Orion Stratus vs Explore Scientific 82s or WO UWANs or Naglers or ??

[Flea77]

Unfortunately the two clubs I am a member of have noone using Stratus EPs but me and I have seen no ES EPs at all so I am kinda stuck. Anyone here had the chance to see both? I have a pretty good set of Stratus already but am thinking I might like a wider field of view. I am not sure that just a wider field of view is worth the money, and I certainly don't want to go down in image quality, and I hate losing the 1.25"/2" dual capability of the Stratus EPs so I thought I would ask what others thought.

Do the ES82s provide as good or better views if you disregard the wider field of view? If better, how much better?

If they are not that much better or not better at all, would I be better off saving for WO UWANs or even, gulp, Naglers?

ESs I could probably afford a complete set within a year, WOs maybe a couple a year, and Naglers maybe one a year if I am lucky and my wife doesn't find out, heh.

These will primarily be used in a ES AR127 f/6.5, occasionally maybe in an Orion 110 f/7 ED APO, and once in a very great while maybe in both an 11 inch and 16 inch SCT.

Allan

[John]

I believe the Orion Stratus eyepieces are the same as the Baader Hyperions. I've not used ES eyepieces but the Nirvana's / Uwans and Naglers rival the optical quality of the Hyperions in the central portion of the field of view and are much sharper than them in the outer portions when the focal ratio of the scope gets faster than F/7 or so. The fastest scope you mention is F/6.5 so not really challenging to edge sharpness in the Nirvana's / UWAN's or Naglers but the Hyperions / Stratus may well be showing some softness in star images in the last 15% of the field. As to whether the wider, sharper field is worth spending money on, well thats a personal decision I reckon. It's very nice o have ultra wide, sharp eyepieces with an undriven scope, perhaps not so critical if your scopes track the stars.

[E621Keith]

As John said, Orion Stratus is the same as Baader Hyperion, but without the Phantom group coating and modular system. I'd like to add Hyperion and Stratus have 20mm eye relief and should be more comfortable to use than ES82.

[alan potts]

I am a big Tele-vue fan. I have tried not to be but I find it is hard not wanting the best. The one thing I can't work out is has everyone forgotten Meade 5000 series UWA Ep's. I have two here in Bulgaria and I find them excellent down to F 5.3. They are very well priced at the moment from Telescope House, maybe it's old stock but so what. It seems as if they have been blown away by Ex Sc fever.

Alan.

[E621Keith]

I am a big Tele-vue fan. I have tried not to be but I find it is hard not wanting the best. The one thing I can't work out is has everyone forgotten Meade 5000 series UWA Ep's. I have two here in Bulgaria and I find them excellent down to F 5.3. They are very well priced at the moment from Telescope House, maybe it's old stock but so what. It seems as if they have been blown away by Ex Sc fever.

Alan.

Meade 5k UWA are optically identical to ES82, both are made by JOC. Meade 5k are slightly more expensive than ES82, so people go for the ES instead. If someone wants to buy from the UK, Meade 5k UWA are definitely a good alternative to ES82

[Dunkster]

Do you really need a whole set though? Just posing the question... there are probably a few key focal lengths you should consider for most frequent use ... have a read here http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/43171-eyepieces-the-very-least-you-need/

[Flea77]

Dunkster,

I think you misunderstood my comment. When I say a "complete set" I mean a complete set of all the focal lengths I want, not every single EP they make in that lineup. In addition, I have read the article you linked to and have to politely disagree with some of it, although I realize he was speaking in very broad general terms. What works for him does not really work for me. For example, I never use a barlow for visual, it distorts the image too much, yes, even high end 2" APO barlows which I own for imaging.

Thanks everyone for the information. Looks like I may stick with my Stratus EPs for now and since I want something wider maybe try to find a 30+mm Stratus (they used to make them but now they are almost impossible to find), barring that maybe try a 30mm or so ES82.

Allan

[Dunkster]

My bad, Allan

I've no experience of the Stratus, but do have a few ES82 and a Nagler. The wide views are worth it imo (but then my SCT is f/10), the ES82 combined cost less than the Nagler They are all at distinct focal lengths... 3 wasn't enough for me either! While the eye relief may not be that spectacular on any of them, without spectacles it's not that hard to cosy up and get a good view of the field stop but ymmv.

[Flea77]

No problem Dunkster, I wasn't really that clear. I have four Stratus at the moment and would like to add at least one more wider (something like a 30+mm, which may or may not be a wider field of view EP like an ES82). Then of course I have a slew of cheapies that seem to just appear out of nowhere, seriously, I have like five and didn't buy a single one, LOL!

Anyway, thanks again.

Allan

[John]

No problem Dunkster, I wasn't really that clear. I have four Stratus at the moment and would like to add at least one more wider (something like a 30+mm, which may or may not be a wider field of view EP like an ES82). Then of course I have a slew of cheapies that seem to just appear out of nowhere, seriously, I have like five and didn't buy a single one, LOL!

Anyway, thanks again.

Allan

Just for info Allan, you can't get much wider (ie: show more sky) than a 30/31mm 82 degrees field of view eyepiece in the 2" fitting. There is only so much room inside the barrel of the eyepiece to define the boundaries of the field of view. A 40mm 2" eyepiece will max out at around 70 degrees and a 21mm can go up to 100 degrees for the same reason. They all show about the same amount of sky though the scope though.

[andrew63]

The stratus 30mm that you are looking for, i would have thought has been more or less replaced with the baader aspheric 31mm - if you are pleased with your stratus this will be a good match - maybe slightly better performance.

I've tried a few of the 82 uwa types in short and mid length and a few of the popular 2" 30ish 60 to 70 deg over the last year in my 4" F7 and compared them with some TV plossl and none come near in sharpness ! The feeling I have even at F7 is to get the kind of sharpness over a widefield the alternatives are pricy - ethos or delos or pentax .

The vixen lvw 13mm compared favourably to the 13mm plossl but that series is still quite pricy. The pentax xf although made for spotting scopes are exceptional - in a different league to the 82 deg. types.

UWAs are nice to look through though

andrew