Celestron Luminos 31mm vs. Explore Scientific 82 Series 30mm

[Buzzard75]

Just looking for some opinions. I've had my eye on the Explore Scientific 82 Series 30mm for a while now. I just noticed today that the Celestron Luminos 31mm is about $100 (US) cheaper. They have the same AFOV, with the Celestron having a slightly larger exit pupil and longer eye relief. Both are in the acceptable range as far as specs go, but my question is pretty obvious. Which is going to give me the better views? Which has better optical characteristics for viewing large DSO's? Beyond locating and centering objects, that will be the primary use.

[John]

I think the ES 30 / 82 would be the better eyepiece optically. It's very, very close to the Nagler 31 in performance. The Luminos shows some edge of field brightening (EFoB) and is not quite as sharp in the outer 1/3rd of the field of view. 

 

[Buzzard75]

Thanks! The extra $100 isn't an issue and I'm certainly willing to pay the extra for performance. Just wondered if they were comparable and if I was throwing away money unnecessarily. If the ES is better, which I suspected it was from everything I've read, then it's probably what I'll end up with.

[rwilkey]

Hi Buzz, the ES82 / 30 is definately the better of the two.  I have found that the Luminos (in its former incarnation) shows some light scatter, this is true of all the range - I have used all. 

[Piero]

The ES30_82 is a very nice eyepiece. For me the only downside of these big eyepieces is their weight, but this issue can be dealt with rebalancing.

If your telescope is slower than F6 and you don't require 82deg fov, you might also want to consider the ES 34mm 68deg, which is a clone of the Panoptic 35mm 68deg. The fov is slightly smaller than the ES 30mm 82deg, but the weight is at about 700g. 

[Louis D]

On 7/9/2017 at 08:44, Buzzard75 said:

longer eye relief

If you have the current ES-82 with the tapered top and greatly recessed eye lens, and you're looking for longer eye relief, look for a used original ES-82 with the mushroom top, a 30mm Meade UWA, or a 31mm Celestron Axiom LX.  All were the same ES-made unit and had the eye lens flush with the top of the housing to improve eye relief.  The moveable eyecup can be removed from all of them to reduce weight and bulk.  I can just use mine with eyeglasses.

[Buzzard75]

I have a 12" f/5 motorized dob. Weight really isn't an issue for me. Just looking for an eye piece that has a good, wide FOV for the largest DSO's and for locating objects. I currently have a 28mm eyepiece with a 56deg FOV that came with the scope. It's not a terrible eyepiece, but it's not extremely high quality either.

[Piero]

9 hours ago, Buzzard75 said:

I have a 12" f/5 motorized dob. Weight really isn't an issue for me. Just looking for an eye piece that has a good, wide FOV for the largest DSO's and for locating objects. I currently have a 28mm eyepiece with a 56deg FOV that came with the scope. It's not a terrible eyepiece, but it's not extremely high quality either.

The ES30mm 82 will work well on your telescope. It will give you 6mm exit pupil and will be slightly brighter than your 28mm. This works particularly well under dark skies or for extended nebulae with a good line or narrow filter. At F5, you will see some coma at the edge of the 30mm. This means that stars will look like little comets when placed near the field stop. Some people are annoyed by this and therefore use a coma corrector (e.g. by ES or by TV), others are not. I don't think it will be relevant for you (at this stage at least). I'm just saying this so that you are aware of a little/moderate presence of coma as well as how to correct it.

Just an additional comment. If your skies are dark polluted (but also not!), a 20mm works very well. This will increase the magnification and darken the background sky, facilitating target recognition. Aside from the TV 21 Ethos, there are are cheaper alternatives (e.g. ES20mm 100deg, Lunt 20mm 100deg, etc). These eyepieces can be complementary to the ES 30mm 82. 

[Paul73]

The ES 82° in your scope will be great. The wide views will blow you away! Also, you can sell the 28mm as they are so close that you won't need both. 

I would also consider the 24mm 82°. It has a slightly flatter field of view as well as the extra magnification. I find that 30mm sometimes lacks a bit of punch when trying to see groups of small galaxies. Either will be good.

Paul

 

[John]

I tend to use my 21mm Ethos quite a bit more than my 31mm Nagler in my 12" dob. The Nagler shows a little more sky but the additional magnification of the Ethos seems to deliver a darker background sky and picks out the fainter DSO's more easily. There a less expensive 100 degree ~20mm eyepieces than the Ethos of course.