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Skywatcher PanaView 32mm (2")


nephilim

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Hi, since discovering I've a bit of a thing for Globular/open clusters (since recently seeing M13 , NGC884 & 869), i'm looking at a low power wide (ish) EP. I asked a similar question a while back & for my budget (no more than £100) was recommended to get the above. Does anyone have any experience with one of these (ive the 200p f5 skywatcher newt) also would 32mm be to low for my scope & a 30mm better, if so any recommendations.

Btw i'm aware the Panaview is slightly 'soft' around the edges at f5 but is it really noticable enough to become annoying & please dont suggest ep's much higher than my budget as if I could afford it I most certainly would stretch :grin:

Thanks

Steve

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Hi Steve, the 32mm PanaView is great for the 200P and it was the first ep I ever bought separately. god bless FLO for loaning it to me at a star party. Never looked back, it is still my most used ep, I even use it for solar with my C100ED. As you say, a bit soft at the edges at f/5 but the rewards of using this ep far outweigh little details like this, which don't bother me at all. You will love this ep.

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Thanks Robin,

Thats just the answer I needed after the research I've done on it, I'll be ordering it at the end of the week & let you know how I get on with it.......Thats if the skies decide to be kind for a change :rolleyes:

Clear Skies

Steve

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Steve although I have Ethos and Nagler EPs to use on my f4.7 Dob I also have the 38mm PanaView. I have to say I really like this EP despite the exit pupil being too much. I often use it on the Dob to find star patterns to track down DSOs.

If the 32mm PanaView is of the same quality, which I imagine it is, then go for it. It might be slightly soft at the edges but for the budget that you have this would be a good buy.

Mark

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Steve although I have Ethos and Nagler EPs to use on my f4.7 Dob I also have the 38mm PanaView. I have to say I really like this EP despite the exit pupil being too much. I often use it on the Dob to find star patterns to track down DSOs.

If the 32mm PanaView is of the same quality, which I imagine it is, then go for it. It might be slightly soft at the edges but for the budget that you have this would be a good buy.

Mark

Hi Mark, I have always avoided the 38mm because of the exit pupil, however, it is pleasing to hear a good report of it. I also thought it was rather large when I saw it at an astronomy fair.

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Hi Mark, I have always avoided the 38mm because of the exit pupil, however, it is pleasing to hear a good report of it. I also thought it was rather large when I saw it at an astronomy fair.

Robin to be honest I never bought the 38mm PanaView for the f4.7 Dob but for my 4" APO frac. The PanaView gives me 19x - a FOV of 3 degrees 41' and an exit pupil of 5.4 - so not bad. The other night I put it on my William Optics SD66 to track down Panastarr and I had a mag of 10x and a FOV close to 7 degrees - I found the comet.

Its not ideal on the 10" Dob but it can be useful for star hopping. Basically I think they are good EPs for the money.

Mark

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Thats sown it up the PanaView it is :grin: .

While i'm at it, could I please also ask you both (I very little experience EP wise, apart from the reading I've done i've no real practical experience) I'm also wanting a good planetary EP for my scope, the one and only seperate EP i've bought so far has been the Meade 5000 HD-60 9mm to replace my stock Skywatcher 10mm which IMO was totally naff. The Meade is a great EP but at 9mm doesnt make the most out of my scope on the planets & I'd like a half decent 4mm or 5mm so I dont have to keep barlowing the 9mm Meade. The budget would be between £50-£80 ( Wish it could be more but dont we all :rolleyes: )

Thanks

Steve

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I had all three Panaviews. The 38mm was the nicest of the lot even in an F5 Dob. The 32mm was also nice but I found the 26mm kinf of lacked any wow factore though its an ok eyepiece. The 32 and 38 had great contrast and were good for wide targets. Well made and its a lot of glass for the money. Dont forget to twist the eyecup up when you use them.....lots of people do and wonder why the EP is beaning and blacking out all over the place :) with the eyecup up its a very comfortable and forgiving eyepiece.

For planetary I would get an ortho, either get a BGO 2nd hand OR get one of the Hutechs when FLO get them in stock.

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I had all three Panaviews. The 38mm was the nicest of the lot even in an F5 Dob. The 32mm was also nice but I found the 26mm kinf of lacked any wow factore though its an ok eyepiece. The 32 and 38 had great contrast and were good for wide targets. Well made and its a lot of glass for the money. Dont forget to twist the eyecup up when you use them.....lots of people do and wonder why the EP is beaning and blacking out all over the place smile.gif with the eyecup up its a very comfortable and forgiving eyepiece.

For planetary I would get an ortho, either get a BGO 2nd hand OR get one of the Hutechs when FLO get them in stock.

Thanks A.B, I'l have a look at the planetary recommendations although as a glasses wearer I'll need some fairly good eye relief.

Regards

Steve

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Steve for viewing the Planets I use my Nagler 3-6mm zoom which is a much higher price than your budget. However, over the last few months I have been using binoviewers and have just bought a pair of 12.5mm William Optics SPL planetary EPs which are lovely quality with excellent eye relief. Therefore, you might want to consider the 6mm SPL EP again having good eye relief and cost about £70.

Mel's (Astro Baby) recommendation for critical planetary viewing is correct in having a quality orthoscopic but the eye relief can be tight. At SGL8 last week I tried a 10mm Baader Classic which had a reasonable FOV and eye relief was quite acceptable but I don't wear glasses.

Mark

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the 38mm Panaview with 70' AFOV must be getting close to the maximum sky viewed in an eyepiece, which I believe is the Vixen NLW 42mm 72' AFOV

Considering the Panaview is £89.00 and the Vixen is £295 that's a great way to get a TON of sky on a budget.

Did some somes for the ST120. It hasa maximum potential TFOV of 4.48 degrees

The 38mm panaview would give: 4.43 degrees

The Vixen would give: 5 degrees!

The 38mm gives a .02 degrees less TFOV than my Dobs maximum TFOV potential as well. Interesting! Hand't realised there was an eyepiece that sits right on the maximum potential of both my scopes. I might actually get the panaview just for that :D

Would have a 7-8mm exit pupil though, depending on scope. Maybe I'll just look for one second hand.

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I used to use a Panaview 38mm in an F5..........technically that creates too big an exit pupil but it never bothered me much. It does go a bit soft at the edges with coma but the view is so wide it never bothered me. To date easily thebest view of the Pleiades was had using one of these from a very dark sky site and in some ways I regret selling it on. As I said up the thad the Panaviews are a lot of glass for the cash....they arent perfect but they are nice.

Not sure how they wold square up to an 82' ES in 30mm. Ever since the 30mm got hee ai have been cursed with clouds. For those flush with cash, and those not so blessed, i am hoping to do a run off between a Nagler 31, an ES 3O and a Pentax XW30, thats tow of the top bits of low power glass versus the usurper of the ES.

Should be interesting.

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Not sure how they wold square up to an 82' ES in 30mm.
I compared both, after the ES82 arrived to replace the Panaview and the answer, in my F5 300p, is that they don't compare. Back to back, the astigmatism of the SW is a lot more obvious with only the central 50% really looking sharp. The ES is sharp out to the edge of FOV that the SW manages, with coma being the more pronounced aberation after that. The sky looks darker and stars have a crystal like clarity that leaves the SW feeling a bit grainy by comparison.

It's a rather harsh comparison though and I felt the Panaview held up a lot better in my 200p. It wasn't until the 300p arrived that even felt remotely compelled to change it. Apparently, not all F5s are the same....

I'd heartily agree that it's a corking EP for the money and it was extremely comfortable and relaxing to view through for extended periods. I find it interesting that you found the 26mm less impressive. I briefly had a 26mm Revelation Superview (another Erfle) and that didn't exactly butter my muffins either. Mind you, it's eyecup was way too short so kidney-beaned and blacked out like it was going out of fashion faster than I am.

I don't think the Panaviews can be knocked for the money, plus they're dead easy to get apart and clean the dust out of. :)

Russell

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I have all three 26mm, 32mm & 38mm and they all offered great views in my 12" F5 dob (now sold), they were a little soft towards the edges but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. These must be the best value for money eyepieces you can buy. I now have a C9.25 at F10 which gives the ep's a much easier time and all three give clear views across the complete fov.

Dave

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I compared both, after the ES82 arrived to replace the Panaview and the answer, in my F5 300p, is that they don't compare. Back to back, the astigmatism of the SW is a lot more obvious with only the central 50% really looking sharp. The ES is sharp out to the edge of FOV that the SW manages, with coma being the more pronounced aberation after that. The sky looks darker and stars have a crystal like clarity that leaves the SW feeling a bit grainy by comparison.

It's a rather harsh comparison though and I felt the Panaview held up a lot better in my 200p. It wasn't until the 300p arrived that even felt remotely compelled to change it. Apparently, not all F5s are the same....

I'd heartily agree that it's a corking EP for the money and it was extremely comfortable and relaxing to view through for extended periods. I find it interesting that you found the 26mm less impressive. I briefly had a 26mm Revelation Superview (another Erfle) and that didn't exactly butter my muffins either. Mind you, it's eyecup was way too short so kidney-beaned and blacked out like it was going out of fashion faster than I am.

I don't think the Panaviews can be knocked for the money, plus they're dead easy to get apart and clean the dust out of. :)

Russell

Its good to hear both the pro's & cons to this EP so I know what i'll be getting & not be dissapointed, but as everyone (including yourself :smiley: ) is saying, for the cash I think it sounds like a great EP & i'm looking foreward to its arrival.

Steve

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I have a 200p dob f6 and wondering how good the views with a 32mm sw panaview really are?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Hi Skem, the 32mm PanaView will work very well in your f/6 Dob, I can assure you!

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Thats a very subjective question that can't really be answered with a guarantee.

All I can say is that the eyepiece would resolve that part of the sky if the telescope is pointed at it. As any eyepiece would. The field of view of this eyepiece would likely frame the galaxy in question (scope dependant)

Spotting faint fuzzies has more to do with aperture,dark skies, perfect seeing and then quality of optics in that order with quality of optics being quite negligible in comparison to the others.

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Even the best eyepieces money can buy can't guarantee seeing details in galaxies. Under perfect conditions, coal black skies and excellent transparency scopes of 6" can start to pick out suggestions of spiral structure in galaxies such as M51. Any light pollution / moon light in the sky though and it becomes dramatically more challenging even for much larger scopes. I think galaxies and nebulae are the objects that are most affected by light pollution of any kind so the best "accessory" that one can buy to improve their views is possibly a tank full of fuel to get the observer and scope to a really dark sky !

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