Which 82 degree ?

[SteveMcHarg]

I'm looking at getting a nice widefield eyepiece maybe 82 degree . What do people think of the Celestron luminous 31mm or ES ? Any others ? These look great value but I haven't seen any reviews ? 

[John]

Most of my experience is with Naglers which are superb but also quite a bit more expensive than others of their type.

I've also used the William Optics UWAN and Skywatcher Nirvana's which are very good 82 degree eyepieces for their cost but the range of focal lengths is limited to 4mm, 7mm, 16mm and 28mm (2 inch).

The Explore Scientific 82 range get pretty good feedback and are probably very close to Nagler (the benchmark 82 degree in my view) performance for a lot less £'s.

What scope do you intend to use the eyepiece in ? - this can make a difference to the choice.

I've not used a Luminos myself but I know that some use and like them.

[Timebandit]

 

Hello. I have used televues Naglers and the William Optics uwan ( the skywatcher Nirvana,same eyepieces i understand). I still have the William Optics uwan 28mm and is a very nice eyepiece and works well in the pretty fast f/  4.6 dob. For the money a great eyepiece IMO

But I do love my Nagler 20mm . Such a great quality eyepiece, not cheap even second hand. But IMO well worth the investment, the Nagler I use for the bulk of the time for locating DSO ,so well worth what I paid for it considering the use it gets.

The televues Naglers are tested to f/4 so if you have a fast scope then could be worth the extra cash. But as I said the William Optics works very well at f/4.6 so if your scope is at this or slower and on a budget then the William Optics uwan/skywatcher Nirvana would certainly be one on my shopping list.

I hope the above helps☺ 

[Chris]

Before my now humble Plossl collection I owned both the Luminos and the ES82's, plus the ES100's. 

Both represent really good value for money for an 82 degree EP. The Luminos has better eye relief and feels more immersive due to this, the ES82's can feel like looking through a porthole with the cup rolled up, and rolled down your eyelashes touch the eye lens. They are both well built.

The ES82's have a better range - 4.7mm 6.7mm 8.8mm 11mm 14mm 18mm, 24mm, and 30mm. whereas the Luminos has something like 7mm, 10mm, 15mm, 19mm, 23mm and the massive 31mm (it's big!).

The optics of the ES82's probably have the edge, as some folks report edge of field brightness with the Luminos range (never bothered me). I've not tried either of  them in particularly fast scopes (nothing faster than f/7.5) so they where both pretty sharp to the edge. They both have really low scatter and great contrast, although there can be a bit of glare in the Luminos if viewing close to the moon.  

Don't be afraid to mix and match, I personally loved the Luminos 7mm, and the ES11, then possibly the Lum15 over the ES14mm. Lots of folks have mixed sets and it helps prevent what if's

 

 

[SteveMcHarg]

Thanks great feedback ! I'm using a c8 and I also have an equinox 80ed which I've recently purchased . 

[jetstream]

I would personally lean toward ES 82's, a recent gift purchase-6.7mm ES 82- is excellent, not quite ortho like but excellent and my own 18mm,30mm ES 82 are also really good, and these EP's hold their resale unlike Luminos...

[Louis D]

46 minutes ago, jetstream said:

these EP's hold their resale unlike Luminos

So buy Luminos secondhand to get in as cheap as possible.  Just watch out for folks asking near new pricing for them since they frequently go on sale.

[jetstream]

Louis,I bought into Luminos years ago and have defended them. I just bought my grand daughter into the sealed/purged 6.7mm ES 82 and believe this is the right choice. At f5 in her Heritage 130P the 6.7mm ES 82 works very well, better than my decloaked 7mm Luminos.

Astronomy purchases don't always mean buying into the cheapest EP's possible, IMHO.

That being said I have a few orthos that are "cheap" but superb... my 7mm KK ortho is "top tier", the 5mm is not, the 10 BCO top tier, 12.5mm Tak top tier ( using the Docter 12.5mm UWA's and the Zeiss 25.1-6.7mm zoom for comparison).

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To the OP, the long focal length Luminos will have challenges at faster focal ratios, astigmatism primarily, not too bad at f4.8 obstructed 20% but at f3.8 obstructed 30% challenges are presented, in both cases using the 23mm Luminos.

ES are better IMHO.

[alan potts]

Like John I mainly have had Naglers of late, though I also had a fullish range of Meade UWA which are very good and can be picked up secondhand. 

Alan

[Chris]

Regarding price, the ES82's start at £116 new and can be picked up second hand for about £70-80, whereas the Luminos start at £95 new and can be bought second hand for 60-65.

So the pricing is relative if you ask me. I've been watching the second hand market for well over a decade now, and believe these prices to be accurate. 

 

They are very different beasts so if possible try one of each, then just sell and replace the one you don't like.

Keep and eye on UK astrobuysell or place a wanted ad, you'll only usually lose postage money by buying and selling on the secondhand market

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

[cloudsweeper]

I have the ES 82s at 6.7, 8.8, 11, 14, and 18mm, and am very pleased with them in both a slow and a faster 'scope.  (The eye lens is a bit small on the 18mm, but not really a problem.)

I would happily have the 24 and 30mm in this range except that cost and weight tend to rise rapidly!  The 30/82 weighs as much as three large tins of H---- Beans & Sausages!  These factors may not be a problem for everyone however!

(For 24mm I have the ES 68* version.)

Doug.

[SteveMcHarg]

Would I get vignetting using the 31mm luminous or ES  on the equinox or c8?

[Chris]

5 minutes ago, SteveMcHarg said:

Would I get vignetting using the 31mm luminous or ES  on the equinox or c8?

Someone else might be able to explain the reasons why better, but I'm pretty sure all 30/31mm eyepieces will vignette by the same amount in a given scope. I think some scopes have baffles/tubes that restrict the light cone coming through to the by eyepiece, and when used with a focal length eyepiece which gives a big exit pupil, the exit pupil can be restricted by said baffles causing vignetting.

As said, I'm sure someone else can explain it better  

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Chris Lock said:

Someone else might be able to explain the reasons why better, but I'm pretty sure all 30/31mm eyepieces will vignette by the same amount in a given scope. I think some scopes have baffles/tubes that restrict the light cone coming through to the by eyepiece, and when used with a focal length eyepiece which gives a big exit pupil, the exit pupil can be restricted by said baffles causing vignetting.

As said, I'm sure someone else can explain it better  

In a fast refractor like the ST120, there have been reports that the front of the focuser tube can cut off the light cone slightly when racked far inward.  The baffle tube(s) of some Maks and SCTs can also cut off some of the light cone.  Lastly, undersized secondaries on planetary observing optimized Newts can fail to redirect the entire light cone to the focuser.  The human eye is pretty forgiving with regards to vignetting and most folks won't even pick up on it unless there is gross vignetting.  The test for slight vignetting involves finding a star at the limit of perception in the center of the field and then moving it to the edge.  If it dims or disappears altogether, you've got some vignetting going on.