Baader Hyperion Zoom Mk3

[Duke2k]

I placed an order for a Baader Hyperion zoom mk3 today and cant wait for it to arrive. It will be used on my SW Skymax 150 and I will follow this post up with a full review.

[Grotemobile]

Judging by the reviews people on here have

given it ,it is a good buy.Saves buying a

load of different EPs.

Steve.

[Duke2k]

Well the eyepiece arrived this morning from Harrison telescopes which is excellent service. The eyepiece came well packed and appears to be solidly built with a very smooth zoom control with positive click stops in both directions. It is packaged with both 1" and 2" adapters and also a winged rubber eyeshield but no paperwork or instructions. Upon inspection the eyepiece has a couple of faults. There is a tiny hair inside the eyepiece which is only noticeable when held up to the light but not when attached to the scope. The zoom ring which has the numbers printed on it has a small flat spot with machining marks showing through the black finish and the 2" adapter has damage to the filter threads. I noticed the thread problem this morning and a replacement adapter has been sent, so no complaints there, but I have only just found the other problems. I have emailed the supplier.

[Hex]

Mine fell apart after a couple of weeks so it went back. Be careful when using the zoom, I unscrewed the nose and it refused to re-tighten, it was lose from day one so perhaps it was just a lemon.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Hex]

It unscrewed while in use BTW, nothing I has done to it you understand. I was offered a replacement but declined, I wouldn't have another which was a pity as the views were good, a bit tight at 24mm mind.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[John]

Well the eyepiece arrived this morning from Harrison telescopes which is excellent service. The eyepiece came well packed and appears to be solidly built with a very smooth zoom control with positive click stops in both directions. It is packaged with both 1" and 2" adapters and also a winged rubber eyeshield but no paperwork or instructions. Upon inspection the eyepiece has a couple of faults. There is a tiny hair inside the eyepiece which is only noticeable when held up to the light but not when attached to the scope. The zoom ring which has the numbers printed on it has a small flat spot with machining marks showing through the black finish and the 2" adapter has damage to the filter threads. I noticed the thread problem this morning and a replacement adapter has been sent, so no complaints there, but I have only just found the other problems. I have emailed the supplier.

Get a new one. There should not be hairs inside eyepieces. That plus the other issues make me wonder if this is a "return" unit. Baader quality control is usually very good.

[Duke2k]

Harrison telescopes have sent a new eyepiece by 24 hr courier before I have sent the faulty one back. I cannot fault the customer service, as it has been excellent. I am returning the faulty one today and will keep you up to date.

[Duke2k]

The new eyepiece has just arrived, and has none of the problems that the previous one had. The optics appear to be perfect, and mechanically it seems to be great. With clear sky's predicted for Saturday night I hope to get to try it out, although this coincides with a full moon. More to follow...

I must thank Harrison telescopes once again for the outstanding service!

[alan potts]

I do not think a zoom will ever be of the same quality as fixed focal lengths but it sure beats thumbling around in the dark, might get one myself.

Alan

[John]

I do not think a zoom will ever be of the same quality as fixed focal lengths but it sure beats thumbling around in the dark, might get one myself.

Alan

I had the Baader zoom myself for a while and compared it directly with the fixed focal length Hyperion equivalents and found the latter were slightly better corrected and handled glare and light scatter around bright objects a bit better than the zoom. The zoom did give very nice views though and has that convenience factor. I found the zoom an excellent eyepiece to use with the PST solar scope.

[alan potts]

This is why I bought the Antares 5-8mm zoom for convenience. At the time I didn't have many short eyepieces, now I have an eyepiece at just about every millimetre I find I don't use it. It is a very underated zoom if you ignore the full FOV, yes it is fairly sharp to the edge but it gets a bit colourful. If you haven't looked through one, I'm sure you would enjoy to show.

Alan.

[Duke2k]

I have now tried the Hyperion zoom on a variety of objects. Open clusters, planetary nebula, and double stars. Jupiter is too low in the sky from my garden at the moment and only rises high enough in the early hours of the morning when the humidity is at its worst, and so I have only glimpsed it on one occasion and the image was awful above 60x

The FOV at 24mm is tight at 50° but as the zoom is increased to 20mm the apparent FOV increases. The result is a larger object with the same FOV as at the 24mm setting.

Contrast increases at higher magnification to give a darker sky background. Colour is good with no visible chromatic aberration seen around bright objects, and the colour appears to be good overall. I have not been able to compare it to fixed focal length equivalent Hyperions but from the limited use that it has had I am really pleased with its performance. It's great not to have to change eyepieces every time a new object is viewed. It is also far easier to locate an object at low power and to then increase the magnification to give the best view.

I will add more information as time goes on but at the moment I wouldn't hesitate in buying one!

[alan potts]

Duke,

I am glade you like it, lets hope English weather is kind to you so you can get out with it.

Alan.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I have often wondered about zoom eyepeices. In another thread i was just asking for advice on fixed ones. But can spend £200 on a varity of eyepieces or spend £100 on an 8-24mm. decisions decisions lol.

[John]

I have often wondered about zoom eyepeices. In another thread i was just asking for advice on fixed ones. But can spend £200 on a varity of eyepieces or spend £100 on an 8-24mm. decisions decisions lol.

The Hyperion zoom is one of the best zooms but that costs £189. I compared it's performance to the fixed focal length Hyperions and the fixed length ones were slightly better. Personally I prefer fixed focal length eyepieces rather than accepting a (admittedly small) compromise in performance but I can see that the convenience of the zoom has it's attractions.

Your 200P if F/5 though and Hyperions are not at their best in fast scopes.

[Duke2k]

Ok I finally managed to get a look at Jupiter with the Hyperion Zoom MK3. The seeing was fairly good but the humidity was still quite high. Jupiter was approx 40 degrees above the horizon with the waning moon only a few degrees away. The planet appeared bright with good contrast at low magnification(24mm 75x on my scope) and several cloud bands were visible. Ganymede was very close to the disk and over the next hour slowly disappeared behind Jupiter. At higher magnification 18-12mm 100-150x I noticed some internal reflections in the eyepiece which reduced the contrast slightly but good detail was still visible with distinct patterns and variations visible in the clouds.

Colour was neutral with no chromatic aberation visible.

From what I can understand all zoom eyepieces can suffer from internal reflections under certain conditions and there will always be a compromise between ease of use and visual quality. Personally I need an eyepiece that is easy to use as I often have my small Grandchildren with me at the scope, and they like to view a variety of objects in a short space of time.

Would I recommend this eyepiece?

For ease of use, build quality, adaptability, optical quality and all round convenience, then the answer is a big YES! You will get better quality from single focal length Hyperions but at a greater cost and with much less convenience.

[Duke2k]

Last night the sky was clear and both the seeing and humidity were good. Jupiter appeared to show a wealth of detail with subtle shading and lots of detail in the cloud bands. most of the reflection problems experienced the other night had almost gone. I viewed the Cat Eye nebula, the Blue Snowball, M36, 37, 38, NGC 457, and everything I looked at was excellent from the 24mm setting through to the 8mm setting.

[Duke2k]

Ok I have now owned the eyepiece for 18months and I have been extremely satisfied with it. I have used it on scopes ranging from 5 inches to 14 inches and also solar H alpha scopes. Optically its very good however over the past month small pieces of black debris have been appearing on the inside elements of the eyepiece. Harrison Telescopes asked me to return it to them as it has a 2 year warranty and they are replacing the eyepiece with a new one!

Excellent service Harrison telescopes!  

[Toymaster]

Ok I have now owned the eyepiece for 18months and I have been extremely satisfied with it. I have used it on scopes ranging from 5 inches to 14 inches and also solar H alpha scopes. Optically its very good however over the past month small pieces of black debris have been appearing on the inside elements of the eyepiece. Harrison Telescopes asked me to return it to them as it has a 2 year warranty and they are replacing the eyepiece with a new one!

Excellent service Harrison telescopes!  

I was thinking of getting one of these has anyone else had problems? Noticed today that there was one on the FLO Clearance sale, but resisted buying it as it had a small internal black spec.

Adrian

[Duke2k]

Ok its now March 2015 and the third hyperion has now developed a black eyelash looking piece of debris.

There is obviously a fault with these eyepieces so avoid at all costs. I am going to approach the importer although last time they simply weren't interested. Not a good sign!

[mikeskor]

I have had my Hyperion zoom for a few months and I really like it for its contrast and convenience. I use it with the Baader Planetarium barlow. A great combo. My most expensive single eyepiece is the new Meade 100-degree AFOV 5 mm. In the same seeing conditions, I much prefer the Hyperion zoom.

[recceranger]

Alan,

Come come - don't you mean the British weather? Not "the English weather"! Lol

[christhebrit]

I've had mine since around Dec 14, to date no issues.

I find it has made me lazy, as I rather use the zoom compared to stand alone eyepieces.

The seeing never seems good enough with the 2.25x barlow, but I'm happy with what I see.

[D4N]

It's the only EP I use now

The Barlow works really well on solar system objects but I tend not to use it for DSO's.

You do get a slightly larger FOV with the Barlow in at the same magnification settings but the focuser does need more adjustment when the Barlow is in.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[toilandtrouble123]

So going by the last few posts, people would definitely recommend them?