82° ES maxvision 24mm info

[-Aldebaran-]

I keep going back to this eyepiece as my next purchase but am weary of the twist-up eyecup, is it much different to the standard fold up design, also I have no idea on the diameter of the eyelens, it looks too small for comfort, will the cup design pose a risk to light infiltration??

I have the Ar purged 82° 14mm and like it alot ( standard folding eyecup) but the price of the Ar 24mm is a £70 increase, same fov and fl, would I be better sticking to the Ar type 24mm and deal with the cost, or am I just fussing too much that I won't like the Maxv' design??

Besides, I can get free delivery on the Maxv'!!

[alan potts]

 I think it is always nice to have eyepieces, no matter what make from a set or series. The eyepiece you have in mind 24mm ExSc is optically the same as a Meade 24mm UWA which was on the market beforehand and ExSc just added gas and maybe a different coating. There is no imformation that I have seen that suggests it is better or worse, I would have thought anyone would be very hard pressed to tell one from the other as they were both made at the same factory.

The Maxvision 24mm UWA is the same eyepiece that I had just offered in a different way, the twist up eye-shield is not a problem, some even prefer them, it was the result of a cancelled order when Meade had problems

That said, I have just sold my Meade 24mm and I have to say it was a very good eyepiece, I did a review on this and the TV Nagler 26mm which is in the Members Equipment section, it held up very well against the more eexpense Nagler.

I would without question save those pennies and spend the extra on the 24mm UWA MaxVision , I really don't think you will regret this as to better it means spending hundreds more.

Alan

[Bart]

I own that EP and find it performs well in my 10" Dob. Like it.

Barry

[-Aldebaran-]

Alan,

I can definitely see the resemblance between the Es maxvision 82° and the Meade UWA 82°. Twin eyepieces but not a twin price tag with more than £100 between them!

The Es maxvisions 68° is also identical to meade's 5000 SWA. Of which I have seen just one on telescopehouse.com - the 24mm which is sold out.

But Alan you have confused me a little as I was deciding between the 82° maxvision 24mm (Meade twin) and the 82° Ar purged 24mm which seems to cost a bit more just for waterproofing.

So are you saying to save the extra pennies for the Ar purged 82°? Or do you actually mean the maxvision will be fine??? And cheaper.

[AlexB67]

I'd be hard pressed to justify buying the ES purged offering where the same eyepiece exists in the Mavision right now ( assuming they are the same optical arrangement and glass which I believe they are). That being said I've never heard of any comparisons being made and a clear demonstration in a review that the coatings or glass are inferior on the MVs, that's not to say it may or may not be the case, I don't know.

There is the water poofing and purging of course,  again I can't comment on the merits of those but I am very happy with the MVs I do have at substantial lesser cost. As for the rest the marketing of improved coatings on the ES I am aware of is just what the marketing says, rather than actual reviews saying what improvements that actually brings, but I may well have missed some.

The MV with the very wide flat top may not be to everyone ergonomic liking as much as a rubber cup. I find it fine to use but if given the choice I would have the rubber cup, no biggy though.

Note also both the 82 degrees offerings are quite heavy beasts.  800 - 900 g so balance at that sort of level may become a consideration on your Dob with counter weights possibly needed for smoother action at lower viewing angles. 

As it happens I find my 534g MV 28mm okay on my 10 inch Dob, but much more than that I feel counterweight would be useful to smoothen it out a bit, as the handles do need to be reasonably tight with that eyepiece at low viewing angles. At low mag it is less of an issue anyway with less precise and less frequent nudging needed.

[alan potts]

I got lost while I was writing it but thought it was clear, sorry.

My last line buy the Maxvision 24mm if you can get one, these came about after what was a cancelled Meade order as they had mony problems, they are the same eyepiece with different marking,  this is the only difference, I am lead to understand. The site has many people that have bought these and the SWA range which the same applies.

You will enjoy this eyepiece, believe me.

Alan

[-Aldebaran-]

Cheers guys, thanks for the clarity. I never did factor in the Ep weight though, just maybe I will get away with it. I think I'm finally settled on getting the maxvision 24mm as my next purchase, just hope it's still around by then!

[russ.will]

Maybe a bit late, but I've owned more ES82s than I currently have in my signature and obviously have a few of the MVs. I have NOT owned any of the MV UWAs though.

I prefer the twist up eye cup, even on the larger MVs, even though I'll grant you the 40mm is more akin to resting your whole face on the EP! The reason is that the fold up eye cups don't come up far enough for my liking, whereas there is a huge range of adjustment in the twist up eye cups.

Also and this may be irrelevant, because I sort of wandered away from UWAs in favour of SWAs but; The MV SWAs are far more neutral in colour rendition than the ES82s. Comparing the 14mm ES82 to the 16mm MV SWA on terrestrial targets whilst collimating my 80mm APO, I was struck how warm the view through the ES82 was. I must say, it wasn't something I'd noted under the cover of darkness, but the sky was definitely warmer and less blue through the ES82. This is one of those situations where you can do an A-B comparison with the Mk 1 eyeball as the arbiter, but turning the scope on terracota roof tiles, the MV was definitely giving a more accuate rendition of colour.

No matter, because the all of the MVs are ridiculous value, unless you're Alan and bought them all as full price Meades. In which case, they're the residual value destroying spawn of the devil - Sorry Alan!

Russell

It could be that as the brain tends to 'white balance' these issues, when you view for an extended period through an EP in the dark with no other source of light for colour reference, that it's practically irrelevant. But it is there. As people are keen to note, there is an undeniable use of the same optics in the Meade/MV/ES UWA/ES82 and SWA/ES68 EPs, but this was the first time I'd ever started to ponder the question that is often raised over the coating differences. Up to that point, I'd assumed they were all basically the same and it was just the barrel structure that differed.

Russell

[rowan46]

I have owned the maxvision 24mm uwa and now own the 24mm swa the only reason i got rid of the uwa was because of the size. optically it seems a little better than the sw but both are nice eyepieces. The maxvision 24mm 82 is about twice the size of the 68 degree its a pretty big and heavy eyepiece but it does give nice views.

[alan potts]

Russell,

Well put and I have to agree the UWA's that I have had which was almost all of the Meade ones are warm. They made Antares very red in a review I researched between the 24mm and the 26mm Nagler.  I have to say though I don't mind this as the 24mm is not going to be a planetary eyepiece on anything other that a very long F/L scope.

Alan

[bingevader]

Sorry for coming late to the party, but I have one of these too!

Maybe it's the warmth I'm seeing! I actually prefer it to my TV plossl on some objects, and not because of the FOV, but because there is a different hue to the stars that I prefer. You get the characteristic super contrast with the TV plossl, making the darks very dark and the whites/brights very white/bright. But on some objects you seem to lose some of the variation. With the 24mm ES 82° MV there seems to be a better gradation and range of colour.

My tuppence, it is enormous, you'll have to tighten the handles a bit more than you're probably used to in order to keep the 'scope from tilting, but that's all it needs, I haven't had to resort to counterweights. The eye placement does take a little getting used to with the twist up cup, but I mean a little. I'd got it by the end of the first observing session. It's also a little soft around the edges, not to the extent that it bothers me, but some may disagree. I don't know how it compares on this front to the 68° MV, maybe rowan46 could expand on this having owned both. I like it very much indeed and don't have a problem switching it in and out of the 'scope when hunting DSOs. 

[rowan46]

i think the extra money for the maxvision 82 is worth it. Yes it is slightly soft on my f6 at the very outer edges but thats also  true of the 68 and it will show any coma up on your scope. but for at least 70 degrees its as sharp as my pentax on wide objects. It gave a better view than my 68. It's not a great planetary eyepiece but then that's not what i bought it for and it does seem to be slightly cooler in tone than the es 82 which I own (thats a plus for me). honestly wouldn't have been unhappy had I paid meade prices for it but at the price it is being sold at nothing comes close it really is a serious bargain. i only got rid because of my desire to be as portable as possible it meant having to carry a 2" diagonal and a big eyepiece. the space I have saved in my case gives me room for another 1 1/4" eyepiece at the top end which is where I need them. I wish I had bought the 18mm when they were around

[bingevader]

Thanks for that! But I'm not sure there was an 18mm MV was there? I can highly recommend the 18mm ES 82° though!   Ah, it's 2", sorry. The 18mm Meade 5000 UWA are 1.25" though.

[rowan46]

Thanks for that! But I'm not sure there was an 18mm MV was there? I can highly recommend the 18mm ES 82° though!   Ah, it's 2", sorry. The 18mm Meade 5000 UWA are 1.25" though.

 my mistake I remembered another  maxvision uwa being cheap and misremembered it as the  18mm I believe it was actually the 14mm now that I've searched through my bookmarks

[bingevader]

There might have been, I just couldn't remember it.  There definitely wasn't a 14mm though!  I e-mailed at the time and asked if there'd be one and they said no, then my 14mm Meade UWA came up 2nd hand so it wasn't an issue any longer. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I must say that given the quality of the 68 deg from MaxVision, the only thing stopping me from getting the 24mm is the fact that I already have a Nagler 22mm T4. If I hadn't got that, I would certainly get the MaxVision 24mm 82 deg.

[andyb505]

I have just bought myself a 68 degree 24mm ES MaxVision. Everything I have read says that these have twist up eye cups, but no matter how I try I cannot work out how they twist up! What am I doing wrong or do they not have twist up eye cups?

Andrew.

[YKSE]

Andrew, I had the same difficulty as you for a long time. the correct way is to hold the 1.25" insert with one hand, then rotate the whole big top lump.

[Reeny]

As above, give the top an anti-clockwise twist. Then remove any excess grease on the black sleeve.

[Sandraj]

As above, give the top an anti-clockwise twist. Then remove any excess grease on the black sleeve.

I have the same two as you, sadly I have not had much chance to try them out yet, they have been here about 2 or 3 weeks.

[andyb505]

Thanks people. Will try that when I get home!

Andrew

[-Aldebaran-]

I never did thankyou all for your comments/reviews about the ES ep.

I am now ready to make my purchase and had to come back here to review the comments made as I've still been fighting between the 82° Argon purged against the 82° maxvision version, when it comes to spending a good chunk of my hard earned cash I really do review every bit of info I can get! Over and over!!

I'm an intense decision maker!

I have definitely,finally settled on the maxvision.

Thanks again to all the contributors.

Anthony.

[bingevader]

I like mine, a lot. 

[-Aldebaran-]

It arrived!!!!

Trying to get the picture up using "more reply options " but it won't transfer it, keeps giving me a fault page in my browser after choosing the file.

Purchased from Es site Late Friday night and it arrived well packaged on Wednesday morning (explaining recent cloud cover in UK) sorry.

I will get a "view review" sent when I get the chance but for now all I can say is that it's Big.....REAL BIG! Size of a tin of baked beans, and just as heavy, I hope alt' balance doesn't become an issue! I thought my ES 14mm was a good size when that came but now it's been humbled!!

The twist-up eyecup has very smooth motion which adds to the assuming high quality of its manufacture, I was originally sceptical about the twist-up design but when up and placed against my eye I was very surprised at how comfortable it may turn out to be to use.

I'm not sure what more I can say about it at the moment until I can get it pointing to the stars.

[-Aldebaran-]

Pic up now I think.