SW aero/ baader hyperion aspheric.

[paul schofield]

Hello SGL members. I was wondering if anybody can give me a bit of advice on a couple of low power e.p's I have shortlisted.

What I am looking for is a decent E.P in or around the £130 region.

I had my heart set on a Sky-Watcher Panaview 32mm, but they are very hard to get hold of at the moment.

So after looking around quite a bit I found these:

Sky-Watcher Aero ED SWA 30 or 35mm.

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 31mm. Both 2 inch.

Would either of these E.P's compliment my scope (200p Dob) better, or in fact would either be suitable, if so what size would work better for low powered observations?

Sorry to trouble you with all these questions, but I do not want to end up with the wrong choice. I appreciate any advice chaps. Thank you for your patience.

[John]

Hi Paul,

Both are good eyepiece types and a little better than the Panaview I reckon (just as well as they cost more !).

One of our members has owned both the Hyperion Aspheric and the Aero ED and I seem to recall thought the Aero ED a touch sharper at the field edges in fast scopes. I've owned 30mm and 40mm Aero ED's and liked them a lot. As well as performing well they are quite light for 2" eyepieces which helps maintain scope balance.

I think the most effective focal length for an F/6 scope would be 30 / 31mm as it keeps the exit pupil to around 6mm. You could get away with 35mm but you might not be getting the full benefit of your aperture and, if you have any light pollution, the background sky will look a little brighter.

[paul schofield]

Thanks for that John. I was reading reviews of both of these e.p's compared next to each other & generally the Aero seemed to come out on top. Thought I had better check with SGL. Thanks for your advice and helping me to make up my mind. The 30mm Aero it is. Much appreciated. You have been a great help, cheers.

[spaceboy]

I had the 31mm Baader and found it superb. This is one eyepiece I will always regret selling as from reading several reviews later it would appear I must have had a really good example. Despite this, while I found it excellent in both my newts F/4.8 & F/5 it didn't perform as well in my slower 120mm F/8.3 refractor never really achieving sharp stars across the same FOV as it did in the newts. As with any budget EP some aberration crept in around the outer 20% but they were very well controlled given the cost of the aspheric new. Eye relief was pleasant easily allowing you to take in the 72' FOV and it was not toheavy either at around 390g for a 2" EP. BUT as mentioned some reviews I have seen suggest to me that there may be some variations in QC. All I know is I really wish I hadn't sold mine

[paul schofield]

Oh yes that's a point quality control, I am hoping the SW ep should be ok. I will be trying to buy from FLO. Just waiting to hear back from them at the moment. Yes spaceboy I have heard varying reviews of the Baader ep. As you say, that may be down to quality control on the e.p's. I have not really heard anything negative about the SW Aero as yet. Happy gazing..