Explore Scientific 24mm 68deg bargain

[Chris]

I had exactly the same with my AR127L...first time of enquiring I was told the scope was sold. Then, about a week later the seller contacted me to see if I was still interested as the original purchaser was dithering.

By the way, we have Roy to thank for this thread ultimately, as it was he who introduced me to the Maxvisions (I bought a 16mm and 20mm from him) and got me interested due to the quality of these eyepieces for the price paid  

Dave

Honestly Dave, I'm so envious that you bagged that AR127L When I saw it was both in my own town, and at a ridiculously good price! I was pretty much pawing at the keyboard to answer the ad as fast as I could I still very much tempted to buy either the 5 or 6" from the above site although I have just asked about an ED120 in my own town so it depends on how that goes.

I'm glad Roy put you onto the MV's which led you to the above site. Thanks to both Roy and yourself ! 

[spaceboy]

Having been unable to use a scope for three weeks now ,thanks to the weather, and suffering withdrawal symptoms, I set up the ED100 and aimed at a chimney stack about 120 metres distant, distant in the loosest possible sense, but the best I can achieve, and popped the ES 24mm into the focuser.

The view was bright and pin sharp, such that I could pick out the tiny individual stones in the mortar mix, between the bricks, on axis and at the extremes of the FOV, It really is a stunning eyepiece at a bargain price and I am delighted with it.

I think, Spaceboy, you really were very unlucky with yours and did indeed get a " Lemon"

STEVE

I agree with John. Using an eyepiece at night with tiny points of light both faint and bright scattered across the field of view will show any stretching, bloating or pin cushioning far more obviously than anything that can be found during the day time. CA seems to be the common test for ep's during the day which may be present as lateral colour at night. From memory I can't say that I noticed any lateral colour in the ES 24mm despite some of ES other eps exhibiting it.

I admit I have some frustration towards the customer support I dealt with and their unsympathetic approach but I don't want to come across as putting ES eyepieces down. I am merely interested to hear peoples opinions on the ES24 so that I can finally put my doubts to rest.  May sound odd but I hope I was just unlucky as I wouldn't want anyone else having the disappointment I had.

This said though, it had been pointed out to me by Steve at ENS optical before I purchased the ES24 that the views would be a bit soft, but at the time I ignorantly dismissed it thinking he was referring to the cheaper ES MV 24mm.

[Thonolan]

The beast has arrived! Well, it's freakin' big Hopefully I'll be able to test it in several scopes this upcoming weekend. Meanwhile, here are a few pics.

Sorry, couldn't find Heinz baked beans...

[John]

Nice looking eyepiece

I'll be interested to hear how it performs and some info about the scope types it was used in. There are not many reports on these around as far as I can see.

[Chris]

Congrats What a beast! Great picture for scale next to the peas. I have a feeling that this eyepiece will blow your mind

[Thonolan]

Nice looking eyepiece

I'll be interested to hear how it performs and some info about the scope types it was used in. There are not many reports on these around as far as I can see.

You're right John, there are very few reports of this eyepiece. The Moon is coming these days and I can't observe before Friday so I won't be able to properly test it on extended DSO's in the coming weeks. I'll test it on the Moon itself and also star clusters and double stars for the time being. I'll use a 10 inch newtonian (f/4.7), a 8 inch SC (f/10), and a 7.1 inch MC (f/15). Hopefully a 5 inch APO (f/7) as well, if I happen to go to a dark site with some of my astro colleagues. I'll do my best for a detailed report but keep in mind I'm not a native English speaker and that makes it a bit harder.

[John]

I've found one specific review:

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/user-reviews/explore-scientific-25mm-100-degree-eyepiece-r2813

And some reports here:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/411412-es25-100-shootout-with-es30-82-and-es20-100/#entry5286955

I'll be interested to see what you think as well Thonolan

[happy-kat]

So glad I was not seduced that would have sunk my heritage lol looks very impressive though

[Thonolan]

I've found one specific review:

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/user-reviews/explore-scientific-25mm-100-degree-eyepiece-r2813

And some reports here:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/411412-es25-100-shootout-with-es30-82-and-es20-100/#entry5286955

I'll be interested to see what you think as well Thonolan

Yes, I had read them before. The first guy updated his review later with somehow different (and better) impressions - apparently the fact he was using contact lenses changed something.

I also know a guy (not forum member) who owns this eyepiece. He's very happy with it and says it performs almost flawlessly with a Baader MPCC attached to it. We'll see. So far the reviews are mixed but at the price I bought it I had almost nothing to lose.

[Saganite]

Point taken John, and I will follow up this with a first light report in , I hope, the very near future.

[Chris]

I've used ES82's 8.8, 11, 14mm, ES100 9, 14, 20mm, and MV 16, 20, 24, 28, and 40mm and have had nothing but good experiences so far.

However, with the horror stories appearing on this thread so far I'm hoping to get my new EP under the stars tonight, just to make sure all is well?

[Saganite]

I've used ES82's 8.8, 11, 14mm, ES100 9, 14, 20mm, and MV 16, 20, 24, 28, and 40mm and have had nothing but good experiences so far.

However, with the horror stories appearing on this thread so far I'm hoping to get my new EP under the stars tonight, just to make sure all is well?

Good luck with that Chris, look forward to your report, nothing but thick low cloud here....again

[Chris]

Ok, I've had a quick outing tonight, bit of cloud dodging but it stayed clear around the summer triangle for a little while. Firstly, a quick check of my 28x110 bins I recenty collimated during the day, so I wanted to see if stars were nicely merged and indeed they are, so far so good

Following this I set up the new to me Altair Starwave ED70 f/6 on the horizon tripod and popped in the ES68 24mm. I scanned around the summer triangle and immediatley noticed the soft edges. The view was nice and crisp in the centre but at about 70% out towards the edge things did start to go mushy, a bit brighter also. This wasn't so noticeable with dimmer mag stars but when panning Vega around the FOV it definately started to flair and defocus at 70% ish. Weirdly there was a spot at about 2-3 Oclock at the edge where things didn't degrade quite so much, I have no idea why this was? If you just looked dead ahead and didn't move you eyeball around the soft edges didn't seem so much of a problem, also there were no blackouts, problems with eye position, and the eyepiece is very comfortable to use. Not the best at the edges at f/6 I've seen but I'll be interestested to see how it fairs in my other scopes such as the Lunt 35 and the ED100. Next sunny free 20 minutes I get I will unleash it on the Lunt for some Ha.  

[John]

That does not sound like Panoptic 24mm type performance to me

[Chris]

Me neither John.

[YKSE]

Following this I set up the new to me Altair Starwave ED70 f/6 on the horizon tripod and popped in the ES68 24mm. I scanned around the summer triangle and immediatley noticed the soft edges. The view was nice and crisp in the centre but at about 70% out towards the edge things did start to go mushy, a bit brighter also. This wasn't so noticeable with dimmer mag stars but when panning Vega around the FOV it definately started to flair and defocus at 70% ish.

Have you tried refocus to get the stars in the edge sharp? Your small fast ED scope might be the problem, its short focal length has enough curvature to make any flat(or almost flat) field eyepieces not sharp in the edge.

[Roy Challen]

Ok, I've had a quick outing tonight, bit of cloud dodging but it stayed clear around the summer triangle for a little while. Firstly, a quick check of my 28x110 bins I recenty collimated during the day, so I wanted to see if stars were nicely merged and indeed they are, so far so good

Following this I set up the new to me Altair Starwave ED70 f/6 on the horizon tripod and popped in the ES68 24mm. I scanned around the summer triangle and immediatley noticed the soft edges. The view was nice and crisp in the centre but at about 70% out towards the edge things did start to go mushy, a bit brighter also. This wasn't so noticeable with dimmer mag stars but when panning Vega around the FOV it definately started to flair and defocus at 70% ish. Weirdly there was a spot at about 2-3 Oclock at the edge where things didn't degrade quite so much, I have no idea why this was? If you just looked dead ahead and didn't move you eyeball around the soft edges didn't seem so much of a problem, also there were no blackouts, problems with eye position, and the eyepiece is very comfortable to use. Not the best at the edges at f/6 I've seen but I'll be interestested to see how it fairs in my other scopes such as the Lunt 35 and the ED100. Next sunny free 20 minutes I get I will unleash it on the Lunt for some Ha.

Hi Chris,

I had this scope (AA ED70) a while back and with the Maxvision 24mm 68* the view was exactly as you describe. No such problems with the MV 16mm, and in a Tal 100RS the 24, 20 and 16 were all superb. I guess the ES versions should be the same?

[Fozzie]

Ok, I've had a quick outing tonight, bit of cloud dodging but it stayed clear around the summer triangle for a little while. Firstly, a quick check of my 28x110 bins I recenty collimated during the day, so I wanted to see if stars were nicely merged and indeed they are, so far so good

Following this I set up the new to me Altair Starwave ED70 f/6 on the horizon tripod and popped in the ES68 24mm. I scanned around the summer triangle and immediatley noticed the soft edges. The view was nice and crisp in the centre but at about 70% out towards the edge things did start to go mushy, a bit brighter also.

Oh it's obviously the new scopes fault Chris...

I had a couple of revelation Super plossls that are supposed to be 68deg (always thought they were 60deg) and these in my first astromaster 130mm f5 scope were exactly the same, surprisingly they were better in the 200p (better optics no doubt) and are very well matched to my F10 90mm & F11 102mm Achro's..

I can't see ES letting go a substandard run of EP's as it could be a reputation killer, but then i'm "young" and naïve!   

Hmmmm need some dark skys to see what we have here!

Ta

Fozzie

[Chris]

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to trying it out with my other scopes to get a better idea whats down to the EP and whats down to the scope. I didn't think about adjusting focus at the edge until I'd packed up, but I have a hunch that refocusing at the edge would have improved things. 

Maybe the AA ED70 was too tough a test, but I'm sure my ES100's did better in my WO66 and that was even shorter and slightly faster. Still, I'm sure it will be fine for my slower scopes and it is very comfortable and easy to find eye position.

I'll report back when I've given it a go in the other scope

[alan potts]

I have only just seen this thread.

I reviewed the 24mm Meade SWA a while back and found the same. The ExSc has the same elements, I think we all agree on that, however the coatings could be different but this doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be better.

The Meade did not perform anywhere near as good as the Panoptic and in my view never will, I could see edge faults (astigmatism) even in scopes as slow as F 10, though they were very minor if I recall correct. At F5.26 it was not very good in my opinion and at F 4.3, it was, well, lets say the Panoptic was better.

Alan   

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well I have bought the ES 24mm. I felt at £69 it was worth a try. I have been using the 4.7mm, 8.8mm, 14mm and 18mm ES 82 degree EPs and they are very good in my Orion VX8 f4.5 and Astro Tech f7 APO frac. I wanted the 24mm 1.25" EP because I have a 1.25" Lumicon UHC and Astronomik O-iIII filters in this size.

I still have a 24mm MV so I will be able to compare and report back.

PS - if the Sun comes out I will test it in the PST

[Thonolan]

BillP wrote an extensive review of the ES68 24mm time ago and he rated it slightly higher than the Panoptic overall as far as I recall, especially on star clusters perfomance. I have the link somewhere, will post it later when I'm back home.

Personally I found it as good as the Panoptic for DSO's, but definitely not as good for planets (this is consistent with Bill' report) and also softer towards the edges (don't remember what Bill said about this).

[spaceboy]

Ok, I've had a quick outing tonight, bit of cloud dodging but it stayed clear around the summer triangle for a little while. Firstly, a quick check of my 28x110 bins I recenty collimated during the day, so I wanted to see if stars were nicely merged and indeed they are, so far so good

Following this I set up the new to me Altair Starwave ED70 f/6 on the horizon tripod and popped in the ES68 24mm. I scanned around the summer triangle and immediatley noticed the soft edges. The view was nice and crisp in the centre but at about 70% out towards the edge things did start to go mushy, a bit brighter also. This wasn't so noticeable with dimmer mag stars but when panning Vega around the FOV it definately started to flair and defocus at 70% ish. Weirdly there was a spot at about 2-3 Oclock at the edge where things didn't degrade quite so much, I have no idea why this was? If you just looked dead ahead and didn't move you eyeball around the soft edges didn't seem so much of a problem, also there were no blackouts, problems with eye position, and the eyepiece is very comfortable to use. Not the best at the edges at f/6 I've seen but I'll be interestested to see how it fairs in my other scopes such as the Lunt 35 and the ED100. Next sunny free 20 minutes I get I will unleash it on the Lunt for some Ha.  

Thanks Chris

I'm interested to hear how the ES24 performs in members scopes if they have both fast < f/5 and slow > f/8. I didn't feel there was any improvement the slower the scope got which is unusual as even the cheap MA ep's often sold with scopes show some improvement in longer focal length scopes. Issues in the ES24 became most apparent when viewing the moon @ 70-90% illuminated finding that although I could get the very centre (approx. 10%) reasonably sharp the same could not be said for the entire lunar surface despite only filling 50-60% the field of view when used in my f/8 scope.

The MV I felt is far better showing an entirely sharp lunar disk but as with the ES24 there is some noticeable distortion (egg shape) when the moon is placed towards the outer edge. I can live with it in the MV24 due to it's bargain price but I had expected more from the £130 ES24.

As I mentioned before though maybe my expectations of the ES24 were unrealistic as after all there aren't many other 24mm 68° EP's out there to choose from in this price bracket, the Pan24 being over double the price of the ES24 and the Hyperion being absolutely terrible!!!

[John]

BillP wrote an extensive review of the ES68 24mm time ago and he rated it slightly higher than the Panoptic overall as far as I recall, especially on star clusters perfomance. I have the link somewhere, will post it later when I'm back home.

Personally I found it as good as the Panoptic for DSO's, but definitely not as good for planets (this is consistent with Bill' report) and also softer towards the edges (don't remember what Bill said about this).

Here is a Cloudynights thread on the ES 24 68 from last year. The 3rd post has a link to the BillP group review which included the 24mm Panoptic:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/477829-opinions-on-the-explore-scientific-24-mm-68-degree/

I've not owned an ES 24 68 but I have owned the 24mm Panoptic and it was extremely sharp right across the field in all the scopes I used it with down to F/5. The only downsides to the Pan 24 are the price (which is a heck of a lot more than the ES) and that the eye relief can seem a little tight.

[Fozzie]

Well I have bought the ES 24mm. I felt at £69 it was worth a try. I have been using the 4.7mm, 8.8mm, 14mm and 18mm ES 82 degree EPs and they are very good in my Orion VX8 f4.5 and Astro Tech f7 APO frac. I wanted the 24mm 1.25" EP because I have a 1.25" Lumicon UHC and Astronomik O-iIII filters in this size.

I still have a 24mm MV so I will be able to compare and report back.

PS - if the Sun comes out I will test it in the PST

Mark, may I ask what your thoughts are on the 18mm 82deg..?

thanks

fozzie