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Should I swap my 3 mid-power EP's for a zoom ?


jabeoo1

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On 16/04/2017 at 21:17, jabeoo1 said:

Thanks for engaging with the thread everyone.  Its certainly given food for thought. 

I am airing on the side of a single fixed focal length EP to try and compromise on all 3.  I feel a Zoom is not the right choice for me, the unique high power of the 3-6mm TV is offering something completely different and is the exception to my feelings. 

The 22mm LVW is going nowhere, it weighs 350g and offers a lovely large sharp FOV @ x 34.  

The Nagler Zoom is a mere 150g giving everything in the high end. 

The other night I managed to balance both these EP's with the Altair Sabre II with no issues, so something below 400g should be fine.  I love the idea of an 8mm ethos but its 430g and may tip the balance, the 10mm Ethos is even heavier & cost is spiralling at that point :(

The 10mm Pentax XW may be the correct choice here at 390g, other choices could be the 11mm Delite or 11mm Nagler (both around 200g).

The Pentax 10mm a good compromise between the 8mm & 11mm in magnification, which is essential for me for viewing Jupiter, and at the same time it offers a TFOV similar to my adored 15mm TV Plossl but instead of x49 its cranking it up to x74.  I have also read that the XW are very sharp performers. 

 

 

The 10mm XW is a wonderful eyepiece for DSO's in the FC100, very transparent, very sharp and comfortable to use. Personally I'd avoid the 11mm Nagler as I feel its not in the same league. Ive had all the Naglers in the past and found they varied greatly in performance and comfort, and all gave a warm colour cast to the image. Also, if youre using the Tak prism, the horrid deep undercuts on the Naglers can be troublesome. I've not yet used a Delite but have heard good things about them, though they too will suffer from the undercut issue and will be no better than the XW's optically. You'll have no such difficulty with the Pentax XW undercut as its not nearly as savage as Televue's.

Mike

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19 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

The 10mm XW is a wonderful eyepiece for DSO's in the FC100, very transparent, very sharp and comfortable to use. Personally I'd avoid the 11mm Nagler as I feel its not in the same league. Ive had all the Naglers in the past and found they varied greatly in performance and comfort, and all gave a warm colour cast to the image. Also, if youre using the Tak prism, the horrid deep undercuts on the Naglers can be troublesome. I've not yet used a Delite but have heard good things about them, though they too will suffer from the undercut issue and will be no better than the XW's optically. You'll have no such difficulty with the Pentax XW undercut as its not nearly as savage as Televue's.

Mike

Thanks for the Info Mike, 

I use this small thingy (technical term) to avoid the messing around with the Taks nylon 1.25" clamping mechanism. 

DSCN0926.JPG

 

 

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Hold on, at what point did the original post state "giving away all my stuff to Derek"?  I don't remember how it came to this..........I know I said earlier to John threads should evolve but really this is getting out of hand now! :)

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1 minute ago, jabeoo1 said:

Derek I also have a Berleback Uni 28 & Sabre II I will chuck in for you too while we are at it ! 

No need mate, I already have an Ercole on a Uni 28 so just the Tak will be fine :wink:

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3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

The 10mm XW is a wonderful eyepiece for DSO's in the FC100, very transparent, very sharp and comfortable to use. Personally I'd avoid the 11mm Nagler as I feel its not in the same league. Ive had all the Naglers in the past and found they varied greatly in performance and comfort, and all gave a warm colour cast to the image. Also, if youre using the Tak prism, the horrid deep undercuts on the Naglers can be troublesome. I've not yet used a Delite but have heard good things about them, though they too will suffer from the undercut issue and will be no better than the XW's optically. You'll have no such difficulty with the Pentax XW undercut as its not nearly as savage as Televue's.

Mike

Mike - your impressions of the Nagler 11 were precisely what I was expecting when I started using one in my FC-100 a few months ago. I've been comparing it with Delos 10, Leica ASPH, and Delite 7 in recent weeks, and I've been massively impressed. It delivers much brighter and sharper views than I expected - and definitely holds its own against the newer eyepieces. 

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37 minutes ago, John said:

I saw that and wondered how that speck of dust got in there :icon_scratch:

I thought I would take the chance, pictures looked good and communication was excellent.  Looks like I got my EP's down to 4 for the time being

Zoom 6-3

8mm Brandon 

The up close & frowning side

-----------------------------

The eye-spa side

10mm XW

22mm LVW

 

Should be good for now :) 

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3 minutes ago, Alien_Photons said:

"Now" is a very short frame of reference. I think you made a very good choice in any case.

Cheers :)

I think I may be able to settle on 4 EP's, its not too much juggling for the 'better & improved view'.  Really the weapon of choice is the one for the job now with distinct boundaries. 

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On 4/19/2017 at 12:16, Highburymark said:

Sounds like you can't go wrong with the XW 10 James. It will be stunning in the Tak. 

Cheers Mark,

I just picked the 10mm XW up.   Feels lovely and robust, but a nice weight & size making it far from unwieldy.  A quick glance through either ocular or objective by holding it 50cm away to gain eye focus shows a lovely sharp rendered exit pupil.  The baffling is beautifully uniform & matt.  On advancing it towards the eye the whole field to the stop pops into view effortlessly with no eyelash stroking.  I can see what all the forums fussing is about now & I have not even put it in the scope yet :)  

 

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On 4/19/2017 at 12:16, Highburymark said:

Sounds like you can't go wrong with the XW 10 James. It will be stunning in the Tak. 

Cheers Mark,

Mike & John sing their praises and judging by my recent trip to cornwall it is a really brilliant EP ! 

 

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On 4/16/2017 at 12:11, swamp thing said:

8mm Ethos? Wider field than your 15mm and as much power as your 8mm ;) 

 

Damn you swamp thing I just bought a used 8mm Ethos to see how it performs, now I am back up to 5 EP's.

Plan A (2 of 2):  Can I get my EP's down to 3 = NO :)

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A few conclusions from my own thread.  

1) Although simple in concept, replacing mid-power fixed focal length EP's with a zoom is not as simple as that.

2) A single high-power EP is enough:  So long as its a Nagler Zoom (and gives your scope useful magnification)

3) A single low power EP is enough:  So long as its wide & sharp over all or nearly all of its field of view & is comfortable to use.

4) Mid-power EP's complicate an otherwise simple lineup 

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On 27/04/2017 at 19:59, jabeoo1 said:

A few conclusions from my own thread.  

1) Although simple in concept, replacing mid-power fixed focal length EP's with a zoom is not as simple as that.

2) A single high-power EP is enough:  So long as its a Nagler Zoom (and gives your scope useful magnification)

3) A single low power EP is enough:  So long as its wide & sharp over all or nearly all of its field of view & is comfortable to use.

4) Mid-power EP's complicate an otherwise simple lineup 

Yeah, yeah, yeah :grin: 

But this thread and another that I started caused me to buy a set TV Plossls for my Lunt 50 Ha and a few days ago I finally cracked and bought a TV 55mm Plossl for my C11 :rolleyes2:

So, in the spirit of getting down to three or four EPs how do I consolidate this lot...

Scopes:

  • Celestron C11
  • OO UK VX12 F4
  • OO UK VX6 F11
  • Altair Starwave 152
  • Skywatcher Evo 150
  • Celestron C5
  • TV Pronto 70
  • TV-60
  • Polarex-Unitron 60mm
  • Lunt 50 Ha

Eyepieces:

  • TV Ethos 21mm
  • TV Ethos 17mm
  • TV Ethos 13mm
  • TV Ethos 8mm
  • TV Panoptic 35mm
  • TV Panoptic 24mm
  • TV Plossl 55mm
  • TV Plossl 32mm
  • TV Plossl 25mm
  • TV Plossl 20mm
  • TV Plossl 15mm
  • TV Plossl 11mm

Powermates:

  • TV 2" 2x
  • TV 1.25" 2.5x
  • TV 1.25" 5x

:help: 

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1 hour ago, DRT said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah :grin: 

But this thread and another that I started caused me to buy a set TV Plossls for my Lunt 50 Ha and a few days ago I finally cracked and bought a TV 55mm Plossl for my C11 :rolleyes2:

So, in the spirit of getting down to three or four EPs how do I consolidate this lot...

Scopes:

  • Celestron C11
  • OO UK VX12 F4
  • OO UK VX6 F11
  • Altair Starwave 152
  • Skywatcher Evo 150
  • Celestron C5
  • TV Pronto 70
  • TV-60
  • Polarex-Unitron 60mm
  • Lunt 50 Ha

Eyepieces:

  • TV Ethos 21mm
  • TV Ethos 17mm
  • TV Ethos 13mm
  • TV Ethos 8mm
  • TV Panoptic 35mm
  • TV Panoptic 24mm
  • TV Plossl 55mm
  • TV Plossl 32mm
  • TV Plossl 25mm
  • TV Plossl 20mm
  • TV Plossl 15mm
  • TV Plossl 11mm

Powermates:

  • TV 2" 2x
  • TV 1.25" 2.5x
  • TV 1.25" 5x

:help: 

Derek !  I am sure this list is beyond the help of professionals. 

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7 hours ago, DRT said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah :grin: 

But this thread and another that I started caused me to buy a set TV Plossls for my Lunt 50 Ha and a few days ago I finally cracked and bought a TV 55mm Plossl for my C11 :rolleyes2:

So, in the spirit of getting down to three or four EPs how do I consolidate this lot...

Scopes:

  • Celestron C11
  • OO UK VX12 F4
  • OO UK VX6 F11
  • Altair Starwave 152
  • Skywatcher Evo 150
  • Celestron C5
  • TV Pronto 70
  • TV-60
  • Polarex-Unitron 60mm
  • Lunt 50 Ha

Eyepieces:

  • TV Ethos 21mm
  • TV Ethos 17mm
  • TV Ethos 13mm
  • TV Ethos 8mm
  • TV Panoptic 35mm
  • TV Panoptic 24mm
  • TV Plossl 55mm
  • TV Plossl 32mm
  • TV Plossl 25mm
  • TV Plossl 20mm
  • TV Plossl 15mm
  • TV Plossl 11mm

Powermates:

  • TV 2" 2x
  • TV 1.25" 2.5x
  • TV 1.25" 5x

:help: 

Could be worse. Really, I see frac, dob and SCT. That's three. Then there's Ethos, Panoptic and Plossl. Another three. Powermates don't really count.

You're fine.

:grin:

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