Which 20mm eyepieces for Binoviewing ?

[dweller25]

Now I have a pair of 18mm Fujiyama Orthos for my Binoviewers giving x170 I am looking for something around the x150 mark. I wear glasses during Planetary observing so good eye relief is important.

I am considering a pair of Televue 20mm Plossls or Vixen 20mm NLV's.

Does any one have experience of these two eyepieces - pro and cons ??

Any other good alternatives around the £100 mark??

[Moonshane]

hi David

I have a 20mm TVP and it's excellent as you'd expect. coincidentally I normally wear contacts but have my glasses on today as I have a red eye. having just tried the 20mm I see about the same kind of field as an ortho so not the whole field, with my glasses on. not sure if this helps really!

[dweller25]

Thanks for that - I hear good things about both eyepieces - the Vixen has more eye relief which is good for me but is £30 more - decisions, decisions......

[Mark in Macc]

I have a pair of 15 mm NLVs for my WO binoviewers. Optically they are top notch but are quite wide at the top. I can get my nose in between but they don't feel as comfortable as my other pairs. They have good eye relief but a relatively narrow (50 deg). FOV. I would be tempted to try a pair first if you can. Personally, I prefer narrower EPs with rubber eye cups. I use the 20 mm eyepieces that came with the binoviewers and they are very good in my OTA. A pair of 20 mm TV plossls might be worth considering. Again, try before you buy if you can.

[Mark in Macc]

It might be worth also considering the Skywatcher Ultrawides, which are only about £30 each and the WO SWANs, which are around the £60 mark. If the WO SWANs are optically similar to the ones that come with the binoviewers, they should be good in slower OTAs.

[Mr Spock]

I think at 20mm a Plössl should be fine for eye relief. Though the TV doesn't give more than twice the performance of something like a Vixen for £50 more!

If I was paying that kind of money I'd step up to the NLV. The eye relief is better and the tops are more comfortable - they fit my eye sockets perfectly. They are also about 20mm apart, so no problems size wise.

[nightfisher]

Just a thought how about trying a pair of Revelation 20mm plossl`s at £30 each, they are pretty good ep`s

[dweller25]

Mark, Michael, Jules - thanks for your input.

As it stands.....

Revelation  - 22mm ER - £24

SW U/wide  - 18mm ER - £33 ** variable reports on this range

Vixen NPL   - 15mm ER - £35

WO Swan   - 17mm ER - £60 ** although as report on CN states ER is just 10mm !

TV Plossls  - 14mm ER - £85

Vixen NVL   - 20mm ER - £115

Thinking .......

[andrew63]

As the NLV are presumably replaced by SLV in the New Year, you may find dealers selling off the NLVs.

Vixen Optics - NEW SLV Lanthanum Eyepieces

andrew

[dweller25]

Thanks for the heads up Andrew - the NLV's are my preferred option but they seems a bit too expensive.