Eye Pieces you would like to try out

[N3ptune]

Here is my new dream eyepiece, resting on my desk for 2 days now, I am holding it in my hands it has a stress reliever.

For the moment, that's the eyepiece I can't wait to try Because it's there on my desk, brand new. The SVBONY 10mm 62 degrees AFOV.

Otherwise, I believe I already have my dream eyepiece, the ES 34mm 68 degrees. (; it's delivering the goods with the wide fields, I love it.

 

[Alan White]

10 hours ago, N3ptune said:

I believe I already have my dream eyepiece, the ES 34mm 68 degrees. (; it's delivering the goods with the wide fields, I love it.

 

Goodness me that's a Hand Grenade, where does the pin pull out from?

[cloudsweeper]

@Alan White - just wait until you get your hands on the ES 30/82!  It's my session-starter. 

Here's a shot to tempt you (or maybe scare you off)!

Doug.

[Piero]

2 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

@Alan White - just wait until you get your hands on the ES 30/82!  It's my session-starter. 

Here's a shot to tempt you (or maybe scare you off)!

Doug.

 

That's a very good eyepiece and a real bargain at the price it is sold, especially in the s/h market!  

I prefer lighter eyepieces, and that is one reason why I replaced it with a 35 Pan, but I can see how that eyepiece can be useful and a pleasure to use for many people. 

[Piero]

Talking about big toys, this combo gives `heaven views` in my opinion!    

I have ordered a Baader Pushfix reducer to make the Docter in 2" mode permanently (the native 2" mode of the Docter does not reach focus for a couple of mm on my scopes). The Baader Pushfix has a T2 thread, so I can directly screw the Zeiss barlow with extension rings to it. 

I haven't yet tried this combo on planets yet, but I did on solar with an additional 15mm spacer.   

Calling it like floating..!!!  

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

@Piero - yes, I like the ES 30/82 for squeezing a bit more TFOV out of my 8SE.  When I got it (as my first really large EP) I wondered what I'd done, but soon got used to it, and made up a counterweight for the ST120.  At 992g it's manageable - about the highest I'd want to go - but some buyers might be put off since some sites give the mass to be whopping 1410g!

Doug.

[25585]

21 hours ago, John said:

Hmmm - I'm not sure that your A-Team are really low priced eyepieces, especially if bought new. Easily £1K or more to buy them retail I think.

I don't know any retailers who will loan eyepieces as such but of course the distance trading (not consumer contracts) regs allow you to get a refund (minus postage costs) of you decide something is not for you. I've tended to buy mine used on the basis that a decent EP can be re-sold at little or no loss if it's not to my taste.

B-Team are Vixen LV range eps + some Plossls & Erfles. LVW 42 is in-between I guess. 

[RT65CB-SWL]

1 hour ago, Piero said:

Talking about big toys, this combo gives `heaven views` in my opinion!    

I have ordered a Baader Pushfix reducer to make the Docter in 2" mode permanently (the native 2" mode of the Docter does not reach focus for a couple of mm on my scopes). The Baader Pushfix has a T2 thread, so I can directly screw the Zeiss barlow with extension rings to it. 

I haven't yet tried this combo on planets yet, but I did on solar with an additional 15mm spacer.   

Calling it like floating..!!!  

 

 

That combo is almost as long as a TV-60... 

[Piero]

2 hours ago, Philip R said:

That combo is almost as long as a TV-60... 

That's true!   

On the TV60 it gave me a superb view of the Moon at about 80x!  Crazy... I didn't even feel I was observing it with a 60mm telescope! 

[25585]

6 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

@Alan White - just wait until you get your hands on the ES 30/82!  It's my session-starter. 

Here's a shot to tempt you (or maybe scare you off)!

Doug.

Chunkier than the 34mm! Is it larger than the largest Nagler/Ethos?

Good as a counterweight in its own right!

[cloudsweeper]

@25585 - the Nagler Type 5 31mm is 998g; the Ethos 21 is 1012g; and the Panoptic 41 is 953g.

So the Nagler and Ethos are slightly heavier than the ES 30/82, assuming online figures are accurate.  

Doug.

[Alan White]

7 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

@Alan White - just wait until you get your hands on the ES 30/82!  It's my session-starter. 

Here's a shot to tempt you (or maybe scare you off)!

Doug.

Wow, that’s a real beast.

I will no longer moan that the LVW 22mm is a bit big.

[Louis D]

30 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

@25585 - the Nagler Type 5 31mm is 998g; the Ethos 21 is 1012g; and the Panoptic 41 is 953g.

So the Nagler and Ethos are slightly heavier than the ES 30/82, assuming online figures are accurate.  

Doug.

If you want to talk heavier, the 17mm ES-92 is 1270 grams and the 3"-only 30mm ES-100 is 2353 grams.  I have the ES-92 and can vouch it is definitely heavier than the 30mm ES-82 by a significant amount.

I have a feeling the differing online values for the weight of the 30mm ES-82 may be due to the earlier edition of it that had a rotating metal and rubber eyecup that added nearly a pound to the weight of it.  Some sites may still be using the older version's weight.

[cloudsweeper]

57 minutes ago, Louis D said:

If you want to talk heavier, the 17mm ES-92 is 1270 grams and the 3"-only 30mm ES-100 is 2353 grams.  I have the ES-92 and can vouch it is definitely heavier than the 30mm ES-82 by a significant amount.

I have a feeling the differing online values for the weight of the 30mm ES-82 may be due to the earlier edition of it that had a rotating metal and rubber eyecup that added nearly a pound to the weight of it.  Some sites may still be using the older version's weight.

Yes Louis, I've come across that 3" EP - a true monster!

As for the twisting EP body types (for raising the eyeguard), my other biggy, the Meade 5000 UWA 20/82 (708g) is one of those.  (See identifying image/avatar.)

But anyway, how about maintaining tradition by giving us a shot of the ES 17/92 in the hand for a size comparison?

Doug.

 

[Alan White]

38 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

But anyway, how about maintaining tradition by giving us a shot of the ES 17/92 in the hand for a size comparison?

Go on Louis, would love a picture.

[John]

I held an ES 17/92 at an astro show recently and it did seem a very large and rather heavy beast. Very inviting eye lens though

Actually makes my Nagler 31 and Ethos 21 seem not quite such behemoths !

 

 

[25585]

6 minutes ago, John said:

I held an ES 17/92 at an astro show recently and it did seem a very large and rather heavy beast. Very inviting eye lens though

Actually makes my Nagler 31 and Ethos 21 seem not quite such behemoths !

 

 

When people are amazed at what an eye piece costs, they do not realise what size some of them are. It might amaze them..»

[John]

22 minutes ago, 25585 said:

When people are amazed at what an eye piece costs, they do not realise what size some of them are. It might amaze them..»

True. It's also interesting that the designs where ES led the way (ie: did their own design and development) such as the 92 degrees ones, the 120m degree 9mm and the 30mm 100 3" format seem to be significantly more expensive than the designs such as the 100's or the 82's where they were able to replicate designs that Tele Vue had developed.

 

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Alan White said:

Go on Louis, would love a picture.

Perhaps this weekend I'll dig out my monster eyepieces and take some comparison photos both staged and in hand.  I'm swamped with work at the moment, and my eyepieces are buried at the back of the closet for the moment.  We're just about to get our first good cold front which should wipe out the mosquitoes so I can get back using my backyard for long observing sessions again without getting eaten alive.  I've got a bunch of new equipment to evaluate that I've been accumulating over the long Texas summer.

[CrazyPanda]

Oooh boy, fun topic. It's like one of those "what would you do if you won the lottery" thought experiments

On my bucket list (in no particular order)

1. 31mm Nagler Type 5

2. 18mm DeLite (reputed to be the best of the line)

3. A Delos, Pentax XW, and Nikon NAV-SW shootout

4. S-PL and E-PL Zeiss microscope eyepieces

5. Leica zoom

6. Zeiss Abbe Ortho I and II

7. Pentax XO

8. TMB Monocentric

9. TMB Planetary II (the original, not the crappy ripoffs stolen from the original design we see everywhere)

10. Leitz Periplan

11. Docter 12.5

12. Pentax 60XL

13. Explore Scientific 30mm 100 degree 3" eyepiece

14. 17mm Nikon NAV-HW, 17 Ethos, and 17mm ES92 shootout

[John]

Quite a list - that should keep you busy !

Welcome to the forum by the way

[25585]

8 hours ago, CrazyPanda said:

Oooh boy, fun topic. It's like one of those "what would you do if you won the lottery" thought experiments

On my bucket list (in no particular order)

1. 31mm Nagler Type 5

2. 18mm DeLite (reputed to be the best of the line)

3. A Delos, Pentax XW, and Nikon NAV-SW shootout

4. S-PL and E-PL Zeiss microscope eyepieces

5. Leica zoom

6. Zeiss Abbe Ortho I and II

7. Pentax XO

8. TMB Monocentric

9. TMB Planetary II (the original, not the crappy ripoffs stolen from the original design we see everywhere)

10. Leitz Periplan

11. Docter 12.5

12. Pentax 60XL

13. Explore Scientific 30mm 100 degree 3" eyepiece

14. 17mm Nikon NAV-HW, 17 Ethos, and 17mm ES92 shootout

3 & 14 would interest me. 

Also the 30mm 3 inch (with a 3 inch focuser)

[Saganite]

2 hours ago, John said:

Quite a list - that should keep you busy !

Welcome to the forum by the way

If not, broke 

[Saganite]

I mostly use Binoviewers, but I have always wanted to try the 31mm Nagler.

[Louis D]

11 hours ago, CrazyPanda said:

14. 17mm Nikon NAV-HW, 17 Ethos, and 17mm ES92 shootout

Not quite what you wanted, but I've extensively compared my 17mm Nagler T4 to my 17mm ES-92, and the only thing the Nagler has going for it is it's relatively diminutive size.  The ES-92 has no astigmatism or field curvature that I can detect unlike the Nagler which has some of both out near the edge.  While wearing eyeglasses, the ES-92 is far easier to hold the view and much more comfortable to look through.  I haven't tried to do limiting magnitude, contrast, or finest detail tests with either because the targets I use these eyepieces on don't lend themselves to such tests.  I will say the Nagler views like other older TV products such as the 27mm Panoptic in that it has really dark background skies where stars look like brightly lit salt on black velvet.  The ES-92 views like the more modern designs such as the Delos.  I can't put my finger on it, but there is a difference.  I'll have to try to figure out what it is, but it is definitely different.