Ultima 17, Meade 5000 SWA 16, SW Panorama 16, SW Nirvana UWA 16mm

[Scosmico]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask your advice regarding an eyepiece to substitute my 17mm Hyperion, that I am going to retire.

The four eyepieces mentioned in the topic title are close in FOV, price and magnification. I think the dispute is going to be won on performance, but I have never used them. I am using a 4SE Nexstar F/13, but soon will invest in a refractor ~F/5 - F/7

Which one should take the place of my loved 17mm Hyperion?

Thank you

[faulksy]

in my opinoin reading lots of reviews the nirvana which is apparently nagler performance i have one lol, but seriously very good e.p. same spec as the williamas uwan

[Damo636]

+1 for the Nirvana

[Scosmico]

It will be nice to hear from more people. But I value your advice so far.

Nirvana +2 so far.

[alan potts]

I have the 16mm SWA which is a nicely made EP, I used it 2 nights ago and found it was better at what I was looking at than my 13mm Nag, I have a 16mm Nagler but couldn't find it. It comes from Meade's top brand line which has now passed over to Explore SC. I am a firm believer in these are without doudt the same eyepieces in different dresses, it's the same company.

Alan.

[Dunkster]

If you don't mind me asking, why change your loved Hyperion? By all accounts I'd expect it to be pretty fine at f/13. As its a known quantity, it might be worth waiting to see how you like it in whatever frac you get before parting with the dough.

[John]

I'd just like to add another vote for the Nirvana / UWAN's here. I've used the 28mm, 16mm and currently own a 4mm (Nirvana) and they have all performed really well, even with quite fast scopes. There is really not a lot of difference between them and the Naglers unless you have a scope faster than F/5 in which case the Tele Vues are sharper in the outer 10-15% of the field of view. I can quite understand why a noted reviewer on a USA forum could not tell the difference between a 16mm UWAN and a 16mm Nagler at times in the dark !.

[Scosmico]

Due to weather, I think there are some fungus growing on it. I tried to clean it, but it is growing inside the only glued lenses in the group. Or it may be a speck of dust, but as I said I didn't find a way to clean it.

However, I didn't notice until I used for solar observing. Now it is pretty obvious to me.

Apart from that I love my Hyperion 17mm.

[faulksy]

strip it and clean it you have nothing to loose

[Scosmico]

It is true.

I think I just have to find a way to split those two.

Good idea.

[russ.will]

It comes from Meade's top brand line which has now passed over to Explore SC. I am a firm believer in these are without doudt the same eyepieces in different dresses, it's the same company.

Alan, you keep saying that, but I can't find any evidence to confirm that they are the same company. The original ES 82deg line clearly shared physical parentage, but the current ES 82s are waterproof and nitrogen purged which makes them a distinctly different purchase proposition. I think we've seen plenty of examples of shared OEMs, but unless you know exactly the optical and tolerance specs of each brand, it's a bit of a leap to say anything is the same.

Even the visually identical BST Starguider/Orion Epic EDII/TS Whatevers, are so vaguely spec'd by each brand, you can't be totally sure that one's ED isn't the other's double ED. For all we know, one may be worth twice as much and yet the other so loosely spec'd that individual examples could match/exceed that performance if you're lucky.

Just this very week I've returned an ES82 due to a snagged seal impinging within the FOV and there are people with rattling Naglers. Cearly QC isn't beyond reproach, even in the premium brands, so it's not a subject worthy of absolutes.

Russell

[Scosmico]

It is definitely fungus. It is not a spot any more, but a very small ring.

Anyone with experience opening a Hyperion?

[rwilkey]

Yet another vote for the Nirvana, they get great reviews here, though I rate the 17mm Baader Hyperion very highly, you might get sharper views with the Nirvana, especially on a shorter focal length frac.

[Pat Dunne]

I'll row in with a vote for the Celestron Ultima LX 17mm. I have one for over a year and I find it an excellent EP.

Got to use it for the first time in about 9 weeks and looking at the Wild Duck cluster was superb.

[Scosmico]

Pat,

The only thing that I heard against the Ultimas is that they are quite heavy and big. I have seen one and it was definitely bigger than my Hyperion.

Good optics though.

I have not seen a Nirvana yet, but spes say it weights only 200g.

[John]

.....I have not seen a Nirvana yet, but spes say it weights only 200g. .....

The 4mm, 7mm and 16mm UWAN / Nirvana's are quite modest in size and weight - think of a slightly fatter 32mm plossl and thats about right. The 28mm is a 2" and on a completely different scale - it weighs 2lbs and is a real hunk of an eyepiece.

[cs1cjc]

As I recall, the Hyperion unscrews. It unscrews at the bottom for fine tuning rings but also further up, which reveals the lenses. Do be very careful and do not get them mixed or the wrong way up. Once the lenese are cleaned and th eyepiece reassembled you should so a star test. It will only be sharp if correctly assembled.

Good luck!

[Scosmico]

I did that Chris. And I found where the fungi is. See red circle in the picture.

The question now is how to split these lenses to clean it.

First I will wait the sun shine strong, tomorrow according to the forecast. And let the sunlight kill the little b*****s.

Then I will have to see what to do.

I suspect that after the killing I still need to remove the carcases.

[John]

I did that Chris. And I found where the fungi is. See red circle in the picture.

The question now is how to split these lenses to clean it.......

I fear that you may find that those lens elements are cemented together