Three 10rs

[25585]

So I have three 10mm eye pieces. Not intentionally but through forgetfulness.

Most recent is a Pentax XW, bought thinking I had none of that fl.

But I found a Tele Vue Radian and then an original Vixen LV.

All perform very well. Ib was going to sell the LV & Radian but will not now because each has its own endearing uniqueness. All advertised 20mm eye relief, but that is advertising....

XW come 3rd favourite! The eye lens is most recessed and wearing glasses as I need to (Top Gun aviator size more than Herr Flick) every millimeter counts as at least 10mm is taken up in eye to spectacle lens distance. However, with careful eye placement I get more or less the whole FOV, and edge to edge sparkly beautiful. I do need the eye cup right down but it still protects against scratching my spectacle lens.

Tele Vue Radian is my 2nd favourite. It is slightly more forgiving on eye placement. Stars are still bright and sparkly, but at the edges the XW beats it. Radian's eye lens is a its edges close to the tube's end, but the centre dips down slightly.  Eye cup rolled down fully, I could not see the full FOV with my head still, but more than I could using the XW. 

A surprising 1st favourite will then be Vixen's original LV. Least luxurious to use, it allows me to see the whole of its FOV. It is the most forgiving for eye placement over its smaller flat eye lens. Eye guard rolls down stiffly, either that or fully up. Stars are sharp and bright from edge to edge.

This review as you can see is more about ease of use and comfort. I am fond of all 3 10mm eps. They will all get used. However Vixen's LV design gives the easiest and most immediate, straight forward faff-less eye to the night sky experience, and thaqt makes it the winner!

[Stu]

I would expect the XW to win out of that lot. What do you think after trying them?

[John]

You seem to be placing all the emphasis on the eye relief with little or no comment on optical performance on a range of targets under varying conditions

Eye relief and viewing comfort is a factor worth comparing of course but optical performance is vital as well.

I've owned all 3 of the eyepieces you mention and, to me, the 10mm Pentax XW was the best optical performer by a noticable margin and also very comfortable to use, but I'm not a glasses wearer.

By best optical performer, I mean that the XW had the lowest levels of light scatter / glare, sharper stars and higher light transmission. The others are not poor in these issues, just not as good as the XW, IMHO.

 

 

[25585]

It is a personal review of my assessment. Eye relief is first consideration. What use is wide fields and sharpness edge to edge if the optics prevent a user from seeing it all? Vixen wins for most eye relief compared to the other two, because for eye relief its the best.

Deciding between XW and Radian was harder. XW gained credit for better optics, but using a push to scope on an alt azi mount, moving my head, neck etc, repositioning my head and eye, the Radian required slightly less exactness than my XW. And that was what the test was about most.

[John]

Eyepiece choice is a very personal thing and I think your thoughts on these demonstrate that

 

[Mr Spock]

I have a 10mm NLV and 'had' a 10mm Radian - I sold the Radian. To me the NLV had a cleaner look reminiscent of an Orthoscopic. The Radian had a nice build quality and feel to it though and the 60° field was useful. I did a full review of these two a while back.

[Charic]

I chose the Delos range to trial, and  potentially keep them for  future use, if/when my eyes get worse?
They have 72° afov, 20mm eye-relief, though I hate wearing glasses at the focuser, due to the ingress of stray light, and any wind making my eyes water, but the Delos also  had the ability to use the Tele Vue DIOPTRX system to control astigmatism. I believe all RADIAN's can use this additional lens, I wonder if that would make a difference to the order of placing you already have as your favourite!

I've heard so many good reports about the Pentax, and  have never tried a Radian. But as always down to the end user.

[25585]

The Pentax has the best views optically of the 3, love it for that. I will be using all 3 10mm eps more having decided to keep them all. DIOPTRIX for the Radian, not thought of that, I'll ask my optician which one I need.