What would you use if you couldn't have Ethos?

[iPeace]

Plenty of you wouldn't use Ethos anyway, I am respectfully aware, so for what it's worth.

[John]

I had the ES 100 20mm and that was very, very close to the Ethos 21 in performance. The William Optics XWA's and Skywatcher Myriads are also fine performers.

The various brands 100 degree eyepieces seem to encapsulate about the best quality manufacture and optics that they can muster I've found. I guess they regard them as "flagship" ranges.

If I could summon up even more £'s than the Ethos cost then the Nikon Nav SW's are reputed to be a tiny bit better than Tele Vue's 100 degree range.

 

[Sporadic Dobstronomer]

I would use large amounts of alcohol.  Anything to take away the pain.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Docter 12.5mm, but it's the only one they do. Never quite worked out why, probably gets quite lonely!

[dweller25]

I'm old school so I use Pentax XW's

[L8-Nite]

I'm older school, I use Brandons. 

[Moonshane]

I much prefer my Delites and Panoptics for solar system objects and at night they are joined by a Delos. Same sort of thing though in essence.

[swamp thing]

If I couldn't use Ethos???

Then I guess I'd be stuck using my own gear  

[niallk]

Shushhhhhh: every so often I use a pair of 25mm Super Plossls in my binoviewer, and they give erm great enjoyable views!!! Not cool to say this out loud though.

 

(I've two of the 25mm EPs you get with a Skywatcher dob - nah, I don't use the 10mm though )

[John]

Interesting that the OP used the word "couldnt" rather than "wouldnt" in the original post. I interpreted that to mean that while Ethos would be the 1st choice, if that was not possible, what would their next preference be ?

Maybe I got that wrong ? 

 

 

 

 

[Louis D]

Can't use Ethos due to severe astigmatism, so I use 3.5mm to 14mm Pentax XLs, XWs, & Delos, 12mm and 17mm Nagler T4s, a 22mm AT AF70, a 27mm Panoptic, a 30mm ES-82, and a 40mm Meade 5000 SWA.  Having looked through Ethos and ES-100 eyepieces with and without eyeglasses, I'm much better off with my collection.  Without eyeglasses, only the 6mm and lower 100 degree eyepieces are usable for me, but not perfect.  I can still detect some astigmatism in the images.

[niallk]

I'm in the process of trying out 100° EPs in my scope, and recently bought my first Ethos (10E).

Up to now, my 2 Nagler T6's and Pan 24 have served me very well:

* Comfy to use, no issues with eye placement

* While not the absolute best by all accounts, they are very very good EPs imho

* 82° afov for the T6s, and the Pan24 gives the largest true fov in 1.25" format

* Remarkably compact and lightweight EPs (compared to the Ethos line)

* Cost per EP is less than half that of an Ethos

* No balance issues (even with PM 2.5x) in my 15" - will have to counterbalance my 20ES100 ... it's almost 1kg

* All T6's and the Pan24 share the same Paracorr2 setting = minimised fussing in the dark while getting on with observing. Without SIPs, the Ethos line requires adjusting the tunable top and adding the 1.25" adapter at shorter focal lengths... or buying 2" extenders and parfocalising rings :/

I'm looking forward to getting some decent time with the scope and the 10E - if it doesn't work out like I hope, then it will be moved on and replaced with a 9T6!!

 

 

[alan potts]

As good as I think Ethos are if there were none of them or other 100 degree eyepieces then I guess i would be happy with the Meade or ExSc 82 degree ranges, I was for long enough before the Ethos wallet emptiers came along.

Delos, De-Lite, Pentax XW's and many other brands are also very good. I think if you are a planetary man with a driven scope you need look no further than the first 3 mentioned.

Alan

[acey]

I've never owned an Ethos and never felt the need. For looking at tiny faint DSOs you need a dark sky, not an ultrawide field of view. The one eyepice I wouldn't want to live without is my Baader Hyperion 8-24mm zoom. Which is almost the only eyepiece I use.

[Pig]

Most of the range are out of stock at TH with only the 3.7 & 4.7 remaining, mind you they are still advertised at the sale price  

I would use the other eyepieces I own if I didn't have the Etthos

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have owned 3 Ethos EPs (21mm, 13mm and 8mm) and they were excellent. At the time I found it necessary to sell them but I replaced them with ES 82 degree EPs and they were good in my Orion VX8 f4.5.

In February 2016 I bought a 12" Revelation Dob and very recently I obtained a S/H 20mm Myraid. Last time I viewed a whole selection of DSOs (report elsewhere) and the view through this Myraid was nothing short of brilliant. Trying to recall my previous experience with the 21mm Ethos and 10" Dob I must admit that I cannot say the former was any better. Because of last night I am thinking of changing my 8.8mm ES to a 9mm Myraid - pity they don't make a 13mm or 14mm.

[iPeace]

8 hours ago, John said:

Interesting that the OP used the word "couldnt" rather than "wouldnt" in the original post. I interpreted that to mean that while Ethos would be the 1st choice, if that was not possible, what would their next preference be ?

Maybe I got that wrong ? 

 

 

 

 

I'm not quite sure you did get that wrong...

All pundits welcome, of course, and all responses of interest.

As for myself, I was merely wondering whether I would be using Naglers (the Panzerfaust 31T5 surely), Panoptics or would have perhaps jumped ship for the offerings of other brands, of which I now know so little, having gone the way of the Ethos after my first look through one.

In fact, I have never used an eyepiece without green lettering... and there's no pride in that, merely poverty of experience.

So perhaps I should have written "given that you love your Ethos", etc. Nonetheless, those who act on the urge to express their outright preference for something else have my appreciation and gratitude.

[iPeace]

One specific aspect of this is whether the 100° offerings of other brands would be tempting, or whether the optical quality of something with less than 100° would carry the day.

[alan potts]

The only thing I would say is, I feel that to assess any of these in a fast scope you have to have a paracorr. How can you decide if one is better than another if coma is dominating the outer field of view. 

With the 21mm Ethos and TV Paracorr the field in my 18 inch F4.3 is very nearly as sharp at the edge as it is in the centre. Take the Paracorr away and the wheels come off. Then I have said many times why buy TV if you are going to tolerate coma, seems a bit pointless to me.

alan

[John]

Back in 2008 the US astronomer Rod Mollise wrote this typically entertaining blog on the Ethos and eyepiece costs. This was before ES cloned them of course:

http://uncle-rods.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/ethos-mania-and-cost-of-good-eyepiece.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iPeace]

25 minutes ago, John said:

Back in 2008 the US astronomer Rod Mollise wrote this typically entertaining blog on the Ethos and eyepiece costs. This was before ES cloned them of course:

http://uncle-rods.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/ethos-mania-and-cost-of-good-eyepiece.html

In some quarters, it would seem the discussion has hardly abated since...

[Highburymark]

I've been doing some comparisons between Delos, Leica ASPH and Ethos (I only have the 13mm and have little experience with the rest of the range - so am no Ethos expert) in recent weeks on a range of targets in the UK and Spain with 8" Edge, ED refractor and Mak scopes.  It is almost impossible to split the Delos and Leica (which for all intents and purposes could be repainted, rebooted and sold as a Delos zoom). Both - to my eyes - display slightly finer pinpoint detail than the Ethos (resolving globular clusters and stars at the heart of nebulae, splitting difficult doubles, and showing detail on Saturn and Mars). But despite this, the two views which stay most in my mind are the double cluster and M31/32 in the frac with the Ethos. Just beautiful.

Not sure that answers the original question though.....

[GavStar]

Easy - Explore Scientific 92 deg 17mm and 12mm - in fact they have replaced my ethos 17mm, I prefer the extra eye relief which makes it more comfortable to see the whole fov. They look just as sharp to me as well

[ollypenrice]

I'd use a milk bottle bottom while saving up for an Ethos!

I'm not a visual buff in the style of Acey or Michael WIlkinson who go for the most difficult observations. I'm a bit of a tourist and revel in the big picture, which is why I'm in love with my one Ethos - a 13mm.

Olly

[Paul73]

I miss my 21mm Ethos. Thought that I could do without 100°.....

So I have just ordered the ES 20mm 100° offering. They seem pretty good.

A 24mm 82mm gives a similar FOV but a 6mm exit pupil (I start to lose contrast at this point). The 20mm 100° will still give me great contrast at 5mm.

Paul