Meade 5000 Xtreme 100 degree eyepieces

[John]

I've seen a few vendors offering these new Meades in 9mm, 14mm and (see below) 20mm focal lengths. Any relation to the Explore Scientifics I wonder, or a new breed perhaps

Meade Series 5000 Xtreme Wide Angle 20mm 2" Eyepiece 100 Degree Field of View | eBay

[Qualia]

Nice review here: http://www.skynews.ca/PDFs/Review_PDFs/MeadeeyepiecesreviewJA05.pdf

[John]

Thats a nice review (I really like Terence Dickinson's writing) but it does not include these latest eyepieces from Meade.

The 5000 series includes the "standard" super plossls at 60 degrees, the super wide angles at 68 degrees, the ultra wide angles at 82 degrees and now, seemingly, these 100 degree "Xtreme" eyepieces.

[E621Keith]

I came across these on a CN thread, and people there seems to believe these came from the same factory as the Orion Giant View / Zhumell 100 deg.

Meade Instruments Corporation - Telescope Accessories, Eyepieces & Eyepiece Sets, Series 5000 Xtreme Wide Angle (100 degree AFOV)

PS, it looks like Meade designer gave up on aesthetic. These extreme wide are without a doubt the most ugly Series 5000 eyepieces

[swamp thing]

Your not kidding Keith. They're hideous.

Their designer needs shooting.

[Damo636]

None of the 100° ep's could be described as "easy on the eye" , but that is a proper minger by any standards

Hopefully the performance might cancel out the woeful aesthetics!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The 9mm lists a 12mm eye relief. I will pass on that one.

[Bart]

Maybe the ergonomics will be good, keep those greasy fingers away from the shiny ends.

[spaceboy]

Maybe it is the ugly duckling that grows in to a beautiful swan ? Oh no hang on that's WO

True it is one dam ugly EP but with the etho setting the bench mark for 100's to compete against TV you would have to offer some thing a little different. ES have there offering which is cheaper so what does that leave Meade.... Weight??? Is it possible the Meade looks so bad due to trying to save on weight?? Anyone know how much they weigh compared to the competition??

[swamp thing]

If Meades UWA,s are anything to go by:eek: I would guess the 20mm will be around 3KG:D

[johninderby]

Aesthetically challenged indeed

Sort of a cross between the wheel from an RC car and an eyepiece.

John

[Doug]

Hi John

at the bottom of the page of Terence Dickinson's writing it has a date of 2005 bit old now me thinks

One thing I have did notice was that you all where afraid of dropping these heavy eyepieces in cold weather ,on this Meade it does look like a good hand grip the only other thing is 9 pieces of glass seems alot but would like to try one

[John]

Hi John

at the bottom of the page of Terence Dickinson's writing it has a date of 2005 bit old now me thinks....

Yes I noticed that when I read the review but I was being polite to the person who posted the link

[Dunkster]

Wow, 9mm is $50 less than the ES100 too. Will be keeping my pies open for reviews of these babies

[ollypenrice]

TeleVue do all the hard work and then others rip off their ideas because EPs are almost unpatentable. Do you ever recall a bad TV product? Do you ever recall a bad Meade product? Ah, you do? So do I.

Buy a nice Ethos.

Olly

[E621Keith]

I have a suspicion the Meade XWA are not rip off of Ethos, but rip off of ES. Clone of clone.

[E621Keith]

The XWA are now available in the UK. The 9mm is £50 cheaper then the ES equivalent, but the 14mm and 20mm are more expensive (£15 and £50 respectively).

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Meade-Xtreme-Wide-Angle-Eyepieces.html

ES 100

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Explore_Scientific_Eyepieces.html

[Moonshane]

to approximately quote the advert 'if you listen carefully when you slam the door of this car it sounds just like a Golf'. I'm with Olly, buy a used Ethos. the difference in price will not be that great.

[alan potts]

I am a Meade fan and I think they look absolutely awful. We should really be more bothered about how they work when we are looking through them. I will not be buying any.

Alan. :eek:

[crazyjedi]

I am also a bit of a Meade fan and Whilst yes they aint pretty I'd be more concerned about the performance than esthetics. After all don't all EP's look similar in the dark?

Ps. If anyone has got any of these offensively ugly EP's that they cannot bear to look at or through and the embarressment of owning them is getting too much I will happily take take them in to my 'Rob's home for unloved EP's' Where we never put a healthy EP down

[John]

I agree that looks are not really important but I can't see the point in paying more than the ES equivalents for something which is almost certainly the same optically and does look worse to boot.

I tend to agree with Shane and Olly though, if you are going to spend £400+ on an eyepiece, get the best there is

[crazyjedi]

I agree that looks are not really important but I can't see the point in paying more than the ES equivalents for something which is almost certainly the same optically and does look worse to boot.

I tend to agree with Shane and Olly though, if you are going to spend £400+ on an eyepiece, get the best there is

Good point - They are most probably very similar/identical to the equivelant ES EP's and if/when I ever get several hundred pounds to spend on an EP I will probably go straight to the TV section. I am a bit of a Meade fan but I am also unashamedly in love with Televue. They just have so much quality!

[Dunkster]

It's just a shame the importers for ES / Meade EPs aren't able to be more competitive on price, more like in the US. The jump to the real deal is incremental here.

[E621Keith]

I doubt the UK or European market have the sales volume to allow a deal like the one in the US.

We also have around 20% VAT.

[fredster]

You could always order one through Smart Astronomy in the US. The 14mm works out at £270 delivered and Vic is very sparing with the value on the import ticket. Worst case scenario is £330 if you did get clobbered. Saving £200 on the 13mm Ethos. But it could be a 50% saving. The 9mm is £70 cheaper.