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Nikon wideangles

womblemaster

By womblemaster
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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Damo636

Damo636

Posted
Posted

Very rare in the UK & very expensive! There was a review a while back on Cloudy Nights where one was compared with an Ethos. The reviewer concluded it was slightly better optically but not a lot in it iirc.

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John

John

Posted
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APM in Germany carry them for 1750 euros (£1,470 ish) but that includes a matched converter so you effectively get 2 focal lengths for your outlay ie: 12.5mm + 10mm or 17mm + 14mm.

However a 17mm Ethos plus a 2x Powermate costs £895.

If I find the Ethos eye relief a bit short one day I think I'll be moving to either the Delos or XW's rather than the Nikon Nav HW's !

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E621Keith

E621Keith

Posted
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The Kokusai Kohki price is a bit higher than the Japanese street price. The street price is still more expensive than a new TV Ethos in the UK, but the differences between the NAV-HW and the equivalent Ethos is only around £50 in Japan. For someone in Japan, the Nav-HW can be a good deal considered they come with a good matched barlow.

The HW image quality is a step up from my LVW and NAV-SW. It has better scatter control, less internal reflection and the image is better corrected.

The 10mm* HW is better corrected than the 12.5 HW, which makes me wonder whether the 12.5HW was originally designed as a 10mm.

The eye relief is a bit tighter than LVW and SW, but more comfortable than S5k UWA. Even though you can observe wearing glasses, I wouldn't recommend it because spectacles can introduce a lot of lateral CA and distortion off axis. I didn't considered these distortion a problem in a 70deg, but they become very clear in a 100deg. If you need astigmatism correction for a 100deg, a Ethos + Dioptrix is a better option than a long eye relief 100deg. It's a lot more hassle to fit dioptrx to the HW.

If you happen to be in Japan for a trip and also planning for a expensive hyper wide, the HW can be a nice souvenir. Don't order them from APM or Japan. The VAT and Import duty on one NAV-HW alone can buy you a XW.

EDIT: Just checked the current exchange rate. Ignoring the buy/sell charges the NAV HW 17mm in Japan is now cheaper than an Ethos 17 is the UK, even more worth while if you happened to be visiting Japan. (meanwhile I am banging my head because I could have saved over £200 if I went there now instead of a few months ago.... oh well)

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E621Keith

E621Keith

Posted
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The 17.5 SW is still a good eyepiece, but it's very different from the HW. The SWs most likely share the same optics as the Nikon EDG spotting scope eyepieces.

Be careful when buying from that ad. It's from a relatively new seller in Spain and there are no photos. You will be taking a lot of risk buying it.

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