Zoom eyepiece in the post :-)

[Piero]

Glad that the Leica arrive safe and sound! Looking forward to reading your impressions! 

[Pig]

18 hours ago, Piero said:

Glad that the Leica arrive safe and sound! Looking forward to reading your impressions! 

The forecast is looking pretty good for tonight here Piero so Hopefully I will get the chance to try have good play around with it.
I have also been trying out the different configurations with my VIP Barlow and so far I seem to be able to go between 1.7 and 2.6  X with 4 configurations.
This is very good news for higher magnification potential and it seems I can perform all this without using a 1.25" adapter.
Its even better news considering I had no idea about the compatibility betwixt the Leica & VIP 

[Piero]

34 minutes ago, Pig said:

The forecast is looking pretty good for tonight here Piero so Hopefully I will get the chance to try have good play around with it.
I have also been trying out the different configurations with my VIP Barlow and so far I seem to be able to go between 1.7 and 2.6  X with 4 configurations.
This is very good news for higher magnification potential and it seems I can perform all this without using a 1.25" adapter.
Its even better news considering I had no idea about the compatibility betwixt the Leica & VIP 

Yeah, these zooms (Leica and Zeiss) work very well with the VIP. It's very handy to work in 2" mode with or without barlow. 

There is this myth that a zoom eyepiece should replace all the eyepieces and consequently that the fov is smaller at low magnifications is a drawback. Personally, I don't see this approach as realistic.

Instead, the combination of a low power eyepiece (e.g. 20-30 wide field 2"), an excellent zoom, and possibly a barlow like the VIP to be combined with the zoom, can really be powerful, comfortable, and I'd also say complete.. unless one really wants 100 afov views.

[Pig]

3 minutes ago, Piero said:

Yeah, these zooms (Leica and Zeiss) work very well with the VIP. It's very handy to work in 2" mode with or without barlow. 

There is this myth that a zoom eyepiece should replace all the eyepieces and consequently that the fov is smaller at low magnifications is a drawback. Personally, I don't see this approach as realistic.

Instead, the combination of a low power eyepiece (e.g. 20-30 wide field 2"), an excellent zoom, and possibly a barlow like the VIP to be combined with the zoom, can really be powerful, comfortable, and I'd also say complete.. unless one really wants 100 afov views.

Sounds to me like a very realistic approach Piero, mind you I do like the views the 21mm Ethos delivers it is a pretty special eyepiece. However, from the higher mag end I am really looking forward to tonight .... it should be quite  festival with the Moon and Jupiter in a good position 

[YKSE]

Congratulations Shaun, looking forward to your first light.

[Highburymark]

21 hours ago, Stu said:

Oi, steady on!  

The guard on mine broke, not through any mishandling, it just broke. I suspect that it was during putting the lens cap on or removing it. My advice would be to always ensure you fully squeeze the two buttons which release it before removing or replacing it, as a precaution.

Replaced under warranty with no problems.

Oops. ?.  

But the reports I read were from a German forum - goes without saying that I wouldn't cast aspersions on any SGL members. ?

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Oops. ?.  

But the reports I read were from a German forum - goes without saying that I wouldn't cast aspersions on any SGL members. ?

Only joshing  

I'm pretty gentle with my stuff and it did seem to break quite easily, worth being extra careful with them.

[jetstream]

Mine broke as well and in normal use, Leica's excellent customer service sent another free of charge. I think it was dweller25 that told me an old cap from a SW finder scope fits snug but a bit looser than the stock one and since using this no problems. Actually compared to the superb performance this eyepiece offers it is a minor deal for me. I always remove the cap with the eyeguard down,.

[Pig]

Cheers Gerry I will make sure the guard is fully down before placement of the cap.