tests on my usual aerial mast were outstanding in my ED120: can't wait for first light!

[Smashtie]

Any feelings on what the eye relief is like? I'm astigmatic and short sighted, so I need a generous distance!

[F15Rules]

Hi Smashtie,

Have a look at this link: http://www.baader-planetarium.uk.com/productinfo.php/eyepieces/hyperion/mark-iii-hyperion-8-24mm-clickstop-zoom/3396

This is the Baader website and it states eyerelief is between 12mm and 15mm depending on the magnification you are using.

hope this helps, it's a wonderful eyepiece and the barlow accessory is outstanding: I had a fabulous view of Saturn the other evening even though it's not very high in the sky this opposition - best sharpness and clarity of Cassini I have ever seen!

good luck

Dave

[Xiionn]

Being a photographer, i am wondering about these zoom eyepeices and i have several questions.

Firstly, sharpness. Normally with any zoom lens in photography there is a noticeable difference in sharpness between even "pro" zoom lenses and "primes", primes always win.

The only zoom i have ever had which is virtually as sharp as a prime is my Nikon 24-70 N. However even the Nikon suffers from quite bad distortion at both ends of the scale, and gets noticeably "softer" at the long end of the zoom scale.

Having said that, photographic lenses also have to deal with aperture, and eyepeices do not, so there is a difference in construction and purpose... is this going to be the case with an eyepeice? Surely there is going to be pincushion and barrel distortion in a similar way, and surely a zoom eyepeice cant be as sharp accross the range as a set of decent primes?

Or is it different with eyepeices somehow and it really is that good??

[F15Rules]

To be honest I can't answer that question, because I am a visual observer, I'm not interested in Photography myself. I do, however think that a wide variation in results can be expected when using human eyes, which are very variable in quality and sensitivity, whereas perhaps machine made precision lenses are more consistently of a set quality and therefore the results can be better predicted?

I know a number of contributors here would say that a Hyperion Fixed FL ep (I think that's what you mean by Prime?) has the performance edge on a zoom. My eyes have never been able to detect that difference, if it exists, so to me any difference is irrelevant: the advantage of the zoom for me is the convenience of using one ep with multiple magnification capability.

The one compromise I see myself in using a zoom is the smaller FOV at low powers...this seems to contradict the norm,ie lower power gives larger FOV..but it's a compromise I can happily live with..

hope that's of some help..

cheers

Dave

[Xiionn]

That is very much of help. Im not really interested in astrophotography....yet:D

I am however interested in the views through the scope eyepeice using the mark 1 human eyeball.

With the vast majority of camera zoom lenses compared to even a cheap prime i can tell the difference with my eye.

With a subject like mars or saturn, every peice of glass in between the human eye and the primary mirror or objective lens is going to reduce sharpness, contrast and quality overall. So im wondering how the zoom would work on high mags combined with a barlow on a good scope.

With cameras, the body can be a cheap peice of junk, and you spend your money on glass and still get terrific results, Im wondering out loud if with scopes the eyepeices are worth spending more money on than the scope itself!