Which is best?

[houston]

Looking for a 2" 32mm eyepiece. Thinking of either - 32mm panaview - 32mm swa skywatcher - 33mm williams optics swan. Anyone compared any of these eyepieces? Decisions, decisions.

[rwilkey]

Hi Houston, what scope is it for?

[Tinker1947]

You have a budget limit....

[houston]

Scope is 200p dob. £90 budget.

[houston]

I have a 26mm which gives x46 mag. Do you think theres any point going for a 32mm for x37.5 mag?

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[Andy_E]

I have a 26mm which gives x46 mag. Do you think theres any point going for a 32mm for x37.5 mag?

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You may be the best person to answer that... have you ever really felt you need more TFOV whilst observing? if the answer is no then save your cash for something else. Having said that, what 26mm EP do you have? If the AFOV is low you will also be losing out on TFOV.

[houston]

Your right andy. Have panaview 26mm 70°. I have heard that rwilkey has 32mm panaview in similar scope. Wonder what he thinks:D

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[Andy_E]

In that case I'd be tempted to stick with the 26mm... the 32mm does get great reviews though (haven't used either I'm afraid). If you did go for the 32mm you could always sell the 26mm on if you found it wasn't getting any use.

[Tinker1947]

Some of the Cluster look awesome in a wide FOV a 32mm or there about will show them at there best, really down to what you like viewing how often you can empty the wallet on another EP or the multitude of other bits of kit you will fancy buying..

[Daniel-K]

i'll be brutal here these panaviews are NAFF! at anything less than F6. ive looked through them all and i think there awfull! i would get a televue 32mm plossl 2nd hand for about £80 or get one of the explore scientific or one of these http://www.explorescientific.de/maxvision-68deg-okular-28mm-p-25563.html which i have just bought £91 delivered same as the meade SWAN and have glowing reviews from members on here. just my 2p's worth  

[bingevader]

I'm a bit like a stuck record with this, but the 32mm is lovely, a bit soft round the edges, but well worth the money.

I enjoy the extra field of view. Looked at M31 on a particularly clear night recently and it was stunning. I tried looking at it through some of the shorter FL EPs, but kept coming back to the 32 for a fuller picture.

Cheers

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Have you considered the 35mm Aero? These are more expensive, but they are TMB Paragon clones, and the one I had was superb at F/6. They are a bit above your budget, but you could opt for these TS clones:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p2334_TS-PARAGON-ED-35mm-2--Superweitwinkel---68-Grad---6linsig.html

again a touch above budget, but a bit further apart from the 26mm, and at just under 6mm exit pupil should perform very nicely.

[houston]

I love the panaview. So easy to position your eye with no black bits( kidney beaning ). Bit wonky around the edges i agree. Be nice to try them all first. Explore scientific look good but so do the williams optics and um the panaview. Bit more thinking needed i think!!!!

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[John]

i'll be brutal here these panaviews are NAFF! at anything less than F6. ive looked through them all and i think there awfull! i would get a televue 32mm plossl 2nd hand for about £80 or get one of the explore scientific or one of these http://www.explorescientific.de/maxvision-68deg-okular-28mm-p-25563.html which i have just bought £91 delivered same as the meade SWAN and have glowing reviews from members on here. just my 2p's worth  

If we are being brutal the SWAN's reputation at F/6 or faster isn't too great either to be honest, if you are fussy about astigmatism, which it sounds like you are. I hope the Maxvision is better than a SWAN for you. Your 32mm Tele Vue plossl recommendation to houston might have been a better bet for yourself perhaps ? 

[houston]

If i got one of those green eyepieces in my case, and i wouldnt get the plossl either im afraid id go for the whole set which would probably mean divorce or not so nice holidays at the least. I think mr skywatcher thought about this when designing the panaviews. Half decent affordable eyepieces = happy wife..

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[Space Beagle]

I used to have a Panaview 32mm and used it in my f5 scope, it was fine to my eyes yes a little soft towards the edge as Bingevader says, but not bad for the cost!

I have also had the Aero 30mm and to be honest, I prefered the Panaview - horses for courses etc!

The Maxvisions I have now are very nice indeed in my f5 scope, so don't rule those out, at the prices you can get them for at the moment they're an absolute steal!!

Then I went a little bonkers and managed to get a Nagler 26mm, cor blimey, the best eyepiece I think ive ever owned, simply beautiful views through that one!

I must stop buying eyepieces x100

Doc

[Charic]

I have a 26mm which gives x46 mag. Do you think theres any point going for a 32mm for x37.5 mag?

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Hi Houston........My 26mm is ok for my needs & eyes, but noticed I cant fit M31 or  Pleiades  in the eyepiece  without some clipping  (  I was at a darker site this Week and M31 is very impressive in low power, dark skies)  but playing about with Stellarium, I've decided that its not worth taking a 32mm as the image is about the same from a 52° AFOV lens, but the TFOV is slightly smaller. Plus some other considerations that I`m pondering,  so I may just shove a  40mm Plossl in, when the need arises. Again the TFOV will be slightly less than the 60°s that I'm used too, but there will be more on display?

[John]

A 32mm with the same apparent field of view as a 26mm should show more sky and a larger true field (TFoV) than the 26mm. A 40mm plossl won't show any more sky than a 32mm of the same design though.

[Charic]

A 32mm with the same apparent field of view as a 26mm should show more sky and a larger true field (TFoV) than the 26mm. A 40mm plossl won't show any more sky than a 32mm of the same design though.

John, in my case the 26mm BST is 60° and 52° AFOV for the 32mm lens, So I would expect to see a difference, but if both lenses had the same AFOV then I would agree to your statement. Also the Plossl, is that because of the barrel size limit?

[houston]

I have a 40 MM plossl 1.25" which i use in 90mm refractor which is great but when put in 8" dob theres not really any more field of view than the 26mm 2". I can remember when buying the 26" doing the calculations on 8" mirror and it worked out pretty pointless having any more than a 26mm. A 32mm would not be using all the 8" mirror.

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[John]

John, in my case the 26mm BST is 60° and 52° AFOV for the 32mm lens, So I would expect to see a difference, but if both lenses had the same AFOV then I would agree to your statement. Also the Plossl, is that because of the barrel size limit?

The 32mm plossl, assuming a 52 degrees AFoV, would show just a little more sky than the 25mm BST, but not much. 

Yes, the limit of the AFoV is due to the internal diameter of the eyepiece barrel which stops the field stop going beyond a certain size. I had a 50mm 1.25" degree eyepiece once thinking it would give lovely low power, wide angle views - it was like looking down a drinking straw !

I also bought a 32mm Erfle eyepiece many years back in the 1.25" fitting believing the advertising that it had a 65 degree field of view. Of course it turned out to be 52 degrees which is the physical limit for the 1.25" barrel in that focal length. 

You learn from these things   

[rwilkey]

Your right andy. Have panaview 26mm 70°. I have heard that rwilkey has 32mm panaview in similar scope. Wonder what he thinks:D

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Hi there, yes, the 32mm PanaView is good in the 200P, however, a bit soft at the very edge, which doesn't bother me.  On axis it is brilliant, it is my most used eyepiece on the 200P

[Reeny]

Don't rule out the Revelation 40mm at 28.5x magnification to match your 26mm.

I bought one a few weeks ago - but only managed to try it once under moonlight.

Great views for a cheapy eyepiece (£36 delivered).

Ideal for Andromeda, Pleiades, and big tragets like the double cluster etc. 

[houston]

Cheers everyone. Its looking like the panaview. Shame no one has tried the the 32mm swa skywatcher. Got the 8mm, its good but stupidly big and i dont like having to put my eye in the exact place to stop kidney beaning. Maybe the 32mm would be fine.

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[NGC 1502]

If we are being brutal the SWAN's reputation at F/6 or faster isn't too great either to be honest, if you are fussy about astigmatism, which it sounds like you are. I hope the Maxvision is better than a SWAN for you. Your 32mm Tele Vue plossl recommendation to houston might have been a better bet for yourself perhaps ? 

Agreed, I have the WO 33mm Swan. It does give a nice low power / wide field in my F4.8 Dob, but it's only sharp in the centre of field. Works a treat though in a clubmate's 180mm Maksutov.

Regards, Ed.