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Nice quality 12mm 82 degree or so

Spec-Chum

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russ.will

russ.will

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Another vote for the ES 11 & 14mm 82deg, although you can't get an 11mm Meade UWA. Yes, a touch of coma does creep in at the extreme edges, but 1) that's a long way out to look and 2) the sharp area is massively bigger that the BST Explorer 12 & 15mm they replaced.

The ES are cheap from The States. From Hands on Optics- $99 plus $15 shipping equals £71.84. If it sneaks through customs, that's a lot of EP for the money. If it doesn't, It's plus 4% import duty, plus 20% VAT and £8 handling charge - Total £97.65. That's £60 cheaper than the UK ES price and still a £20(ish) saving over the UK price for the Mead equivalent.

As for warranty, well, my 18mm had a flaw and it cost me £12 to send it back. HoO, returned it at their own cost and marked the shipping value a zero, which is strictly speakeing correct. I sent it back on the Monday and had the replacement in my hand a week later. As it would cost £3-4 to send it back in the UK and likely turn around would be 2-3 days, it's not exactly a big issue.

Russell

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Right, I've narrowed the choices down to the Meade UWA 14mm and the Skywatcher Panorama 15mm.

The issue I’ve got is there are a lot of reports that the Meade suffers somewhat from curvature but is otherwise pretty good but I can’t find any reviews at all for the Panorama’s, but members on here seem to like them but don’t go into too much detail on why such as it’s get great edge correction or there’s minimal curvature etc.

Could anyone who’s used either go into a little bit of detail as to why you’d choose one of the other? It’s quite a big investment for me :)

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Damo636

Damo636

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From what I have read, the 14mm ES 82°, which will be the same optically as the Meade UWA, is regarded to be the weakest of the line. (Field curvature) The 11mm is considered the pick of line. The Panorama is a bit of an unknown quantity at the minute as its so new. If it has to be one of those two, I would go for the Meade, or the ES from the states simply because there are more positive reviews than negative. My only experience of Explore Scientific is the 30mm 82°, again the same optically as the 30mm Meade UWA. It gave the 31mm Nagler a proper run for its money and to be honest, at f5, there was precious little between them. I think across the range, the ES/Meade 82° range are only a hair behind the equivelant Naglers.

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fredster

fredster

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lol, that's weird, I was just reading an axiom review.

They seem to get very positive reviews.

From the reviews there's nothing really in it between the Meade UWA, ES 82, Celestron Luminos/Axiom LX/Panorama and UWAN/Nirvana. If anything probably just grab the one that represents best value at the time you buy. Which would be the Meade UWA 14mm in the UK or the ES 82 11mm from the States. I love my ES 82 11mm, wouldn't swap it for anything other than an Ethos 10mm now. But i'm sure others would say the same about the other eyepiece ranges too.

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andrew63

andrew63

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Explore Scientific 14mm | eBay

You never know what's that going to fetch - could be worth a punt. Personally I would not consider either a meade or ES 14mm as they both suffer from quite a lot of field curvature - which having said that would not be as big a problem in your reflector as in my refractor. They are both the weak links in the range.

I had a axiom 15mm which was very good, but to be honest there is very little difference to chose between these UWA - nagler apart. Think of it in car terms - same engine, different paint job!

andrew

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fredster

fredster

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I can confirm that the Meade 5000 UWA 14mm, Meade 5000 UWA 24mm, ES 82 24mm all suffer with pronounced field curvature in both my Startravel 120 F5 and Orion Optics 200 F4.5. A Nagler T5 20mm, Radian 14mm and Meade 5000 SWA 24mm showed no curvature at all. Not tried with an F6 scope.

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Well, that didn't work.

He picked up the paper and chose the Panorama, all good!

He then opened the other and asked what the difference in price was, so I said £130 vs £116. He asked if I would notice any difference in them, so I truthfully said "probably not".

He threw the paper with the Panorama in the bin and handed me back the one with Meade on.

Oh well, at least I didn't have to choose.

Meade ordered.

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Had a thought yesterday, would anyone like a side by side comparison done with the Meade and the MoonFish native 15mm 80 deg EP that Sky's the Limit also sell?

They retail at £59, so half the price just about (no link as out of stock until Monday according to Alan)

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Rob

Rob

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Hi John, I agree for the most part, but with the Meade or ES I'd say it's more coma than astigmatism at F6; it's possibly the other way round on an F5. Admittedly at the very edge you probably get a nasty mixture of both unless you get to Nagler quality, but my point is I'd get the same coma even with a Panoptic which would knock the perfectly sharp area of that down to say 55-60 degrees.

I expect the Meade to be a lot better corrected than the MoonFish, which holds up surprisingly well in regards to astigmatism until the very edge (the coma is noticable first), so I stand by my comment in that the 82 degree Meade offers better value than a 68 degree pan :)

Pros and cons to both, I'd say :)

The Meade is a whole new ball game even in a fast scope!.. Take my 200P DS f5. the Meade 5k 14mm in there certainly provides a nice high contrast, black background view.. very wide and only shows coma in the final 10 to 12% of the field (at best). the 14mm is the gem in the range I understand, and its certainly one of THE best eyepieces I've ever used in a fast scope. It proves itself also when using it to view Jupiter. The detail is crisp and sharp, as with deep sky it just snaps in when focusing.. I've also never detected any ghosting what so ever!.

I also Barlow it with my Anatres Shorty plus APO barlow.. its a delight to use in that way also. I

Fair to say I don't have any connection with Meade, in fact in most cases slam there equipment. But I have to say credit where credit due. These EP's are fantastic.

Regards

Rob

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Cheers Rob, that makes me look forward to getting my Meade even more :D

Slight edit to my post above tho, with hindsight I agree with John in that I was probably mistaking coma with astigmatism with the MoonFish; coma on an F6 wouldn't be that bad.

I'll know for sure when I compare it the Meade, which, if I'm right, would allow me to see the coma of the scope without it's astigmatism overwhelming it, thus confusing the two.

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Well, I've got my Meade but I'm not happy.

There are marks on the barrel consistent with the screw marks from it being placed in a focuser and there are marks on the top lens that look like eyelash oil or similar. I’ve not even had it in the telescope yet!

I've sent them an email.

I expected a brand new, unused product, not a return!

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I once bought a 26mm Nagler from Telescope House which had a fleck of paint inside the eyepiece. TH were exemplary when it came to sorting out a replacement and I am sure they will do so for you if you are not happy. I also once bought a new TV 15mm Plossl and this had a small speck of grease on the eye lens. I advised them that I was happy cleaning this off if they were happy me sending it back if it didn't come off. They agreed. It did come off and all was well. I don't think you'll have any issues.

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