Pentax XW30

[A McEwan]

Hi all.

The Pentax XW30 isn't just an eyepiece. It's a complete experience! Maybe I should have put that at the end instead of the beginning? Too late now...

I got my XW30 from Steve at First Light Optics, where I got excellent advice, and it arrived very quickly and well-packed. I was initially thinking about getting a 31mm Nagler T5 but was put off by the huge weight of that eyepiece. The Pentax is a lot lighter (much less than 1lb) and has a 70 degree apparent field of view, compared with the 82 degrees promised by the TeleVue. I already own Pentax XL's in 5.2, 10.5 and 14mm focal lengths and am always delighted by their performance and the comfort that they allow me to experience while using them.

Anyway, the box arrived. Always a magical moment for me... :shock:

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Upon opening the box, I realised (once again) why Pentax are so well-respected. Before even getting to the eyepiece itself, the bolt case that is provided actually FITS the eyepiece, and opens and closes securely and smoothly! A rarely-experienced bonus! Also, inside the bolt case the eyepiece is held securely by shaped foam inserts to prevent it slopping around in transit! Top marks - someon'e been thinking on the job!

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Examining the eyepiece itself, it is very well made. The adjustable eye guard screws up and down very smoothly and the coatings on the lenses are obviously several layers thick, with reflections showing as green and purple depending on the angle of the light. Already familiar with the contrast and light throughput of my XL's, I expected the XW30 to be a top performer. Oh, and it didn't feel really heavy at all! I expected my ED80 on AZ-3 to handle it easily. Did I mention the eyelens is huge? Well it is.

FIRST LIGHT

First light came Friday 29th at the JSL observatory at Culloden outside Inverness. I took my ED80 on modified AZ-3. I also hoped to use it in the 14" LX200R but in the event I just never got around to it! The sky cleared at about 10pm and there were many target s to pick for my first view. I went for M27, the Dumbbell. Plopped (carefully) the XW into the 2" diagonal, lined up using RDF, and peeped in.

Wow! Stars! So many stars! All over the place, sharp and bright to the edge of the panoramic 70 degree (3.5 degree true field, 20x) view! And framed bang in the middle, the slightly apple-core shaped smudge of the nebula! Sharply defined and obvious. It was a beautiful view and I just soaked it up for a few minutes before actually examining the field.

I had sold my Paragon 40mm to help fund the XW30, and when using the Paragon I had noticed some astigmatism at the outer edge of field. I suspect that it was at least in part because of my eyes. When examining the stars at the edge of the XW's field, there was still some astigmatism, but it was a lot less than I had experienced in the Paragon 40. But then, the Paragon 40 gives a bigger exit pupil, which in turn would allow the natural astigmatism in my eyes to be more apparent! Anyway, I found the view to be much more pleasing, and I could 'switch off' to the astigmatism very easily indeed.

I spent some time adjusting the eye guard so that it was most comfortable, and looked around for some more targets. The double cluster was an obvious choice, and the stars were pinpoints across the whole field. Star colours were quite obvious too, with the reddish ones at the centre of one of the clusters showing up well.

I swung over to M31 and looked in the eyepiece. After I had picked up my jaw from the ground and reset it back in place, I tried again. Amazing! The 3.5 degree field seemed to 'contain' the main galaxy in its entirity, but also showed considerable variaton in brightness across the galaxy's structure! Not obviously so, but there if looked for. Also, both the satellite galaxies M32 and 110 were visible. M110 was easily visible, and M32 was also there but required just a little more effort to see, appearing as a slightly defocused star between the main galaxy and the edge of field.

M45 the Pleiades were also seen, but being low over the horizon I didn't get a very detailed view. It was a pretty picture but I didn't spend much time examining the nebulosity - I was getting tired too!

Overall the experience was a complete 100% total success. I never changed eyepieces all night! Others who looked through the eyepiece commented on its sharpness and the beautiful views the ED80/XW30 combination gave. And when I had to put it away for the night, it wasn't a strain to lift it out of the diagonal!

First Light Optics have once again provided me with another amazing piece of astro-kit. Ok, the XW is quite pricey, but if you check the price and then remind yourself that it works out to only £1 per day over a year....

Some more pictures, showing how well it has settled in to its adoptive new Pentax family. I expect it to be here for a very very long time!

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(click to enlarge)

Ant 8)

[mike bacanin]

Hi Ant,

congratulations on your purchase of a very fine eyepiece! whilst i do not have any of the XW's i have a pentax 18mm ortho with smc coatings, and have owned other pentax orthos and the 10mm XW.

no doubt about it, pentax eyepieces are world class and the smc coatings superb, giving great contrast.

enjoy the views!

regards

mike

[Rob]

Now THATS and EP collection - Green -

Very nice.. enjoy!.

[A McEwan]

Now THATS and EP collection - Green -

Nope, that's only the Pentax part! Didn't picture my LVW22, UWA 6.7 or SS3.9!

But thanks both of you, yes I do (and will continue to) enjoy them. They are very special eyepieces.

[Rob]

Fantastic!.. love to give them a go in my C8!

[John]

Thats a really nice report Ant - thanks for posting it

The Pentax's look like really high quality items - I've always been a great fan of their photography gear as well.

A set of eyepieces like that will last you a lifetime.

John

[PaulG]

Ant

Great report and nice to see that you are 100% happy after parting with a fair wedge of money.

........Snip

the XW is quite pricey, but if you check the price and then remind yourself that it works out to only £1 per day over a year....

Ant 8)

I like your thought pattern, I'm now off to convince my nearest and dearest :?

Paul

[lunator]

Ant

Thanks for the report

Very useful. I will aquire some pentax eyepieces one day

Cheers

Ian

[A McEwan]

John, I sincerely hope they will last a lifetime. If one gets destroyed or broken it will instantly be replaced, even if I have to buy new! :shock: The 10.5 is currently my longest-owned eyepiece (oh, apart from a 9mm Orth I got when I first started).

Paul, good luck with the convincing. They do great jobs in the 127 Mak too!

Ian, good hunting. You won't regret getting them!

[blinky]

Great review, sounds like a fantastic EP. I dont think I will ever be able tospend that much on an EP but you never know......

[Astronut]

Great review of a truly excellent eyepiece. I would have written one myself when I got mine but I guess I'm too lazy

My only criticism of it is I wish the eyeguard would screw up and down quicker but the action of it is very smooth and just oozes quality.

The views through it more than make up for that small niggle though and it's so comfortable to use

[philsail1]

Goodness gracious, that eyepiece does look very nice indeed!

Nice review "Ant."

Do you think it could be used for "Afocal" astro photography?

regards,

philsail1

[A McEwan]

I'm not an expert on afocal photography. The eyecup might prevent the eyepiece from attaching directly to the eyepiece, making it a bit tricky. Holding the camera manually will be do-able but the cup would need to be screwed down and it would be shaky....

Mind you, I'm sure someone will get around it!

[Astronut]

The eyepiece cup can be safely unscrewed from the eyeguard body - no danger of dislodging the eye lens as that's held in by a separate ring. I'm not sure if this would help with afocal photography but it's certainly a big help for cleaning the 38mm (it is big!) diameter eye lens. Removing it would be an aid to getting the camera lens closer to the eye lens if that is a requirement for afocal photography.

[A McEwan]

Thanks for that - handy to know if I ever have to clean it!

I'd better make a correction here. I weighed it properly tonight on digital scales, and it came up as 1lb 8 and 7/8oz - nowhere near the 'less than 1lb' I'd originally stated. How could I have underestimated it so badly? It still doesn't feel 'heavy' subjectively, but I thought it best to point out my error.

I hope no-one has rushed out and bought one based on my erroneous estimate of weight (though they wouldn't regret it if they had! )

Ant :shock:

[John]

.... I'd better make a correction here. I weighed it properly tonight on digital scales, and it came up as 1lb 8 and 7/8oz - nowhere near the 'less than 1lb' I'd originally stated. How could I have underestimated it so badly? It still doesn't feel 'heavy' subjectively, but I thought it best to point out my error...

A mere "lightweight" Ant - the Nagler 31 weighs in at 2.2 lb :shock:

The Pentax does sound and look a wonderful piece of kit - did you have "trembling hands" when you lifted it out of the box ? - I did with the Nagler !

John

[A McEwan]

Well, not quite trembling, but I was aware of the gravity of the situation - or more specifically the gravity acting on the valuable construction in my hands! I opened it over the soft packaging in the box - just in case!

2.2lb! Wow! A real heavyweight.