William Optics 33MM Swan Eyepiece

[glennbech]

I bought this as a "cost efficient" entry into the world of wide field viewing and I have been pleased with it so far. I even use it to star hop, since it gives an 18x magnification with my Megrez 90. So far, under my regular skies, I have been happy with it.

Two nights ago I visited a "darkish" site I use, had a view of the of the double cluster, and immediately went "oh no!!". With the rich field of stars, the relatively small "flat" area of the eyepiece became very evident.

What kind of price range are we talking about for eyepieces with 72+ degrees and "sharp all the way out" images?  

 

[John]

The Explore Scientifics would probably be sharp right across in your Megrez 90. And Tele Vues of course.

The ES 68's seem to range between £100 and £200 depending on the focal length.

Actually I suspect the Maxvision 34mm 68 would be sharper than the SWAN to be honest with you. The Maxvision is £79 in the First Light Optics clearance section.

 

 

[glennbech]

Lol, I thought imaging was expensive :-) 

[John]

Don't get a taste for 100 degree eyepieces with a black and green colour scheme, thats all I can say !

[Ruud]

The 28mm 82° Skywatcher Nirvana is £209 at FLO's. That's a good, sharp eyepiece (same as William Optics UWAN). The top is very wide though.

There's also the Explore Scientific 68° line and FLO still advertises the Maxvisions 68°. Good choices as well. Currently of offer at FLO's. Click here for prices.

[Sporadic Dobstronomer]

1 hour ago, John said:

Don't get a taste for 100 degree eyepieces with a black and green colour scheme, thats all I can say !

My bank manager says you should have said that before.

[alan potts]

I had all of the Meade SWA eyepiece which have the same elements as ExSc however they look different and may even have different coatings. That said I doubt there is anything betweenthem in use. Maxvision are the same as the Meade range but a different colour band is used, by all account it was the result of a cancelled order when Meade had problems.

All the SWA are fine eyepieces which I used for about 4 years in total, the 34mm would serve you well. I have Black and Green fever though and use Panoptics and Delos for this FOV, nice but dear.

[Louis D]

You've already got a very expensive 90mm refractor, so why not put some expensive eyepieces in the focuser to let it strut its stuff?  However, if you're short of money right now, you're in luck.  The Maxvision eyepieces would be an excellent and reasonably priced upgrade.  Either the 34mm or 40mm would be a good start for your scope.  I have the 40mm Meade 5000 SWA that is the same eyepiece.  It is sharp right out to the field stop and has plenty of eye relief for those of us with astigmatism.

Before jumping in on new eyepieces, check to see if you are fighting field curvature of your telescope.  Try refocusing stars at the edge to see if they come to a pinpoint or an astigmatic cross (perpendicular lines on either side of focus with sort of a cross at best focus).  If the former, you've probably got a good eyepiece already that is hampered by the curved field.  If the latter, an upgrade is definitely in order.  You might try adding a 2" field flattener like this attached to the front of your diagonal to see if it cleans up the edge of field.  It has helped my short refractor present a better image.

[nicks90]

See if you can borrow an es82 eyepiece. Step up from the 68deg in terms of fov and not rediculously expensive and they are very very very good.

Not quite televue good - but you'll be hard pressed to notice any shortcomings.  But at half the price and I doubt you will feel shortchanged visually