Vixen NPL Eyepieces

[Rob]

I have purchased the 15mm & 10mm

4 element multicoated Flat field ep's with 20mm eye relief. Currently available from Orion Optics in the Uk or Smart Astronomy in USA.

These eyepieces have been tested with a C8 & Sky Scout 90mm Achro Refractor.

These eyepieces arrived in box's with dual dust caps (no bolt tubes). Fist impressions were very good. Nice weight to them with good apparent coatings. These ep's don't have an eye guard as such, a small 3mm rubber rim is there for people with glasses. The larger sizes do have a twist up offering.

First light on the 90mm Refractor was very good. Nice and sharp on mars and Saturn, barlow cassini was easy!. The contrast is good although a slight yellow image was provided. Over all very happy.

The C8 provide a super (bright more white) image and once again cassini & planet detail was not a problem. No ghosting or reflections found, to be honest I half expected some sort of reflection issue in these eps due to there price and origin of production (China). None.. well done Vixen!.

So to some up.... for £35 or under. These EP's without doubt beat Meade 4000's and have a similar performance to Antares Elites. They also capture the brightness of the Meade 3000 range, but don't come back at you with nasty reflections.

[glow=red,2,300]8 out of 10 - Very Good!.[/glow]

(click to enlarge)

Regards

Rob

[John]

Thanks for the report Rob - they look fine eyepieces for a bargain price

It's about time somebody produced something to replace the Ultima's which to my mind were excellent "standard" field eyepieces and as good as Tele Vue Plossls. Looks like Vixen could have filled that gap with the NPL's and for a few less £'s than the Ultima's as well

I'll be interested to see how they perform with shorter focal length scopes.

John

[Rob]

Yep... these are in the 'Quality' bracket for there price and would give a lot higher priced EP's a run for there money. I have to admit these EP's out perfomed the Hyperions in the faster scope!. Yes for real. Brightness and contrast was better, plus no mushy edges.

Good value.

Rob

[peeceeTal2M]

I wish i'd read this before ordering my Hyperions now i just hope i won't be dissapointed in their performance in my f4.8. I might get a couple of the Vixens just to see how they perform when my Dad goes to NY next month at the current exchange rate they are only £15 or £25 each!!

[russ]

I think you'll be okay with your Hyperions. I've had the 8mm, 21mm and 24mm. Used them in the Explorer 200P and the 8 and 21 were great. For some reason the 24mm was awful, to the point were my sons Seben 25mm MA gave a sharper view. It was a lemon. Sent it back but didn't try another.

Russ

[peeceeTal2M]

Well that's a relief, i've got the 8mm and 21mm on order along with both fine tuning rings, just waiting for them to arrive and a clear night to try them out

[GazOC]

Don't forget when comparing the edge performance of Plossls with Hyperions, the Baaders are giving you a ~30% larger FOV. Providing good edge performance at short focal ratios gets a lot harder as the AFOV (and TFOV) gets bigger. If you use Plossls you arn't even seeing the area of sky that the Hyperions are showing slight distortions on, its not really a fair comparision IMHO.

Nice review though Rob, they look a bargain

[Rob]

Thanks.

Its a fair point, and I will not take that away from the Hyperions.. they are indeed very good (wide) EP's. I think if you on a budget, these Pieces have to be taken seriously. In their class and for the price you cannot go wrong. I urge people not to go for the ebay trash and buy 10mm & 15mm + a good APO Barlow and your sorted!!!

[SteelRat]

Good eyepieces for the price then Rob 8) Has the WO planetary arrived yet?

[Rob]

Not yet!... any time soon. Mind you with the way things are I may have to sell on arrival :? . So there is a good chance I will not look through it.