New Celestron Ultima Duo Eyepieces

[Grant_FLO]

Celestron have recently announced a new Ultima Duo range of eyepieces designed for both visual and afocal astrophotography that fit both 1.25" and 2" focusers.

Fully multi-coated optics, 8 elements in 5 groups, optimised for correction of chromatic aberration and field curvature. Internal baffling and blackened lens edges reduce internal reflections and maximise contrast. 

Super-wide 68-degree apparent field of view, long 20mm eye relief and a fold down rubber eye guard make the Ultima Duo comfortable to use even when wearing glasses. 

An integrated 42mm t-adaptor underneath the rubber eye guard enables easy attachment of cameras. The eyepiece barrel is also threaded for filters. 

Available in 6 focal lengths: 5mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, 17mm and 21mm.

More information can be found on our website.

Pricing and availability is still to be announced but we are meeting with Celestron UK next week and will update this thread with any further information.

[Grant_FLO]

And of course, we have added these to the Astronomy Tools field of view calculator: http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/ and also added the Field of View simulator to the product page

[Adrian]

Baader Hyperion clones/redressed? It will be interesting to see if these can handle faster scopes better than the Hyperions, which are great in f8 and f10 scopes but less so in f5, in my experience.

Edit: M42 T thread is more useful than the Hyperion threads 

[Naemeth]

Baader Hyperion clones/redressed? It will be interesting to see if these can handle faster scopes better than the Hyperions, which are great in f8 and f10 scopes but less so in f5, in my experience.

Edit: M42 T thread is more useful than the Hyperion threads 

Exactly what I was thinking .

Is John getting some to review?

[FLO]

Baader Hyperion clones/redressed? It will be interesting to see if these can handle faster scopes better than the Hyperions, which are great in f8 and f10 scopes but less so in f5, in my experience.

Edit: M42 T thread is more useful than the Hyperion threads 

Exactly what I was thinking .

The similarity with Baader Hyperion eyepieces is striking. The 68-degree FOV is very popular (genuinely useful without being excessive) and the Baader's Hyperions are market leaders (certainly our bestselling range of eyepieces) so it will be interesting to see how the new Celestron Ultima Duo compare. 

Is John getting some to review?

John is a busy man and we don't want to be presumptuous but if he has the time and doesn't mind then we will happily send him a set of the new Celestron eyepieces with some Hyperions for comparison 

There is some irony here because the Hyperions are (in our opinion) based on Japanese-made Vixen LVW eyepieces and John was kind enough to compare them for us. His Vixen LVW vs Baader Hyperion report can be viewed at our website. 

HTH, 

Steve

[FLO]

John is a busy man and we don't want to be presumptuous but if he has the time and doesn't mind then we will happily send him a set of the new Celestron eyepieces with some Hyperions for comparison 

John has kindly agreed to kick their tyres but unfortunately we don't think they will land here in the UK until late-Dec / early Jan. 

Steve 

[Ant]

These look good might be tempted with one or two of them next year.

I started imaging using this method on the First Venus Transit.

Ant

[Astro-obsessed]

Tried 17 mm Celestron Ultima Duo on my ES 127 refractor, and on my Lunt 80 h-alpha this month.  Very nice optics, love the T-thread - as stated, very quick change from observing to DSLR photography without having to deal with eyepiece projection unit. Will likely try another fl or two - hope the short fl pieces have optics as good as the 17mm.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Welcome Astro-obsessed to the SGL Forum.

I am interested in your statement about the new Celestron Duo EP. These were first mentioned in the UK back in September 2014 but we don't appear to have stocks of this EP as yet - unless we purchase from your side of the pond. FLO have you any updated info on these EPs?

I have a PST and the thought of be able to use my DSLR with either the 17mm or 21mm EP seems very attractive.

[FLO]

FLO have you any updated info on these EPs?

Not yet but I have requested another ETA and will post as soon as they respond  

Steve 

[FLO]

Not yet but I have requested another ETA and will post as soon as they respond

I should have waited, they responded in less than five minutes 

ETA is mid-March. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Nova Load]

Has anyone tried the Ultima Duo eyepieces yet? I was wondering how they compare to the Luminos eyepieces.

[Nova Load]

Has anyone compared the Ultima Duo eyepieces to the Luminos eyepieces?

[Trumpetnut]

I have bought the 21mm. In comparison to my stock Celestron 25mm the view quality is more or less the same. I do like that the ultima's wider field of view seems to make the stars pop a little more and I think that the optics are better than the stock EP. Photography wise, I'm a little unsure. The view with the eye is different to that with my LUMIX G7, but that might be down to me needing an extension tube. With the eye, the moon was a perfect fit in the EP. Attached to the camera I lost maybe a third of the moon in the frame. Image quality was good though. The T-mount screws on easily and there are no issues attaching the camera to the EP.

Double stars are my thing and the Ultima's crisp views have let me separate quite close pairs (<2"), and it shows up faint companions in my Nexstar 6SE, down to 11th magnitude from my seaside, light polluted observing spot.

They are quite bulky eyepieces in comparison to the Celestron and my Meade 4000 32mm, but they seem to be of a solid and sturdy construction; no plastics anywhere. They are also quite heavy and I wouldn't like to drop one on my foot. But, having said that, the 21mm is my go to EP. I am definitely considering the 13mm as my next EP down for double stars and I hope it provides as good views as the 21. I would go for something stronger, but I don't think the views in EPs of less than 10mm have sufficient quality to justify their purchase. Limits of 6" scope, I suppose. How they will function in faster scopes remains to be seen. The purchase of a focal reducer will shed some further light (see what I did there??) on the subject. Got my 21mm for £99 from Rother Valley Optics (sorry FLO) and I think on my first few outings with it I am impressed all round.