baader

[faulksy]

anyone evertried the baader eudiascopic,there the same design as the bgo but 5 element and they have a nice little wing to hug your eye lol, similar price just wondered how they compared with the bgo as you never hear anything about them cheers. regards mike:confused:

[John]

They are a very similar design, if not identical in some focal lengths, to the now-defunct Celestron Ultima's, Orion (USA) Ultrascopics and Antares Elite plossls. Well regarded eyepieces that are in the same league as the Tele Vue plossls. The Eudiascopics seem to command a price that is not justified though, in my opinion. You can get the other models I've mentioned, used, for under £50 a throw. Well under in some cases.

[faulksy]

so the bgo,s are still better then. thanks again john just wish i could get 12.5 bgo

[John]

so the bgo,s are still better then. thanks again john just wish i could get 12.5 bgo

Perhaps a little better but the Eudiascopic's and others mentioned above are no slouches.

I hope you get lucky. The 12.5mm has been scarce for a while now and I understand that the production of BGO's has stopped altogether now

I foresee used BGO prices starting to climb in the near future

[faulksy]

what a nightmare cant get a 12.5 bgo and doesnt look like you will now, have put a add on astro buy and sell but no responce yet. so what are the alteratives should i go for the pentax x-f or whats your thoughts

[John]

Tele Vue 11mm plossl or the older 13mm "smooth side" TV plossl ?.

William Optics SPL 12.5mm, Pentax XF 12mm or even a 12.5mm "classic" volcano top ortho perhaps ?.

[faulksy]

Tele Vue 11mm plossl or the older 13mm "smooth side" TV plossl ?.

William Optics SPL 12.5mm, Pentax XF 12mm or even a 12.5mm "classic" volcano top ortho perhaps ?.

hi again john. do you think everything you listed will be similar to each other and how would they be compared with the 12.5 bgo, have heard a lot about the pentax xf:confused:

[johninderby]

And don't forget the Celestron X-Cel LX 12mm.

I did a head to head test between a 9mm BGO and 9mm X-Cel LX and couldn't decide which was better for solar/planetary, so got rid of the BGO due to its smaller FOV. I'd say the 12mm LX is as good as the 9mm.

John

[E621Keith]

I haven't use the XF 12 but have a look at this Pentax XF review

12mm Radian and 12mm Pentax XF - Review

about 2/3 of the way down, there is a illustration comparing the view of the M104 through a Radian 12, Pentax XF 12, and Pentax SMC Ortho 12.

Pentax SMC Ortho is suppose to be one of those legendary eyepiece series. The XF isn't as good, but it's not bad either.

[faulksy]

thanks kith what a good read/review the pentax wins quite easily then

[E621Keith]

thanks kith what a good read/review the pentax wins quite easily then

That is not my interpretation of the results. For a start the other few eyepieces suggested (e.g. SPL, BGO and volcano top ortho and X-cel LX) were not in the test.

My interpretation is the Pentax XF is not bad and it would be good enough for my need should I ever need another 12mm eyepiece. When you get to the top end optics, the difference can be very subtle. The difference between the XF and the SMC ortho can be described as significant to a experienced observer, but for me I'd say the XF is good enough.

These results do not say whether the XF will be better, almost the same, or worse than the other eyepieces that were not in this comparison.

[faulksy]

your right keith, should be good enough for me as well at f10. thanks for the comments guys