Maxvision 68° Okular 28mm, Maxvision 68° Okular 35 or Panaview 32mm?

[lestergibson]

Has anyone any thoughts on these ep's? It's time now for a low power wide field ep for sweeping, hunting dsos etc. with my 200p and I've narrowed it down to these three. The Maxision are a rebranded Meade one off and once they're gone, there'll be no more so I think I need to decide sooner rather than later.

[lestergibson]

Sorry, damn fat fingers got in the way; that should be a 34mm Okular, not 35mm.

[russ.will]

I used to have the 32mm Panaview and there really is no comparison in the quality of view. The MVs are much sharper and better corrected at the edges. To be fair, the MV s are basically a MUCH more expensive eyepiece, so they should be better.

The Panaview does score with being cheaper and being Erfle, has a huge, comfortable eye lens and excellent eye relief. You can pick them up for as little as £50 second hand and for that money, they are very good value.

Russell

[Adrian]

I have the 34mm and it is a lovely eyepiece to use. I haven't tried it in the Startravel yet - At F5 the exit pupil may be a bit large (6.8mm), especially as I have a lot of light pollution at my current location.

At F6 (5.67mm) you may be ok, but the 28mm is probably still a better bet for you, unless you have nice dark skies and a wide pupil. You'll have fewer balance issues with the smaller 28mm, too.

[lestergibson]

Righto, the MV it is but now I'm thinking that a 24mm, rather than the 28mm,  might be a more flexible option as a low/medium power ep since I'd able to barlow it. What do you reckon?

[bingevader]

I have the PanaView and still think it's fab for the money even if a little soft around the edges. I invariably start my observing sessions with it. Having said that, whilst they're still around and for only £20 more, I'd go for the Maxvision.

As for the 24mm or 28mm question, at these longer focal lengths, the difference in magnification is less significant, so you'd go from 35x with the 34mm to 43x with the 28mm. A 24mm would be 50x magnification and as you have said, a barlow would be an added option.

Cheers

[alan potts]

I used to have the 28mm Meade SWA which is the same thing by all accounts and that was one of my favourite Meade eyepieces. I would have thought it would out perform the Panaview at the edges for starters.

It was a very good eyepiece, I wish I had kept it now.

Alan.

[lestergibson]

I decided to pull the trigger the MV 24mm, just for the flexibility.  Now I'll have to wait a few months for the sky to clear.

[stevepeverall]

I bought the MV 34mm and it gives nice crisp views and is of excellent build quality and a bargain at 119 euros.

I find it a bit uncomfortabe to use though. It's a bit like sticking your eye up close to the pavement.

[Lee M]

I bought the MV 34mm and it gives nice crisp views and is of excellent build quality and a bargain at 119 euros.

I find it a bit uncomfortabe to use though. It's a bit like sticking your eye up close to the pavement.

LOL. It's funny isn't it. There's obviously some nice engineering in them & they design an eyecup that's like the sliced off end of a cucumber. I've got used to it now but definitely a 'could have done (a lot) better' feature.

[RikM]

I have the ES version of the 28mm 68°,which I think is optically the same as the Meade and MV's. It's very nice and is my lowest power eyepiece. If the 24 is anything like the 28, you should be very happy with it.

[Lee M]

I should say that eyecup aside the 24mm I have is a very nice eyepiece. The 16mm is also great and doesn't have the odd eyecup design.

[lestergibson]

I tried to talk myself into buying another MV ep when I ordering the 24mm since they are much ep for the cash but I couldn't come up with a good enough reason.  The Tal Barlow gives me a spread of 24, 12, 9 and 4.5 so I thought that do me for the meantime. 

[Bart]

I have recently got the 24mm 68* maxvision and I like it. Eye placement needed to get used to but adjustment of the eyecup sorted that. Been cloudy here for ages, so haven't got to use it that much but when I did I liked it. Mild/warm, moist air coming up from Spain means we're walking around in shirt sleeves reently, but price to pay is cloudy skies. Not too woriied up to now as moon was up, but not its beginning to eat into observable nights!!!!

Barry

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I love the MV 24mm 68 deg, nice and crisp, at F/6 in my APM 80mm. I tend to use it very much for solar, as I only have a 1.25" Herschel wedge. It should also come in handy in a lightweight travel setup. Excelent value for money.

[Pig]

I had the 34mm Maxi 68deg and I found it to be very good (my focal length is 2350) lovely views.

I could just about fit the 2 pieces of Bodes Nebula in the FOV

The eyepiece is quite fat and weighs in at about 650gr.

[lestergibson]

Well it arrived and the skies are, of course, completely clear of gash with top drawer seeing too!  Ah...... no, after 5 days of pretty decent skies, it's now totally clouded over. The ep is quite a lump and seems to be well made alright but seriously, what gives with that crazy eyecup adjustment method?

[Bart]

Good luck. We've had clouds for about 3 weeks down here. Hope you get a chance to use it soon

Barry

[lestergibson]

I finally got a chance to use the MV ep last night. I didn't get much time but I did get a fantastic, super-sharp view of Jupiter and also the Trapezium and the grey 'smudge'. For me, this is a damn good ep and I'm well chuffed with it.  I might have to spring for another one:)  Incidentally, I used a laser through the finderscope for the first time to zero in on M42 and it worked a treat, as long as you keep it warm.