Delos 12mm - first light

[Piero]

Yesterday I received this eyepiece and I had a chance for a quick observation in the evening (M42, Moon) and this afternoon (the Sun).  

It seems to me that optically, it outperforms my Nagler T6 eyepieces in colour neutrality, light scatter control, light transmission, and contrast. To me, this difference is not huge, but is noticeable particularly after having regularly used Nagler eyepieces for a while. Features were a bit easier to detect and overall more defined. I have not found the 72 deg afov of the Delos losing anything compared to the 82 deg afov of the Nagler. Actually, the larger lens mounted in the Delos gave me an immersion feeling that I have not really achieved with the Naglers T6. I do like this feeling and I believe that in my case this pleasure is because I can view the picture without having to stick my eye on the eyepiece lens. To me this new type of observation is more relaxing.
Said this, I would not advise a Delos eyepiece to a beginner or use it to show the sky to a person who is new to astronomy. I do not think that eye placement is straightforward with these eyepieces and blackouts can appear quite frequently. Of course this is all down to a bit of practice and I believe that with some time one learns the sweet spot in terms of eye angle and distance. However, I also do believe that a beginner or a casual observer should not focus on these details at all, but just put his/her eye in the eyepiece and observe. As I haven't seen through an Ethos or Pentax, I cannot tell whether these (initial) difficulties regarding eye placement are just due to the Delos design. From my point of view, the Nagler T6 are much more straightforward to use.
In conclusion, I would say that the Delos eyepieces are not perfect for everyone, but they can be excellent for those people who enjoy a relaxing observation and are patient at the eyepiece. Overall I am glad for this purchase! 

Regarding this competition between 72'-82', I think the difference between wide (72deg) and ultra-wide (up to 82deg, no experience about the 'hyper-wide' 100deg) is about the distance we enjoy to be from the sky. Taking inspiration from Gerry's words, a Delos eyepiece gives an experience similar to a person placed, let's say, 10cm from a window. The image is very beautiful and the person is somehow in between these two worlds, but aware that his/her feet are on the ground. Somehow it reminds me of a painter who is depicting a landscape, although he/she is not currently located in that landscape. Of course, with some patience and dedication that painter can still immerse himself / herself inside that picture but he/she is aware that his/her role is eventually to release and represent emotions with brushes rather than living those emotion like the people he is currently representing . The view through my Naglers T6 is different in the sense that that original distance between the observer and the window is much shorter. Somehow the eye is attached to the glass and to catch the borders of that landscape, eye rotation is often required. I would not call this a relaxing observation, but can be somehow more exciting because the perception of having some ground underneath our feet is fainter . Reading from people's reports about the Ethos 21mm, it seems to me that this experience is pushed even forward. Possibly the observer has broken that window and stuck his/her head out of it?  

Thanks for reading, 

Piero

[John]

What a great report Piero

I've only owned one Delos and that was the 10mm. It was a really excellent eyepiece but I like sticking my head out of the window a bit so it didn't quite lure me away from my Ethoi

I've heard that eye placement might be a little easier with the Pentax XW's but I didn't find any problems with the 10mm Delos. I can see that someone new to using a telescope might take a little time to get used to them though.

Thanks for posting the great review.

 

[YKSE]

Nice First light Piero

As to eye placement difficulty, many none-glass-wearer reported it, before they learned to adjust the eye cup to suitable height according to this.

[Piero]

53 minutes ago, YKSE said:

Nice First light Piero

As to eye placement difficulty, many none-glass-wearer reported it, before they learned to adjust the eye cup to suitable height according to this.

Thanks Yong

It isn't a big issue and I really think that with a bit of patience one can get along with the system. My only concern is for casual observers. For those people I think it is important that they receive a positive 'wow' effect rather than struggling with blackouts and wondering what is wrong. 

Despite this, they deliver top-notch views. Just stunning to my eye!

 

 

[laudropb]

Very nice and informative report Piero. I have been looking at the 6mm. Finger hovering over the buy button.

[alan potts]

Piero,

Superb report I enjoyed as the rain hammers down, you will soon get used to eye-placement, hope you didn't get paint on it though.

Alan

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. My XWs (5, 7, and 10mm) are certainly a bit more forgiving than the Delos 8 and 14mm I have, but setting up the eye cup correctly make a big difference. I might well start thinking of selling my Nagler 12T4 and replacing it with the Delos 12