ES 14mm Water Proofed (82º) or TV 14mm Delos (72º) ?

[John]

Al Nagler changed the figure of the lenses in the plossl to enhance it's edge of field performance plus one or two other improvements. Enough changes to enable him to put a Patent on it. I doubt that ES could put a patent on their 100 degree eyepieces in the 5.5mm - 20mm range as I believe they really are copies of the Ethos design.

Lots of fine eyepieces around today though at a range of prices, which is great for us

Not to hijack this thread, but has anybody peered through the ES 30mm 3in EP? Very curious, but not $1300 curious.

There is a thread on the Cloudynights website about the ES 30 / 100:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/467613-the-monster-comes-es-30mm-100-degree/#entry6092155

[alan potts]

Not to hijack this thread, but has anybody peered through the ES 30mm 3in EP? Very curious, but not $1300 curious.

It would not stop there, then you need all the mounting bits and bobs if your scope can take such a system, Oh and a 3 inch diagonal.

[Liquid360]

The diagonal actually comes with it, but yeah, as for the scope/mount... On your own.

[allen g]

I own the ES 14 100* and have 2 delos (8 & 6, not a 14).  I recommend a delos EP.  Their quality is great.

[yanello]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2014 at 15:09, russ.will said:

My 2p; I went the other way - From ES82 to Delos. 

The ES82 are a more up close and personal viewing experience than the Delos and perhaps a bit more so than the raw ER figures would have you believe - you effectively loose another 2-3mm due to the recessed eye lens. And you do need to get right in there to access the outer reaches of the 82deg AFOV. For me, finding this a bit tiring over prolonged examination of a subject, I found they were approximating to a 70deg FOV in actual use.

The Delos is touch sharper in the center, but the gap in performance increases the further off axis you get. I don't want to overstate this as a night and day difference, but it's enough for me let a subject drift right through the FOV before nudging the Dob, whereas I'd be nudging before the ES gets to the same 70deg point of the FOV.

I would also add that the ES82s were just a hint warmer in tone, slightly compressing the subtler contrast of bands on Jupiter as a for instance. It could just be me, but the moon also seemed to display a wider range of greys-with-a-hint-of too.

In value for money terms, I think it's ES all the way, simply because you can pick up two ES82s for the price of one Delos. For someone sitting there with few or old EPs, then there's a lot to be said for the increased rate you can accrue ES82s. You can rest assured that you are well into the top 95% of performers and exponential curve that is the law of diminishing returns, really kicks in after this point. On the flip side, the Delos is a better EP in all respects bar the missing 10deg FOV and if you aren't fussed about that omission, you will struggle to find anything better.

Russell

Great points, as I consider the delos vs the es 82, 14mm. Pat

[Andyb90]

I find the Delos EPs incredibly comfortable to use. I don't wear glasses, but really like the eye guard fully extended.

From my own experience I would not hesitate to recommend the 14, 8 or 17.3mm.

Andy.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have had the Meade Series 5000 14mm UWA mk-I, which apparently has the same optics as the ES 14mm 82 deg. Optically the EP is excellent, and held its own with the Nagler 17T4. The main shortcoming was eye relief. It was rated at 15mm, but 14 was closer. The Meade seems to have a less recessed eye lens than the ES, so I would expect to lose more. I found I kept nudging the EP housing with my glasses, causing all sorts of vibrations. I therefore switched to a Nagler 12t4, which has essentially the same quality, but just that bit more ER. I now also have a Delos 14mm, because a new one came up for a second-hand price, and I missed 14mm (between the Naglers 17T4 and 12T4). The Delos 14mm it is superb. I do not feel it is any weaker than the 8mm I have. In fact, I tend to favour it over the Nagler 12T4, and might well replace that with a Delos 12mm (although "breaking up" the full set of Type 4 Naglers is somehow galling). If you need to wear glasses while observing, I would go for the Delos 14mm any time over the ES 14mm 82 deg

[gunfighter48]

I have both the ES and Delos 14mm eyepieces. IMO they are just about a tie!! I like the 72° view of the Delos but performance wise they are very very close. The Delos may have a VERY SLIGHT edge in resolution. YMMV

[F15Rules]

I've got the "new kid on the block" in this focal length, the Baader Morpheus 14mm.

I love it: 18.5mm eye relief, 76 degree field, huge 36mm eyelens and excellent optics. I sold my Pentax 14mm XW and replaced it with the Morpheus at £149 new from FLO. Much more comfortable than the XW  and no kidney beaning!

Dave