Zooms.

[alan potts]

Stu,

I noticed you blogged saying you had finished with buying gear or words to that affect, not sure I believed them, any chance of buying a Pentax XW zoom to put in the review :grin: .

Alan

[Stu]

Stu,

I noticed you blogged saying you had finished with buying gear or words to that affect, not sure I believed them, any chance of buying a Pentax XW zoom to put in the review :grin: .

Alan

Alan, I keep hoping that if I say it enough then it might happen!!

No chance of the Pentax at the moment

[Stu]

Docter has a zoom as well. See here: http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/eyepieces/zoom-eyepieces/docter-vario-eyepiece-10-25-mm-telescopes.html

That looks very nice! Given the quality of the Docter 12.5mm, I expect it would perform very well. Long lead time though......

[Merlin66]

I bought and tried MANY zoom eyepieces from the Meade/ Moonfish/ TV/ Baader range before giving up on finding one which really did something "special" for me.

Then along came the Pentax 8-24mm Nitrogen filled SMC zoom. This thing is as big as my original 13mm Type 1 Nalger "hand grenade"

For my eyes it beat everything else hands down!

I use it nowadays for solar observing with the 102 PST Mod, the 102 Baader Herschel wedge and the SM60/ ED80.

It's a fantastic piece of glass.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/155645-mid-power-zoom-ep-recommendations/

[Stu]

If you think it in another way, a Leica zoom plus a Baader VIP barlows costs a little more than three(3) used Delos, but in all my scopes, this combination effectively replaces all the eight(8) Delos from 3.5mm to 17.3mm, with the additional convenience of par focal and no need to change eyepieces, it's great bargain in my calculation.

Young, that's effectively what I did. I needed to free up some cash for my Vixen so sold this lot........

....plus a 3.7 Ethos SX and 22mm Nagler.....

It hurt at the time, and I still fancy some XWs or Delos back in the collection but it was a means to an end. I'm happy with the Zooms and have a set of BGOs for doubles etc

[alan potts]

I bought and tried MANY zoom eyepieces from the Meade/ Moonfish/ TV/ Baader range before giving up on finding one which really did something "special" for me.

Then along came the Pentax 8-24mm Nitrogen filled SMC zoom. This thing is as big as my original 13mm Type 1 Nalger "hand grenade"

For my eyes it beat everything else hands down!

I use it nowadays for solar observing with the 102 PST Mod, the 102 Baader Herschel wedge and the SM60/ ED80.

It's a fantastic piece of glass.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/155645-mid-power-zoom-ep-recommendations/

Is this that you refer to the XL zoom which I wrongly called the XW earlier in the thread?

[Highburymark]

hi alan, have you looked at the pentax xf. clear skys charl

Not the first person to say this but XF much better suited to viewing our closest star than the trillions beyond it. I find it a poor nighttime performer - but now I've got the focus sorted on my Lunt, it's pretty much my permanent solar EP. XW by comparison is a class act, although it's getting towards Leica prices. One thing I've noticed recently is that the Leica price does seem to be coming down a bit on a couple of European astro websites (sub £500) - retail in London it's £700, and that's without the adapter.

Although I could not justify it at those prices, I'd LOVE one.

[Merlin66]

Alan,

It's sometimes called an XL or XW Pentax Zoom, but it's actually marketed and sold as a SMC 8-24 Zoom.

[F15Rules]

Big difference between XF and XL(XW) zooms..the XF zoom I found awash with CA (although the XF fixed EPs (8.5mm and 12mm) are very good. The XL is twice the price at c £400.

Can't speak for the XF on solar, it seems well regarded for that. But I'd love to see a really in depth review of the smc 8-24mm..

Dave

[John]

I wonder if the XL zoom is optically related to the XL range of wide angle eyepieces ?. They were the predecessors of the XW's and had a great reputation.

[alan potts]

Merlin,

Thanks for clearing that one up.

John,

If what you say is the case maybe the wait for an XW zoom to follow on the letters may be a long one.

Alan

[F15Rules]

Think you're right Alan, I think the "XL" ( often just referred to as SMC zoom) has been around unchanged for a good few years. Still, if the optics are as good as they say what's in a name?:-)

DVe

[Pig]

Does anyone make a low power zoom say 24- 40mm or would the FOV and weight make it a pointless exercise ?

I used to use my Lieca Vario for solar combined with the Lunt 60 for which it was fantastic. However, apart from Lunar observing it does not see much use since I have had the Quark and the XW's, I am now thinking a low power zoom may be an ideal replacement for short focal length refractors.

[YKSE]

Shaun,

I'd love to have such a zoom if it offers 46mm field stop at low mag end, then I'll just need two eyepieces and a barlow for all DSO

No such zoom to my knowledge, weigh and size can be an issue as you expected, also the product cost will be quite high, since the astro community is a small nisch, the much bigger market is spotting scopes, where 8-24mm are the sweet spots for those scopes, that is the reason there're many high-end zooms for spotting scopes, the much bigger sales volume gives lower cost per unit. If those same zooms are made for astro society, I would not be surprised to see the price many times higher than they are.

[jetstream]

Does anyone make a low power zoom say 24- 40mm or would the FOV and weight make it a pointless exercise ?

I used to use my Lieca Vario for solar combined with the Lunt 60 for which it was fantastic. However, apart from Lunar observing it does not see much use since I have had the Quark and the XW's, I am now thinking a low power zoom may be an ideal replacement for short focal length refractors.

Your Leica is a very good eyepiece Shaun, and hard to find. I too would love a low power zoom, but for now my focal reducer will have to do. Lets hope Baader takes a serious interest in producing such an EP, most likely our only hope.

[Pig]

Gerry / Yong,

It seems like there are very good commercial reasons for producers of eyepieces not to make one   never mind, maybe one day one will become available

[John]

Most of the zooms we seem to use were, as I understand it, developed originally for terrestrial spotting scopes. Certainly this applies to the Pentax and Leica ones. Through experimentation, someone (Marcus Ludes of APM perhaps ?) found that the Leica ASPH zoom was superb for astronomy as well so they had 1.25" and 2" barrel adapters made and marketed them alongside the zoom for the astro market.

What would be interesting is if one of the leading astro eyepiece manufacturers were to develop a longer focal length zoom specifically for astro viewing. Al Nagler designed the 2-4mm and 3-6mm which turned out pretty well. The Tele Vue 8-24 was a Vixen product though, re-badged for TV. Mabe TV are working on a longer FL zoom product right now ?.

I guess the Hyperion zoom was designed for both the spotting scope and the astro scope markets. It's very popular with both fraternities I believe

[Pig]

John,

It would be nice if one of the big boys went for it. However, my intentions were purely selfish and are aimed at something for the Quark where the choices of eyepieces are pretty limited, I wouldn't mind trying one of the stock Celestron 40mm Plossl's that you get with new large SCT's but I haven't seen a SH one for some time now.

[alan potts]

I was a little alarmed with what I read on CN the other evening with regards the Pentax XL zoom that it will not compare with the Delos for example. My trouble is I will compare this with these type of eyepiece and at 400 pounds not sure I want to take the risk of not liking it.

The Nagler zoom i have had alongside the likes of Delos Pentax and Radian for a fairly long time and generally it holds up very well albeit with a narrower FOV, this is something that doesn't bother me as I only use it in driven scopes. I have tried the 12.5 and 18mm ortho's on the Sumerian and though the view is excellent the difficulty in using such a narrow field gets tiresome very quickly.

As for a longer zoom from Leica, Pentax, TV or anyone else that produces quality eyepieces, I would not like to guess how much it would cost, bear in mind the 3-6mm zoom is small enough to lose in a big coat and that's 300 quid.

Alan.

Alan

[Pig]

Important points Alan especially so as these zooms are already expensive. The cost cant be down just to the amount of glass as like you have pointed out the 3-6mm still costs a small fortune  I guess most of the cost is down to volume and the cost of good quality control methods.

[alan potts]

 I guess most of the cost is down to volume and the cost of good quality control methods.

This is very important to me for a couple of reasons, one I like to have good quality control and two returning stuff that is sub-standard from here is a pain and a half. There have been a few things that I have bought this year, not all astro, that I would have returned to Amazon but due to the cost and messing it is just not worth it. I mean what is the point returning something costing 30 quid when it cost you 15 at the least to send back.

I have never been in this position with eyepieces, though I have to say on balance I wish I had sent the Baader Vario finder back, it's rubbish.

Alan

[stadaik]

I have never been in this position with eyepieces, though I have to say on balance I wish I had sent the Baader Vario finder back, it's rubbish.

Alan

When i readed first time for Vario finder i thought that this will be a smart purchase. Have you reviewed or reported any issues?

Steve

[Highburymark]

Sterling/euro exchange rates so favourable that just pulled the trigger on the Leica zoom from Dutch website - £300 less than some UK dealers. It's not a cheap eyepiece, but at this price it's a bargain. Looking forward to comparing it with the Pentax XF zoom on solar. But really it's an investment for the future - the perfect travel eyepiece for the apo I've got my eye on.

[alan potts]

Mark,

That is fine for anyone in the UK, from here I would have to pay in Euros which our Leva is tied to. I guess I could do something with the UK account but not easy from here I wouldn't think. Good luck with the APO your after.

Alan

[Dave In Vermont]

This thread has reminded me of the time I had decided to complete my collection my collection of the Baader Hyperion EP's. I had them all, including the often-missing 3.5mm, except the 24mm. So I duly filled out my order-form with my favorite source. I was just about to pull the trigger when I chanced to glance at the eyepiece that was still sitting in my LX200 from the night before. It was then I noted it was a 24mm TeleVue Panoptic with a 68° FOV.

Regards TeleVue selling a re-branded Vixen 8 - 24mm Zoom, I remember that well. Someone blew the whistle on them for that. Seems they didn't let their customers know they were buying a Vixen that was re-branded - as well as re-priced. Up, of course. TeleVue quickly withdrew the Vixen from sale.

I have the Vixen 8 - 24mm Zoom. Their lanthanum lens elements truly does a remarkable job of providing pin-point stars right to the edge of the FOV. The Zoom-model, though, is the weakest entry for this. Still very nice, but it begins to unravel near the edge. I picked mine up years back. It was under $100. Now I note they are selling for about $200. And the Celestron have also risen in price as of late over here.

Just ordered a Baader 8 - 24mm,

Dave

Below - using for Solar.