4.7mm Ethos

[Joves]

Have the feelers out for a 3mm and 5mm Radian. I think this will complete the planetary lineup for me. Can't see that I will have much need for any with a focal length higher than 8mm.

I have made enquiry about a brand new 3mm Radian. I would have snapped it up immediately except for the fact that the price of the EP is $166 and the cost they are wanting to charge for shipping is $123!!! Can you believe it? The thing weighs less than 500 grams!!

As for the 5mm, if one doesn't show up, I'll look at getting a 5mm Pentax XW until a Radian pops up. I'm sure the Pentax is probably better, thus eliminating the need to proceed with the Radian, but I do like to keep things uniform

[alan potts]

Aaron,

To be frank I don't see any real difference between the Pentax and the Radian, there is a slight difference in the colour of the image but unless you are swapping them back and forth this isn't obvious. The Pentax was the first eyepiece that showed me the double of Antares, which is not easy, harder than Sirius in my books, so it holds fond memories for me. On the other hand I prefer the Radian for Jupiter with the both giving X161 in my APO it is ideal, I just like the smaller FOV on this subject and both have nothing in the way of pincushion distortion for me wins over the Nagler 5mm.

Still think I would like a 5mm BGO to compliment these two.

Alan.

[Joves]

Thanks Alan.

Might look into the Pentax then. There is no telling if or when a Radian 5mm might become available. What FOV is the XW, out of interest?

Also, I sorted out the shipping on the 3mm Radian, so hit the go button. Should be on its way soon.

Aaron

[John]

The XW gives you a 70 degree apparent field of view. The 5mm XW is a superb eyepiece, one of my favourite planetary eyepieces

I've just watched an Ethos 3.7mm go for £275 on e.bay !

[Joves]

Ah, that sounds nice, thanks John. Would make a nice addition to the Vixen LV 5mm with 45 degree AFOV, the Nagler Zoom with 50 degree AFOV and the Ethos 4.7mm with 110 degree AFOV.

Wow, that's a good price for a 3.7mm Ethos. Mine set me back $750!

[John]

Ah, that sounds nice, thanks John. Would make a nice addition to the Vixen LV 5mm with 45 degree AFOV, the Nagler Zoom with 50 degree AFOV and the Ethos 4.7mm with 110 degree AFOV.

I'll probably regret saying this but I would not be surprised if you found that the 5mm XW was slightly better than all of those for planetary and lunar viewing. 

[Joves]

From what I've heard, I don't think I'd be surprised to find the same. The 3.7mm and 4.7mm Ethos are great on planets, don't get me wrong, but I've found them (so far, at least) to be at their best when viewing globulars and nebula, particularly M42.

[alan potts]

I will do a review on the pair of them when I get it back, trusting to memory is never such a good idea especially when I rarely have the two out together.

Alan.

[John]

I will do a review on the pair of them when I get it back, trusting to memory is never such a good idea especially when I rarely have the two out together.

Alan.

I'll look forward to that Alan 

I agree that trusting to memory in comparing optical items is dodgy at best. "Back to back, same scope, same eyes, same skies" is the way to do it, if possible 

The closest I've got to the 3.7 and 4.7 Ethos SX experience is using a 2x Powermate with my 8mm and 6mm Ethos to give 4mm and 3mm. The results were mighty impressive considering the 13 lenses that these comprised and seemed to my eyes to simply give you every aspect of Ethos performance in the shorter focal lengths. 

I'm still thinking of picking up another Powermate despite having Radians at 4mm and 3mm just for the sheer fun of allowing ones eye to glide over the lunar surface peering out of a 100 degree porthole 

[Joves]

I'll look forward to that Alan 

I'm still thinking of picking up another Powermate despite having Radians at 4mm and 3mm just for the sheer fun of allowing ones eye to glide over the lunar surface peering out of a 100 degree porthole 

It sure is a sight to behold, John!

[alan potts]

Odd as it may seem I have never done that, at least I can't recall doing it. I sometimes wonder why I keep a Powermate, it just seems collect dust and that is not what they are for.

If we are clear tonight I must have a go with the 8mm Ethos. The last 3 days have been clear blue all day and cloud moving in just as the scope comes out, feel I am being watched.

Merry Christmas.

Alan

[Joves]

Alan and John,

Upon your advice regarding the Pentax XW's, I've just ordered the 3.5mm and the 5mm. Have to come from overseas, so probably won't receive them for a week or two. I'll see how I get on with these two before buying others.

John, I'm expecting the 5mm to be better than the Ethos and Radians, as you've lead me to believe! The pressure is on!!

[John]

John, I'm expecting the 5mm to be better than the Ethos and Radians, as you've lead me to believe! The pressure is on!!

I hope you enjoy them but different people see things different ways so do bear that in mind.

Any differences there are are very slight at most and may be reversed depending on the object being viewed. Thats the way it is with almost all comparisons of very high quality items.

I presume you are buying these out of curiosity Joves, already having the Ethos, Nagler Zoom, Radians and Vixen LV's covering these focal lengths ?.

As you are, presumably, not short of cash, go for the best there is and try and get a set of Zeiss ZAO's and TMB Supermonocentrics. They will eclipse any of the above 

[Joves]

I'm just kidding. Not really holding you to the "better than Ethos" view. Will be interesting to see how they fare though. On some targets, I think 70 degree AFOV would be a winner.

You're right, buying them more out of curiosity.

I'd love to get a set of Zeiss ZAO's however, being discontinued a while back now, I wouldn't know where to start looking

[John]

I'd love to get a set of Zeiss ZAO's however, being discontinued a while back now, I wouldn't know where to start looking

If you join "Astromart" some might come up - I think it costs around $15 US per annum. The "Cloudynights" forum classifieds are free to members. Shipping will not be cheap but these are rare things and folks do go to some trouble and expense to own them.

APM Telescopes in Germany were responsible for setting up another short production run of the TMB Supermonocentrics and can be a useful source of these more exotic items including Zeiss. They have a "used" section with some interesting stuff in from time to time.

If you put some feelers out and, are patient and have funds immediately available for when the right item comes along anything is possible 

The Leica Vario 8.9 - 17.8 mm ASPH Zoom is another that APM can supply if you were so minded. Apparently it can perform to a level that exceeds Ethos / Delos / XW's and has a wide field of view through it's range.

There are also the Nikon Nav HW eyepieces which I understand might just improve on the Ethos:

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Eyepieces/more-than-74-ultra-wide-angle/Other/Nikon-NAV-HW-17-mm-eyepiece-with-corrector-EiC-14.html

Anyway, I'll be interested in your views on the XW's. I use the 5mm and 3.5mm amongst Ethos and Radians and think very highly of them