SLV, Hyperion or pentax XF

[nightfisher]

need a little help here, i will be in the market for at least 2 new eyepieces, these will be used in the 150 F12 maksutov and the F10 Tal 100, 

main use will be Luna, planetary and globs kinda in that order,  had all but made my mind up to go with the Vixen SLV 12mm and 9mm but then had a glance at FLO and looked at the Hyperion`s and think the 13mm and 8mm would be ideal

Another contender is the Pentax XF 12mm and 8.5mm, though i think i have read these can suffer a tiny bit

so i am between a rock and a hard place trying to decide, i have a Vixen lanthanum 18mm in the post, i dont want an ep less than 8mm f/l as it wont be usable in the mak, but i can barlow an 8 or 9mm in the TAL if i needed higher power as i have a nice x1.6 barlow

[GavStar]

I've got the 8.5 xf which I use in my binoviewers for lunar and planetary and am very pleased with it - I had excellent views of Jupiter with it this year. Comfortable eye relief and decent fov. It compares well with my vixen lvw 8mm which I think is generally thought of as being better than the hyperions. I've heard the 12mm xf has some field curvature but generally reviews of it are good as well.

[Joe12345]

I don't have hyperions, although I know that they don't do very well in fast scopes. I have two slvs, and really like them (especially since I don't have fov fever!). They are pretty perfect for everything apart from fov, but in your slow scopes that might not be visibly better than a cheaper EP.

[Moonshane]

I am considering the Vixens as fill-ins for my Delites.  Reviews have been very good. I find my Delites have less scatter and less lateral colour than my 8.5mm xf albeit it is minimal in the xf.

[Fozzie]

Not being a big fan of the SLV's myself I'd say that realistically in an f10 and f12 I'd expect all of the EP's your thinking about to perform well..

The pentax are in interesting option, I know the 8.5mm has a good following, I've read the 12mm sufferd from FC but then I've read that it's not all that bad..

Hyperions I've never used, but as mentioned above very bad press below f6, and I get the impression they are a big EP size wise.. 

I guess your not really testing the EP at your focal length 

How do you find the superview in the tal and skymax, probably suggest/expect the hyperions would be marginally better than that, and a lot bit again on the 8.5 pentax..

Those SLV's though.. not sure why I put up with them..

Mine field isn't it!

Clear sky's

Fozzie

[nightfisher]

11 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

I am considering the Vixens as fill-ins for my Delites.  Reviews have been very good. I find my Delites have less scatter and less lateral colour than my 8.5mm xf albeit it is minimal in the xf.

A big part of me wants to go with the Vixen`s but the focal length is not ideal as i would prefer a 13mm and an 8mm, with the SLV`s i would have to get 12mm and 9mm

I have ruled out the pentax 12mm XF, I am happy to mix, maybe Hyperion in 13mm and XF in 8.5mm

[Moonshane]

You could borrow my 8.5mm xf if you like. 

[John]

I've just sold a 12mm XF. It was really well put together eyepiece but did show enough FC in my scopes to start to annoy slightly. I've replaced it with a BST Starguider 12mm for half the price and it's really none too shabby at all even in my F/5.3 dob. My outreach / star party set is 3 BST Starguiders plus a Maxvision 24 / 68 and a Meade 4K 6.7mm UWA and I'm finding that they do a pretty good job for my regular observing too. All for around 1/2 the price of one of my Ethos !

The Hyperions would work very well for you at your focal ratios Jules although I'm a big fan of the SLV's as you know. I'd try and pick up the Hyperions on the used market though - I don't feel they are great value at their usual retail price TBH. Hyperions are nicely made eyepieces, comfortable to use and throughtfully designed - they just don't do so well in the outer field when the focal ratio drops below around F/7 or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Spock]

I don't know if you can still get them (they are on FLO's website) but I have 13mm and 8mm LVWs. The quality is excellent and they are very comfortable to use.

My only disappointment is there isn't anything between 13mm and 8mm - they are x181 and x294 in my scope.

[nightfisher]

Michael, the LVW is just out of reach for my always limited budget (spent far too much on flying machines )

I think i spotted a used as new 13mm Hyperion so that might be one ep, looks like its going to be a bit of a mix up rather than a collection of same

[nightfisher]

3 hours ago, Moonshane said:

You could borrow my 8.5mm xf if you like. 

tempting but it would be with me a good while waiting to try it then posting it back and forth, shane how do you rate it against say BGO 9mm ? that is the acid test really

[Moonshane]

For the field shown and ignoring eye relief there's no comparison for me. The BGO is far better than the xf

[John]

The BGO's are very tough to beat as Shane says. To find a multi-element eyepiece which delivers a well corrected and slightly wider FoV and more comfortable eye relief than a BGO while matching it's optical performance is a tough ask at any budget.

 

[Moonshane]

I know I keep banging on about them but I really do think the Delites do just that John.

[John]

1 minute ago, Moonshane said:

I know I keep banging on about them but I really do think the Delites do just that John.

From your and others reports that seems to be the case Shane. I certainly felt that the Vixen SLV 6mm was a match for the 6mm BGO optically and I think the Pentax XW's are pretty close as well. Not many that can manage that though. Especially at a <£100 budget.

 

 

[Dave In Vermont]

I have the same Mak as you - 150mm F/12 - and plan on using my Hyperions for many things. Especially the Moon. But I also plan on using my Orthoscopics for getting the most detail on planets, ring-nebulae, etc. Likely I'll be swapping back & forth between them. Close-up views is what Maksutovs excel at, so for up-close views, the narrow FOV of ortho's present no deterrent. Unless one needs glasses while observing.

Cassegrains, whether SCT's or Maks, are easy-to-feed. So I don't plan to upgrade my already overflowing cases on their behalf.

Enjoy!

Dave

[Don Pensack]

The Vixen SLV is a good sharp eyepiece with excellent contrast and one flaw (other than a 50° field, LOL): a shiny spacer under the eye lens.

When used on the Moon, a reflected image of the moon can be seen at the edge in the spacer.

This does not show up in DSO use, where contrast is excellent.

And, despite the shiny spacer, internal scattered light is well-suppressed.  The Moon doesn't bleed all over the field, and that's a lot better than many eyepieces.

As a lunar-viewing eyepiece, however, it may not be the ultimate eyepiece.

 

If, on the other hand, you use the eyepieces for generally everything and only occasionally on the Moon, then that issue may be a minor one.

Or, if you're the intrepid sort who would simply dismantle the eyepiece and blacken the spacer better, the eyepiece would be a superb one for all purposes.

This has been communicated to the factory, and I presume they might fix it in later productions, or might have already done so.

It is easy to see when holding the eyepiece up to the daytime sky, though, so if you get a chance to do so, it can reveal the shiny spacer immediately.

As a galaxy-hunting eyepiece, though, it is very good.  And no eyepiece safety grooves in the barrels!   And long eye relief for glasses wearers in focal lengths to 2.5mm.  That's not common.

[nightfisher]

15 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

The Vixen SLV is a good sharp eyepiece with excellent contrast and one flaw (other than a 50° field, LOL): a shiny spacer under the eye lens.

When used on the Moon, a reflected image of the moon can be seen at the edge in the spacer.

This does not show up in DSO use, where contrast is excellent.

And, despite the shiny spacer, internal scattered light is well-suppressed.  The Moon doesn't bleed all over the field, and that's a lot better than many eyepieces.

As a lunar-viewing eyepiece, however, it may not be the ultimate eyepiece.

 

If, on the other hand, you use the eyepieces for generally everything and only occasionally on the Moon, then that issue may be a minor one.

Or, if you're the intrepid sort who would simply dismantle the eyepiece and blacken the spacer better, the eyepiece would be a superb one for all purposes.

This has been communicated to the factory, and I presume they might fix it in later productions, or might have already done so.

It is easy to see when holding the eyepiece up to the daytime sky, though, so if you get a chance to do so, it can reveal the shiny spacer immediately.

As a galaxy-hunting eyepiece, though, it is very good.  And no eyepiece safety grooves in the barrels!   And long eye relief for glasses wearers in focal lengths to 2.5mm.  That's not common.

I failed to go for the SLV`s, once the cash from the circle t`s was in the paypal account i found myself looking at quadcopters, so i got a little mixed bag of ep`s and put the rest toward a phantom 3 camera ship and very happy with the new ep`s, being a 12mm NLV, 18mm lanthanum and Antares HD/BGO 9mm........these added to my few other odds have given me a pretty good selection to use with all my scopes