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Fabulous XW!

Damo636

By Damo636
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Damo636

Damo636

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I realise this will probably not come as any great surprise to anyone who has, or has ever used one but i just want to state for the record what an utterly fantastic eyepiece the 10mm Pentax XW is. I finally got it under the stars last night and boy did it live up to its reputation!

I had read a post recently on another forum where the owner referred to his XW's as his orthos but with ample eye relief and 70* fov. This for me sums the 10mm up perfectly.

I compared the 10mm XW in the 12" dob with my 8mm Ethos in the 8" dob, both giving 150x. Fov aside, and i have to say that the XW feels more than 70* in use, optically i could not say one was any better than the other. Both produced pinpoint stars across the entire fov, or at least as far as i could see in the Ethos without dislocating my eyeball!

When pointed at M42 the XW produced a slightly brighter image but i realise this is down to the extra light gathering of the 12" scope. The E & F elements of the Trapezium were detected in both scopes, again slightly easier with the XW in the bigger scope. Mars at around 1am was stunning. I was able to view it at 300x with the 10mm XW/Powermate combo and had some amazing views of the surface and the ice caps.

At no time did i experience any internal reflections and glare from bright objects is controlled at least as well as with the Ethos. I was a little worried about eyeball glint when i first seen the size of the eye lens. I needn't have worried, they were non existent. The twist up eye lens is probably the smoothest of its type i have tried.

I honestly can not find a single negative to say about this eyepiece. It is simply superb.

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Damo636

Damo636

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Thanks John. I had a fair idea what to expect with the XW after reading various reviews including your excellent group test. Interestingly i have read a few threads lately claiming that the new Delos is even sharper than both the XW and the Ethos. If that's the case they must be one hell of an eyepiece!

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Damo636

Damo636

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They are indeed rather wonderful, aren't they?

I have the 5 10 and 14, and the 10 is the one that gets the most use (not that I do a lot of visual).

Now, if only a 7 and/or a 20 were to come up second hand ...

They are indeed a fabulous eyepiece Demon and you might have some competition for that 7mm if one ever comes up :)

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

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I'm just waiting for the day when I can justify buying the two of them new. But there is so much other astro-stuff that I can spend £500 on. After all, that is half an NEQ6, which I'm sure would improve my AP much more than 2 e/ps would improve my visual.

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Damo636

Damo636

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You have been busy Michael!

Having used the 10mm on a few occasions since i would just like to add how eyeglasse friendly the XW is. I wear contact lenses by day and switch to my glasses in the evenings. I don't wear the glasses while at the telescope except when viewing through the Telrad. With the XW i can easily take in the entire fov even without the eyecup screwed all the way home. If i had to wear my glasses while observing i would without doubt have the XW over any other eyepiece on the market.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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You have been busy Michael!

Having used the 10mm on a few occasions since i would just like to add how eyeglasse friendly the XW is. I wear contact lenses by day and switch to my glasses in the evenings. I don't wear the glasses while at the telescope except when viewing through the Telrad. With the XW i can easily take in the entire fov even without the eyecup screwed all the way home. If i had to wear my glasses while observing i would without doubt have the XW over any other eyepiece on the market.

I have astigmatism, and therefore wear glasses while observing. The only reason the UWA 14mm got replaced by the Nagler 12T4 was the slightly longer eye relief. In all other aspects the UWA performs as well as the Nagler (the UWA is a touch less sharp at the edges, but has less pincushion distortion).

The Radians are very eyeglass friendly, as are the Nagler T4 (and the 31T5 as well). The Paragon is perhaps the most comfortable of all. I am still considering a Delos 10mm as opposed to a Pentax XW 10. Initially I was all for the Delos, but TV price rises mean the XW becomes more attractive, especially given the performance of the little, and very affordable XF8.5.

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Doug

Doug

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Yes Michael I must agree with you on the Naglers T4 ,I also have the sent and they are just stunning eyepieces have used a Radian on a cheap Newtonian 150mm scope

and was blown away with the views

But all the talk about a Pentax XW is making me eyepiece crazy again

and I blame Damo for starting this tread I also told the wife that was the end of buying eyepieces for a time as I brought a nagler 17mm T4 and I already had one "DOH":iamwithstupid:

old age senior moment :D

Damo Let us know how you get on with the XW

clear skies

Doug

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Damo636

Damo636

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But all the talk about a Pentax XW is making me eyepiece crazy again

and I blame Damo for starting this tread I also told the wife that was the end of buying eyepieces for a time as I brought a nagler 17mm T4 and I already had one

Having two 17mm Naglers is the perfect excuse to tell the wife you need a binoviewer to finish your collection Doug :D

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Damo636

Damo636

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Just to stir the pot I found this: U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

7mm XW:eek: Go Demon! Go Damo! :):headbang:;)

(Do you think the seller was reading this thread?)

I seen that one earlier and believe me the temptation was unbearable. I would have had to sacrifice the Powermate to fund it so in the end i showed tremendous restraint and held fast. I'll just have to make do with the 13mm Ethos/Powermate combo for now :D

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Damo636

Damo636

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Great write up Damo. The 14mm XW is rated as the best in their collection so if the 10mm is that good imagine what the 14mm is like.

If i didn't already have the 13mm Ethos i would without doubt have one of these.

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Doug

Doug

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Having two 17mm Naglers is the perfect excuse to tell the wife you need a binoviewer to finish your collection Doug :headbang:

I think the nagler T4 are to big for binoviers other wise :D

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John

John

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Great write up Damo. The 14mm XW is rated as the best in their collection so if the 10mm is that good imagine what the 14mm is like.

Thats interesting - the 14mm is the only XW that I've read some negative things about. Field curvature and off axis colour I believe are specific issues with it though I guess these are not major by other eyepiece standards. I've not tried one personally though so this is only "hear say" :D

The 10mm XW is an abosolute gem, having borrowed one for a while, and I believe regarded as the best XW.

The 5mm XW I've recently acquired is no slouch either :headbang:

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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SORRY GUYS I MAY HAVE GOT IT WRONG!! ;)

Now you have got me questioning myself John :D I had just missed these UK Astronomy Buy & Sell and was second in line should the sale fall through. During the agonising wait I had surfed the net for reviews on both FL and from memory I was sure that it was noted that the 14mm was the better of the two. Now you have said that maybe I remembered wrong and actually it was the other way around and the 10mm was considered the best of the bunch ???? :headbang: It was a while back so I cannot remember where I'd seen the review (as you can see I never forgot missing out on the Pentax) so it may be better to scratch my last post John. Needless to say the sale didn't fall through :) and I joined the TV firm instead.

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