Money no object? Which planetary eyepieces for my APO

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I do think that top EPs will give improvements in any scope (hence my Naglers in my C8). The improvements might just be that bit more evident in a top scope

[Charic]

I'm not picking on plossls... I'm picking on £9 plossls High end manfacturers sell plossls too

True. ( excuse me John ? ) Televue make a good 8mm Plossl, but uncomfortable in use for me, yet my present Plossl has the same eyerelief, yet feels so much more comfortable?

Enough now before any thread hijacking, each to their own ;-)

[jetstream]

Money no object ?:

The best:

Zeiss ZAO orthos. If you can find them (big if) they are around £400+ each.

Pentax XO 5mm. Out of production but might be obtainable used for £200-£300.

Very, very, very good:

Baader Genuine Orthos / Astro Hutech Orthos / Fujiyama Orthos: All very good planetary eyepieces (the same optics in my opinion) and around £70-£80 new.

Leica ASPH zoom plus a top quality barlow. The seem to compete with the best, despite being a zoom. With a premium barlow budget around £900 but lots of focal lengths are covered.

Pentax XW's / Tele Vue Delos: Around £250-£270 each. Very comfortable to view through and orthoscopic-like performance.

Vixen SLV's: Baader GO performance but with Pentax XW eye relief and viewing comfort and a bit less field of view. Lots less £'s than Pentax and TV too.

Tele Vue Ethos: The shorter focal lengths make superb planetary eyepieces with massive fields of view which helps a lot if your scope is not on a driven mount. £400-£500 each.

Other good options that I've forgotten about as well !

This list is bang on John, IMHO. Well, I might sneak the Leica zoom/VIP ahead of the orthos on some objects though

[Paul73]

Paul,

I am really shocked to read that about the BST and the Delos :grin: . I will be giving the Vixen an airing soon against the nearest Delos, they can't be at all bad judging by John's report but all of our eyes see different as he posted the other day and I think there is more in that than many believe.

Alan

Alan

I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts on the SLV. Not sure where you got the idea that I was knocking them. I think that they are great planetary (& PN) eyepieces. I even suggested that their contrast and glare control may rival, or be marginally better than the Delos on the really bright stuff. I'm fine with the 50° FOV for high magnification but need the 72° Delos FOV for the mid magnifications and will be going 82° for the low mags (straying slightly off thread - sorry).

Paul

[A40farinagolf]

When I started this thread I didn't think that it would generate so much interest and slightly heated debate which is very healthy and good to read - I suppose the subject is a bit subjective if you know what I mean.

Cheapest New Delos 3.5mm (260x)I've found so far is £247.20 incl. p+p

Cheapest New XW 3.5 mm I've found is £254 incl. p+p

I haven't found any S/H ones yet on the usual websites

Eeny meeny miny moe or something like that.

Can anyone better those figures (including any retailers out there)?

[Dude_with_the_tube]

try second hand market.Astro buy sell,fleebay.not that they come up very often but they do.average price 170-190 quid.

[russ.will]

There is no definitive best EP, as personal preference dictated by your own eyeballs comes into play.

I had three Delos and couldn't ever really get comfortable with any of them. They were eautifully made, hugely sharp and well corrected in an F4.9 Newt, but I just couldn't feel the love. They do have a odd safety undercut that can make them difficult to mount square in some compression rings too. 

Others absolutely love them and that doesn't make me wrong, or them right. Just different.

Russell

[mikeDnight]

If money is no object then 10mm, 7mm, 5mm & 3.5mm Pentax XW's will take some beating. They have a 70° apparent field, use lanthanum glass and are as pure an eyepiece as I've ever used. I've owned many top end eyepieces, many claiming to be planetary eyepieces and nothing comes close for comfort and purity of image. I bought my first XW from First Light a number of years ago. It was a 3.5mm and when it arrived I was taken aback by the beauty of the thing. Its eye lens was seriously large and the eye relief very comfortable. I tried it against a number of other eyepieces with as close a fl as possible but none could compare to the XW. So impressed was I with the 3.5 I bought the set mentioned above. Though a touch pricey I don't regret it and I will never part with them. They are truly superb! I sold my short focal length Televue and TMB super monos immediately. I still use a 20 and 31 Nagler for wide fields but would happily exchange them for the slightly narrower field of the 20 and 30mm Pentax XW's.

Mike