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Pentax SMC 8-24mm zoom comes home

F15Rules

By F15Rules
in Discussions - Eyepieces

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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It's a funny old world..I recently bought the above eyepiece from another SGL member. I know there aren't too many of these around, but even I hadn't expected to find that I would have bought a zoom that I myself originally bought new in Spring 2016!!

Anyway, it's true, the Pentax Zoom has come home??. (It's the big one to the far right of the photo).

Of course we now have wall to wall cloud and rain here at the moment, but I'm hopeful of getting first light in my FS128 this weekend, and also to try it with a Baader Hyperion 2.25x Barlow which should change it into a 3.5-10.6mm high power zoom☺.

I'll report back my thoughts when I've had chance for a decent session.

In the meantime, a couple of daytime shots of our nearby village church in daylight (cloudy, damp), at each end of the zooms range..(it's incredibly difficult to take android photos handheld through an eyepiece!..the Rooks got fed up of waiting for the other pics!!)

Dave

 

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IMG_20171115_135018589_HDR.jpg

IMG_20171115_135630575.jpg

IMG_20171115_135808915.jpg

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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2 hours ago, iPeace said:

How great is that?! :headbang:

It does indeed look right at home with the other Pentax EPs... :happy11:

Thanks Mike.

Sadly, that nice little family was split up not long after the picture was taken.. the 10.5mm XL is still with me, but the 14 and 20mm XWs went after being (surprisingly to me) very clearly beaten by a 14mm Morpheus (which I sadly no longer have) and 22mm LVW (which I do still have, love it).

Having just bought Gavin's 12mm XF, I will have 3 Pentax's in my 6 strong main eyepiece set☺. I still have a gap between 12 and 18mm, and may well get one more to fill that at some point, depending on how the Pentax Zoom works out..

Dave

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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2 hours ago, alan potts said:

Is it the pillars of creation Dave.

Alan

Not quite Alan?...it's a typical Lincolnshire church tower with 6 separate "pillars", one of which has the lightening connector.

The pillars make a good testing target, about 120m away, and I get quite a variety of birds dropping onto them, to add interest and colour to the view.

Dave

 

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Timebandit

Timebandit

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2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

It's a funny old world..I recently bought the above eyepiece from another SGL member. I know there aren't too many of these around, but even I hadn't expected to find that I would have bought a zoom that I myself originally bought new in Spring 2016!!

Anyway, it's true, the Pentax Zoom has come home??. (It's the big one to the far right of the photo).

Of course we now have wall to wall cloud and rain here at the moment, but I'm hopeful of getting first light in my FS128 this weekend, and also to try it with a Baader Hyperion 2.25x Barlow which should change it into a 3.5-10.6mm high power zoom☺.

I'll report back my thoughts when I've had chance for a decent session.

 

Dave

 

IMG_20160506_163046836_HDR.jpg.8313db685dfdc0821974d3df4ab32769.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Dave.

So what made you sell the Pentax eyepiece originally??

And then why the decision to get the same zoom again?☺

The quality of the Tak 128 I should imagine will really put this eyepiece to the test. And the zoom  will probably come into its own on the lunar landscape. Will be interesting to hear your feedback on this combination?

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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1 hour ago, John said:

Interesting optical effect - it makes the Rooks look like Jackdaws to me ! :icon_biggrin:

Well spotted John...they were indeed Jackdaws!! As I was concentrating on trying to hold the phone still to get the shot, I just assumed they were Rooks as there is a Rookery in a nearby spinney about 150m away. But these were Jackdaws, no doubt about it - nothing wrong with your eyesight then!?

Dave 

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F15Rules

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29 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

 

Hi Dave.

So what made you sell the Pentax eyepiece originally??

And then why the decision to get the same zoom again?☺

Hi Simon,

That's a fair question..actually, 2 questions☺.

To the first one..I bought the zoom on the back of also buying around that time the XW 14 and 20mm.

I just decided it was a luxury at the time that I couldn't afford to keep, so I let it go (June 2016).

Quite soon after that I saw the Tak FS128 advertised for sale and along with getting ready to sell our house to move to Lincolnshire, where we are now, I then sold a lot of my astro gear with the aim of buying the Tak once we had sold our house and moved (downsized) to the house we have now. (Fortunately for me the seller of the Tak was willing to wait for some months- I registered interest I August 2016 and completed the purchase in April 2017!

Why have I bought it back again? Because of the original reason I bought it...versatility: on and off, for years, I have gotten frustrated with our weather meaning that most of my sessions are quite short..and then I spend half the session swapping different eyepieces in and out, due to seeing conditions, wasting more time.

I've owned 4 or 5 zooms over the years, firstly a Tele Vue (Vixen made), 3 Baaders and the Pentax. Each of them shared the advantage of being able to just dial in the best magnification for a given nights' conditions, so that apart from low power wide field, I could use just one eyepiece for a short one hour or so session. I do like using zooms.

Also, I've had a good few "near misses" over the years where expensive eyepieces almost ended up on the ground (tarmac at my last house!),  when knocked over in the dark whilst trying to find one of 5 or 6 eyepieces!

So, I now have back one of the best zooms available, with exemplary build quality and great optics. I hope this winter to have many quickish sessions using mainly the zoom and my LVW 22mm, with perhaps my cheaper GSO 30mm Superview finder eyepiece.

Time will tell..my track record of keeping eyepieces isn't the best! ??

Dave

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F15Rules

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20 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Serious question. Is the SMC zoom predecessor or successor to XL with same fl range the latter being sold by FLO?

 

It's one and the same zoom.

It is officially known as the Pentax SMC 8-24mm zoom, but because it was launched when the then Pentax top line eyepiece range was the XL range (ie before the XW range that replaced the XLs), it was/is sometimes referred to as the XL zoom. It's been around for probably about 14-15 years, but the coatings have probably improved over that time..I might be wrong on that point though..

Dave

4 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

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Louis D

Louis D

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1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

It's one and the same zoom.

It is officially known as the Pentax SMC 8-24mm zoom, but because it was launched when the then Pentax top line eyepiece range was the XL range (ie before the XW range that replaced the XLs), it was/is sometimes referred to as the XL zoom. It's been around for probably about 14-15 years, but the coatings have probably improved over that time..I might be wrong on that point though..

Dave

 

Try 20+ years.  I bought my Pentax XLs in 1998, and they were hardly new to the market then.  The zoom was around then as well.

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Louis D

Louis D

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7 hours ago, John said:

Interesting optical effect - it makes the Rooks look like Jackdaws to me ! :icon_biggrin:

Wouldn't know a rook from a jackdaw since neither is found over here in the Americas.  I had to look them up, honestly.  I remember playing the card game Rook as a kid and thought the bird pictured on it was a raven or crow at the time.  Now I know better.  I learn something new every day.  Thanks!

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