hyperion aspheric / panaview f/6.

[rory]

i know everyone has different views on certain e/p's,but im trying to establish if its worth the price difference between the 32mm panaview and the 31 hyperion aspheric eyepieces. theres about a £60 difference if bought new. if the f/6 is forgiving enough im wondering if the sw panaview would be saving money.

thoughts ?

[Dude_with_the_tube]

i went for hyperion as 32mm would be too much for me on my scope (exit pupil close to limit).both lenses are great and if you are on budget,go for panaview.

[thunderchild]

for what it is worth i wouldn't sale/trade my 31mm hyperion for anything, a superb ep.

[stargazer1960]

Hi I have just been looking at this Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Clickstop Zoom & Baader Hyperion Zoom Barlow 2.25x on ebay and keeping a watch but don't know wether to go for it.

Was wondering if it would help out with my Jessop's brand scope to view objects better sorry just saw you talking about hyperion aspheric ep.

Here is the link. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Baader-Hyperion-8-24mm-Clickstop-Zoom-Baader-Hyperion-Zoom-Barlow-2-25x-/181065528321

Regards Carl

[rory]

i have the hyperion zoom already. ive only had a limited time with it due to weather, but so far im very happy with it. i dont know how much it would help with your jessops scope.

the zoom is limited to 24mm at lowest mag and thats why im after a 2" wide field e/p. the aspheric would accompany it well, but if im getting the same view and quality with the pana, i'll opt for that. or even perhaps a w/o swa?

[John]

Carl, to be honest, for the price that has now reached, you could almost buy a Skywatcher 6" F/8 dobsonian which would be in another performance league entirely from your Jessops scope.

Good eyepieces can improve the performance of scopes a little but can't make them what they are not.

This is off topic though so starting another thread would be a good idea.

[stargazer1960]

I take it that it would be a good investment then even if I decide to buy another scope. Sorry picking your brains. Its mind blowing this hobby.

[stargazer1960]

Thanks for your advice John.

[rory]

i think so. the f.o.v get wider at higher magnification. and narrower at low magnification. i paid £120 s/h . without the baader barlow,although i was offered that too for £50. i felt it was not needed as 8 mm would be close to the max i normally use (7mm max up till now). so barlow is pointless for my set up.

it is worth considering though you could get three or four fixed eyepieces of decent quality ( bst explorers for example) particualy s/h for the same price as the zoom and barlow. i wanted a smaller set for ease of use when i travel to darker sites.

i really think for me personally the hayperion zoom and one decent widefield e/p would do nicely for now.

anyway , back to my query. panaview or aspheric or other ?

[rory]

Carl, to be honest, for the price that has now reached, you could almost buy a Skywatcher 6" F/8 dobsonian which would be in another performance league entirely from your Jessops scope.

Good eyepieces can improve the performance of scopes a little but can't make them what they are not.

This is off topic though so starting another thread would be a good idea.

i was going to mention perhaps for that money id get a better telescope, but didnt want to come across as being rude. but have to agree with that comment.

[John]

anyway , back to my query. panaview or aspheric or other ?

30mm Aero ED ?

I think, a while back, one of our members (Andrew*) compared an Aero ED with a Hyperion Aspheric and slightly preferred the Aero ED.

[rory]

i had the 30mm aero. couldnt get back focus travel ( i know now i should have simply bought a extension) so i sold it on.

im trying to get a list of a few good 2" 30-32mm eyepieces ,so when one of that list pops up for sale i can strike.

so far then the list then will be- 30mm aero ( plus extension/adapter)

[andrew63]

I owned a 32mm televue plossl, which was a lovely lens. The 31mm aspheric i had - and i would bet the 30 aero would be of 'similar' quality - did not hold a candle to it. Perhaps they would perform better in your dob though.

andrew

[rory]

I owned a 32mm televue plossl, which was a lovely lens. The 31mm aspheric i had - and i would bet the 30 aero would be of 'similar' quality - did not hold a candle to it. Perhaps they would perform better in your dob though.

andrew

is that a 2" or 1.25" andrew ?

[andrew63]

the 32mm TV plossl was 1.25 the baader aspheric 2" - i might have been more satisfied rory if i hadn't looked through or owned the 32mm TV first! To make it more of an equal contest i decided to go down the 24mm 68 deg route to give the same FOV.

andrew

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Seems this thread is right up my alley. I was in your position last year. I tried both the panaview and aspheric side by side in my f6 and in my opinion the aspheric is far superior. Dont get me wrong, the panaview is good value for money, but the aspheric is certainly worth the extra if you can afford it.

After the aspheric i started filling gaps in my mid range with bsts and orthos, but took a gamble and sold them all for a hyperion zoom. I'm more than happy with the result. The views are great, and having a wide fov for high power in my manual dob is a massive bonus. Between the 2 hyperions i own, i have pretty much all bases covered, and while some premium eps may offer slightly better views, i feel i hit the sweet spot for price vs performance, at least for my eyes anyway.

The aspheric isnt perfect to the edges. It starts to slip around 80% outward, which isnt too much better than the panaview which was about 70-75% outward, but it was far better controlled in the aspheric. The panaview had full on seagull shaped stars at the edges but the aspheric is far more subtle, barely noticeable unless you're actually assessing the EP rather than viewing something.

[rory]

Seems this thread is right up my alley. I was in your position last year. I tried both the panaview and aspheric side by side in my f6 and in my opinion the aspheric is far superior. Dont get me wrong, the panaview is good value for money, but the aspheric is certainly worth the extra if you can afford it.

After the aspheric i started filling gaps in my mid range with bsts and orthos, but took a gamble and sold them all for a hyperion zoom. I'm more than happy with the result. The views are great, and having a wide fov for high power in my manual dob is a massive bonus. Between the 2 hyperions i own, i have pretty much all bases covered, and while some premium eps may offer slightly better views, i feel i hit the sweet spot for price vs performance, at least for my eyes anyway.

The aspheric isnt perfect to the edges. It starts to slip around 80% outward, which isnt too much better than the panaview which was about 70-75% outward, but it was far better controlled in the aspheric. The panaview had full on seagull shaped stars at the edges but the aspheric is far more subtle, barely noticeable unless you're actually assessing the EP rather than viewing something.

so your set up is a hyperion zoom along with 31mm aspheric ? that right jimmyjam .

[rory]

okay my list of potentials-

aero 30mm. ( £127 new del./ £70-85 s/h)

aspheric 31mm (£141 new del./ £75-90 s/h)

es 68 28mm (£106 del) new from agena astro .

[andrew63]

forgot to mention rory, the 24mm 68 deg is 1.25 the 28mm is 2". Hopefully others will chip in - but for me the meade or ES 68 deg. offer better edge performance over the hyperion range including the aspheric. Keep a lookout on ABS

andrew

[rory]

got to say the explore scientific for £106 all in from the u.s.a looks tempting (assuming the customs miss it). would need a while to get some funds together as i dont see them on the s/h market here often.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

so your set up is a hyperion zoom along with 31mm aspheric ? that right jimmyjam .

Correct. As i said, there are better eps out there, but those two offer good views at every magnification you realistically need. I doubt you could get the same range, versatility, and quality for the same money. Not to mention the convenience of only having 2 eps. Having the zoom in 2" fitting means only one focuser adapter, no switching filters etc.

Eps are a personal thing, but for me the bonuses of no switching eps, no switching filters or focuser adapters, being able to zoom to just the right mag to either darken sky background for dsos or find the max usable mag that seeing allows is worth the small sacrifice in edge performance.

However, this thread isnt about the zoom. I can only comment on the panaview vs aspheric, and the aspheric is in a different league. I've heard the others in the price range are all fairly similar, so dont torture yourself overthinking it. Many seem to prefer the aero over the aspheric, only slightly though.

[rory]

cheers joejoe. i think its probably fair to say then i could go with either the aspheric or aero which ever comes up on the s/h market first, however id have to add the small expense of a small extension to extend back focus with the aero ,but i think a 2" twist lock adds about 3cm of travel and id like one of those anyway.

or perhaps the 2" E/S 68 (28mm) new. i cant see a 68 coming on the market s/h anytime soon. i looked at astro b&s archives and they just dont appear !

[rory]

well after all the equating , and decission making i actually bagged a 32mm panaview simply as one came up at a good price .i thought id just give it a blast and see how it goes.

if the outer distortion is too much to bear ,ill trade up.

i'll report back my thoughts once i get a chance to use it in anger.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Hah i saw that on abs. Didnt think it would be on there long, less than 40mins! Lol

Hope you enjoy it, people have different tolerances to distortions etc, it wasnt too bad for me but certainly noticable. The thing that put me off most was the shape of the eyecup, so wide and thick it was like trying to look through a hole in a dinner plate, having to turn slightly sideways to get your eye clise enough. But then, i have a rather large nose so maybe its just me... Lol

[rory]

thanks for your your thoughts pinocchio , er i mean joe joe ! .

na , seroiusly thanks for the input matey. i nicknamed this e/p the marmite eyepiece a while back as its seems everywhere i read about the panaview,it has either lovers or haters.

like i say ive not used a widefield before ,so nothing to really compare to. could be advantgeous for me on that score. but if its not for me ,i'll re sell and trade up.there was one aspheric at £100 plus fees on top,i thought was a little steep. so i left it be.