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£1 eyepiece

hoops86

By hoops86
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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hoops86

hoops86

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Just bought a Meade 4000 14mm Ultra wide angle for £1 on ebay! Well actually 99p :)

P&P cost me £10 tho... At the time i thought that seemed excessive... Until it arrived today... and its the size of a aircraft carrier! This thing is huge and so heavy!

After reading some reviews it turns out its a late 80s early 90s smoothie (no rubber bit) made in japan.

Many posts i seen they were comparing it to televue eyepieces... surly it cant be that good...

But i couldnt see any bad reviews for it. Only some old dudes saying they have had it for years and would never let it go etc. They did say the 13mm ethos is better than it tho. (did a quick google and what da [removed word]... £500+ for one of them)

Anyone used one of these old dinosaurs before? Pretty sure i got a decent price for it even if its awful :)

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

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Is that the flat-top version? When I owned one they were changing hands for nearly £200, so 99p is an absolute bargain indeed.

Very much an old-school eyepiece, but I loved it - big and heavy, but a great vintage charm to it. Because you could see the top of the eyepiece (no eyeguard) it kind of felt like looking through a ship's porthole. Back in the day it was considered to give the TeleVue equivalents (e.g. the 13mm 'type 1' and 12mm type 2 Naglers) a decent run for their money, and I certainly ranked my one close enough to that benchmark, although eyepiece design moved on and it was left behind by newer eyepieces from TeleVue, Pentax, et al.

I'd still pay a lot more than 99p for one :D

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John

John

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They are considered by many to be the finest eyepiece Meade ever produced. Needless to say £11 delivered is the bargain of the century !

The Ethos and the latest Nagler versions might be a little better but at massively higher costs although the Meade itself was a very expensive eyepiece when new. Normally I'd expect an early 14mm UWA Meade to sell used for around £120 or maybe a bit more ?.

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hoops86

hoops86

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This is the only 2" eyepiece i have ever seen physically so i dunno if this is normal or what...but i burst into laughter when i opened it as it is ridiculously big and heavy!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111132830721?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Dunno if that link will work i took it from my ebay account.

Will try and add a pic of it in my hand to show how insanely huge this thing is.

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hoops86

hoops86

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Checked it optically and its in great condition. It really is an impressive piece of workmanship. So well build and solid.

In a bit of shock! Seems i was incredibly lucky. Just blind luck! 99% of all my kit is meade so i just typed meade into ebay and seen this and thought why not take a punt :)

Ive never seen an eyepiece get so much praise before. Seeing people call it a "legend" and "considered by many to be the finest eyepiece Meade ever produced" from dudes that know what they are talking about makes me very happy! :)

Kinda feel like ive robbed someone tho haha

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Congratulation on finding the bargain of the century.

That's the one - looks like the seller put it in the wrong place on ebay (Cameras & Photography > Lenses & Filters > Lenses). I'd reckon they're still worth the better part of £100 today so you did get an incredible deal, well spotted :)

I guess that's a lesson for all of us who sell on Ebay. Check where you posted the item.

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hoops86

hoops86

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Had you asked me yesterday i would have said no chance i will sell it... cause if its as good as i read it is...it would be promoted to my best eyepiece.

However after testing it last night...im sorry to say but i was seriously underwelmed with this eyepiece.

It just didnt feel right! I had to float like 2" above it to see anything and due to no eye guard i was constantly shielding my face to block out nearby street lights. Also if you move your eye slightly you lose the image. In my very inexperienced opinion i preffer the BST eyepieces!

When people are comparing it to naglers etc... is this what i would expect to get from a nagler? if so... its not something i will ever be investing in :)

It might be my scope that was the issue as it doesnt fully fit it. the 2" bit hits the OTA so it cant slot all the way into the scope.

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John

John

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What you have experienced is the older style of eyepiece which were designed with no rubber eye cup. The 4000's were re-designed and the Mk II had a higher top with a nice soft rubber eyecup attached just where you need to place your eye.

The 1st generation Naglers were of the same design but they soon were upgraded to incorporate an eye cup as well.

All in all it sounds like it may not be for you but you will certainly re-gain your investment !. The UK Astro Buy & Sell website is a good place to advertise used equipment - better than e.bay :smiley:

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