Hyperion Aspheric Coatings

[andrew63]

Well hyperion lens are getting some publicity of late, so here's some more!

I've just come across a thread on cloudy nights re 36mm aspheric. Two were purchased for binos one was a chrome the other was a black barrel. The coatings on the black were superior and the operative wanted a matched pair so returned the chrome for another black, which again had the better coatings.

I'm wondering are the black barrels are a newer model, or perhaps manufactured from another region? Either way it would seem that the black barrels are the one's to seek out.

andrew

[twotter]

My 13mm has a silver barrel but the other three have black. I haven't noticed a big difference between them but will have a look now next time I'm out.

[Tinker1947]

Well hyperion lens are getting some publicity of late, so here's some more!

I've just come across a thread on cloudy nights re 36mm aspheric. Two were purchased for binos one was a chrome the other was a black barrel. The coatings on the black were superior and the operative wanted a matched pair so returned the chrome for another black, which again had the better coatings.

I'm wondering are the black barrels are a newer model, or perhaps manufactured from another region? Either way it would seem that the black barrels are the one's to seek out.

andrew

No 2 eyes are the same so while i would want 2 barrels the same colour so they look nice saying one type is better than the other may just be his left eye focuses differently to his right eye and having sent the crome one back he has no way to check one against the other...

[andrew63]

I think it was not based on observation - he had not used them at the telescope yet, but assessed the coatings on how much they reflected light etc. and the black barrel did a better job which would have some benefit during observing.

i take your point about left and right being different when observing, but assessing the two together with both eyes in daylight the one appeared to have superior coatings. I took an interest as i may be interested in getting the 36mm!

[laowhoo]

Hello Everyone,

I was that post-er at CN who reported the difference in the coatings and asked about any changes. In trying to understand better I did another Google search and found this post. Here's what I know.

The chrome barrel for reflected overhead light showed (interiorly) two light bulbs that were white with three that were reflected blue. The black barreled EP showed all blue reflections, and the tones were also noticeably deeper. Under different conditions I was able to elicit in the black barrel a white internal reflection which in the chrome barrel was pink. Etc., etc. Not knowin whether the differences would show up in use, we returned the chrome (which we took to possibly be the older according to another post-er at CN) and figured we'd at least get matching barrels AND coatings.

We were wrong. The black replacement came and to my surprise the coatings seemed the same as with the chrome. Dismayed, I took both black-barreled EPs outside to have a look. I put them at waist level to get a reflection against green grass and shrub and blue sky. The original EP cast a blue-purple reflection and the replacement EP cast the same reflection in pinkish-orange.

The optician who made our mirrors said that they may operate differently for bright objects. Our concern was loss of light on faint DSOs. We chose these for their coatings against our other two options--Siebert Observatories and AT Titan II EDs--and are a little flummoxed. OPT said to contact Bob at Alpine, that he might know sumthin, because we can't find contact info for Baader. We couldn't reach him Friday, so we'll try again today. We'll let you know, but just as confusing is that we can't find anythin about this on the internet.

[andrew63]

Thanks for clearing things up a bit - will be good to here what develops! It does seem odd that they should have different coatings applied.

andrew

[laowhoo]

Okay Andrew,

I heard back from Bob at Alpine and here's what he said (most encouragin and we expect to keep them, anticipatin no noticeable difference in his paper test...for throughput we'll have to put 'em in another's scope as we're still waitin for our focusers, but we can't imagine any noticeable difference "performance/detection-wise").

"Honestly, the small variations in coating colors from these reflections is not something that you should be concerned about.

I picked out several eyepieces from our stock and while I can make out some differences in hues, it is very subtle and this does not really correlate to differences in coating efficiency and performance in actual use. These are more efficient coatings than just about every other mfgr out there. If you are concerned that there will be some difference in coloration in actual use, hold them up to a sheet of white paper in daylight and see if you can tell a difference. Also I recommend you compare them in your scope at night and see if you can detect any differences in throughput on faint objects at the limit of detection.

Baader has changed from Chrome to black and back to Chrome, so as you found that is not a good indicator of vintage or any relationship to the coatings.

Best Regards,

[andrew63]

Thanks - that's very encouraging. As you say, one of the strengths of the whole baader range is the coatings and this colour tone would appear to make very little difference. Hope you enjoy the view!

[laowhoo]

Thanks Andrew,

And I need to correct my OP. One EP is blue and the other is green, distinctly and definitely. That's fine. I couldn't tell any difference at all with the paper test or looking through them otherwise. Neither will we worry ourselves with throughput, and if we get the chance sooner rather than later we'll try a comparison thru a scope. But we'll hold onto these for the build and not worry about the return deadline.

One more thing. Each of the three boxes came with the same batch number, and I don't see how that can possibly be given the different barrels and coatings. Oh well. Guess Baader knows what it's doin?

Cheers