32mm wide field of view 2" recommendation.

[simon]

hi all,

i'm after a little advice and recommendation for a 32mm 70*ish wide FOV 2" eyepiece for an f5 scope.

a recommendation of one you are using would be great, weather its expensive of cheap aslong as your scope is F5 or faster would be great.

ive been buying eyepieces of late, and not really being impressed with the views im getting.

(more expensive is better does not seem to be applying for me, and my scope). :-(

thanks all

[rory]

what eyepieces arnt impressing you that you bought simon ?

[simon]

what eyepieces arnt impressing you that you bought simon ?

hi rory.

to be honest my 9mm x-cel lx . i expected the views to be a massive improvement on the sp10mm i got with the scope, and i honestly prefur the sp10mm. even though i did a post about how bad the sp 10mm was. ive since realised that the viewing conditions were just not right at the time when i was using the 10mm sp . (down to lack of knowledge and experience).

the eyepiece i use the most now is my 25mm sp and if i want a closer look o barlow it x2.

[John]

I use the 20mm and 31mm Naglers with my scopes which include an Orion Optics 10" F/4.8. The Naglers are excellently corrected - but the coma from the scope does show in outer parts of the field of view though.

Low or medium cost / wide angle / sharp to the edge in a fast scope is a very tough set of criteria to fulfil I'm afraid.

[rory]

id say if you want reasonable distortion free views ,leave the wide angle out of the equation for now. something like a meade 5000 2" e/p has 60* f.ov ,i would imagine it would give great views.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEADE-5000-SERIES-32mm-SUPER-PLOSSL-/271096425582?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D3221862109200291411%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D271096425582%26 like this.

[andrew63]

I'm with John on this - to be satisfied with these types of lens on a budget of around £100 plus i think you really need a F8 to F10 scope. In my refractor at F7 a meade 5000 2" 32mm and hyperion 31mm aspheric left a lot to be desired - outer 10 to 20 percent soft.

You might do best with a used 32mm panaview or aero for £50 + or so and accept while the views are nice you have to ignore the outer field. In my view it's is not great value to spend £150 on an eyepiece and only have three quarters of the field sharp.

andrew

[Jim-a]

I've just bought a second hand 32mm Panaview and I'm really happy with it. Its feels very comfortable to look through and is not as fussy on eye positioning as the Xcel I have - yes it gets softer towards the outer part of the field, but maybe I'm not enough of a connoisseur yet (having never looked through a really premium wide field eyepiece + coma corrector combo) for it to matter too much.

[simon]

wouldnt it be great if all manufacturers had a recommended F rating on all there eyepiece information.

its a mine field isnt it :-(

[simon]

I've just bought a second hand 32mm Panaview and I'm really happy with it. Its feels very comfortable to look through and is not as fussy on eye positioning as the Xcel I have - yes it gets softer towards the outer part of the field, but maybe I'm not enough of a connoisseur yet (having never looked through a really premium wide field eyepiece + coma corrector combo) for it to matter too much.

hi jim

32mm Panaview seems like a good option, if it works ok in yours, it should in mine i guess?

[John]

wouldnt it be great if all manufacturers had a recommended F rating on all there eyepiece information.

its a mine field isnt it :-(

It's also a personal thing in that, what one person can tolerate, another can't, so I don't know where the manufacturers would start in setting their benchmarks. Some of the dealers like First Light Optics do give some indications of the focal ratio ranges that the eyepieces would work well with.

Often the issues with an eyepiece don't stand out until you try something even better. Star Parties can be dangerous to the wallet !

[rory]

hi jim

32mm Panaview seems like a good option, if it works ok in yours, it should in mine i guess?

ive been looking into a 2" eyepiece too, asking a few questions along the way.the panaview is what i call a "marmite eyepiece" because it seems to be either loved or hated by users

Star Parties can be dangerous to the wallet !

[simon]

ive been looking into a 2" eyepiece too, asking a few questions along the way.the panaview is what i call a "marmite eyepiece" because it seems to be either loved or hated by users

ahhh, any idea where the marmite problem lies rory?

are they in scopes f5 and faster?

[stevetynant]

I have the Baader Aspheric 31mm for my 200p Rory and I can tell you it is by far and away the most used lens I have - some nights I don't take it out at all - well recommended

[rory]

again ,much depends on individual users tolerence levels. some use them with f/6 scopes and enjoy the views .

[rory]

I have the Baader Aspheric 31mm for my 200p Rory and I can tell you it is by far and away the most used lens I have - some nights I don't take it out at all - well recommended

i'll give them a look ta steve. i quite liked the aero after some research too. SORRY im threadjacking now !

[simon]

i'll give them a look ta steve. i quite liked the aero after some research too. SORRY im threadjacking now !

lol, no, thats ok carryon i'm interested in all opinions and knowledge :-)

[Sirius Bizness]

I have just been through this process of choosing the right low power EP for my scopes. One is F7.5 and the other is just over F5. I have now got the 35mm Panoptic which performs amazingly. It is very crisp across 90% of the FOV. I started with the 32mm Panaview which I hated. Spent more money on a 31mm Hyperion and it was barely any better. I was going to give up until I picked up the second hand Panoptic and it is worth every penny. It even performs very well in the fast Mak Newt though it is worth bearing in mind this scope is corrected.

I have tried the Panaview, Hyperion and Panoptic all back to back and the Panoptic is in a different league. I guess the 31mm Nagler would be even better however its too costly for me. The ES 30mm is meant to be a lower cost alternative.

As said, a good low power EP will get good use so its worth investing in a good one in my opinion.

[simon]

I have just been through this process of choosing the right low power EP for my scopes. One is F7.5 and the other is just over F5. I have now got the 35mm Panoptic which performs amazingly. It is very crisp across 90% of the FOV. I started with the 32mm Panaview which I hated. Spent more money on a 31mm Hyperion and it was barely any better. I was going to give up until I picked up the second hand Panoptic and it is worth every penny. It even performs very well in the fast Mak Newt though it is worth bearing in mind this scope is corrected.

I have tried the Panaview, Hyperion and Panoptic all back to back and the Panoptic is in a different league. I guess the 31mm Nagler would be even better however its too costly for me. The ES 30mm is meant to be a lower cost alternative.

As said, a good low power EP will get good use so its worth investing in a good one in my opinion.

hi Sirius Bizness

is the panoptic used in the f5 scope?

[rory]

i think panoptics work very well in fast scopes. thats why people pay a premium for televue. if you got one second hand ,and found it wasnt for you,you'd lose little if any money on a resale.

not cheap even s/hand mind.

heres a nice example for sale - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Televue-Panoptic-24mm-/170935395972?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item27cc8b2684

[John]

i think panoptics work very well in fast scopes. thats why people pay a premium for televue. if you got one second hand ,and found it wasnt for you,you'd lose little if any money on a resale.

not cheap even s/hand mind.

heres a nice example for sale - http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27cc8b2684

Thats a pretty good price for an eyepiece that has been described as one of the best 1.25" eyepieces ever made

[rory]

oop's ,forgot were talking 2" barrels

[Sirius Bizness]

Yes I use it in the MN190. It is far superior on back to back testing against the Panaview and Hyperion.

[alan potts]

Sirius,

I think your Panoptic is sharp across the whole field and you are seeing coma for the outer part, no matter what eyepiece you put in a relector with wide FOV you are going to get this. I use my 35mm Panoptic with a 190mm Mac/Newt and it is as sharp at a razor across the whole field. The scope is F5.3 basically the same speed.

Going back to the other question the Aero it meant to be better than the Panaview and I got rid of mine because I wasn't happy with it. The only eyepieces that will deliver sharp full field at this scope speed are Televues, Pentax and maybe Vixens and all are expensive. Don't believe claims of "tack sharp" across the whole field, at F10 yes. F6 maybe, F4 very very unlikely. The other point that should be considered is check your colimation, if it is even a little out it for sure will not help.

Alan.

[rwilkey]

Hi Simon, the 32mm PanaView works great at f/5, but not so well on any faster scope in my view, I use it with my 200P, yes, it is a bit soft on the outer edges but I can live with that, the general view is sharp and fantastic, the ep is also a reasonable price at FLO, which where I bought mine.

[simon]

thanks for the help all .

do you think i would get a better wide fov eyepiece if i used 1.25" instead of 2" ?