Praise for Vixen's SLV's

[M110]

Just got in for a break in my first proper observing session using my new EP's - Vixen SLV 20mm and 10mm. 

Wow. What a noticeable improvement over the old Celestron plossl's I've had for years. Much improved sharpness and finer details than I've ever seen visible on the moon tonight. 

Maybe I've caught the "quality" eyepiece bug and I'll soon be spending fortunes on Ethos-es etc... Just added an ES 82 14mm to the Christmas list...

Anyways, back out before the mak dews over!

[Timebandit]

 

I am so glad that you have had such an improvement in views compared to your old eyepiece. It's great to buy an eyepiece that you can notice such a difference. It really is money well spent then.

I have predecessor to the SLV , but twin that is the  NLV so I know how good these eyepieces can perform. Great value for money and such sharpness in optical performance but with great eye relief, a cracker for the money. I know people rate the BST starguiders also. I don't know if anyone has compared the BST to Vixen SLV, but they would have to be really good to beat the vixen SLV. So good choice?  

 

 

[Fozzie]

Quality glass... comfy to use, shows exceptional detail imho.. 

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

I am so glad that you have had such an improvement in views compared to your old eyepiece. It's great to buy an eyepiece that you can notice such a difference. It really is money well spent then.

I have predecessor to the SLV , but twin that is the  NLV so I know how good these eyepieces can perform. Great value for money and such sharpness in optical performance but with great eye relief, a cracker for the money. I know people rate the BST starguiders also. I don't know if anyone has compared the BST to Vixen SLV, but they would have to be really good to beat the vixen SLV. So good choice?  

 

 

I've been comparing my 20 year old 9mm Vixen LV to my newish 9mm Meade HD-60.  They view about the same across the field, except that the HD-60 is noticeably wider than the LV, so quite an achievement.  I also checked the 6.5mm against the 7mm Pentax XW and thought it did a commendable job as well.  On the other hand, the 25mm and 18mm versions are awful from 50% out from center with loads of field curvature and astigmatism.  The 4.5mm is very close to the 5.2mm Pentax XL, but has a bit of astigmatism at the edge.  Lastly, the 12mm is moderately good to 75% out or so where moderate field curvature and astigmatism kicks in.  It is noticeably behind the 12mm Nagler T4 and 14mm Pentax XL at the edge.  Overall, they are not as consistent as the premium lines across focal lengths, so it's hard to recommend them without qualification.  I would imagine the Starguiders also vary from focal length to focal length.

[chiltonstar]

My Vixen SLV 15mm is certainly an excellent EP with my 180 Mak (x190), giving superb planetary detail and giving tack sharp double star views; it does show some CA around the outer 20% or so of the FoV, but that is a small price to pay for the sharpness and detail in targets such as Saturn.

Chris

[davyludo]

I have the SLV 15mm and use it in both my 127 Mak and my ST102. It's fantastic in both. It's an eyepiece I don't think I would get rid of to be honest. Personally I quite like 60 degree eyepieces (especially in the Mak as I use manual Alt-Az, so extra FOV is helpful) but the SLV is so sharp and clear, than I don't really mind. I would LOVE to try the 6mm in my mak for nights that allow 250x mag on planets/moon/close doubles. But I don't know whether the FOV would be more difficult at this mag when using manual mounts.

[Paz]

I've got a set of most of the SLVs and am very happy with them. They are for use with my small scopes (which means everything except the vx14).

I like them and I am now spending my time enjoying the views and have no inclination to change anything.

I recently got an 8mm bst to fill a gap I had from 10mm to 6mm. I don't have a scientific conclusion about quality of view comparisons yet but I will say the slv has more eye relief and I find I can always see a clean field stop. I don't personally notice the extra fov of the bst in practice but it is there.with the Bst I am getting used to the eye placement, but I think this is just because I have become so accustomed to the SLVs. The bst eye guard is infinitely adjustable and more smoothly adjustable than the slv which has a few notched stops in its travel. Both types feel like solid build quality.

 

[John]

When I was testing the Vixen SLV's for the forum, what really impressed me was the 6mm. Here was an eyepiece that was well designed and made, comfortable to view though (long eye relief, large eye lens) and it performed just as well as the Baader Genuine Ortho 6mm that I had to compare it with. For several sessions I switched between these 2 eyepieces while viewing Jupiter and Saturn and the SLV matched the Baader GO in all respects in terms of optical quality. The other stern test that I used was to split Sirius (a tough test of light scatter control) and the SLV show the "Pup" star just as regularly as the Baader GO did. Very impressive for such a comfortable eyepiece

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have the 15, 10, and 5 mm SLV, and they are great performers. Nice and light too

[JOC]

I've just taken delivery of the 10mm - I just need some clear skies to find out what all the fuss is about :-D

[25585]

On 29/11/2017 at 16:15, John said:

When I was testing the Vixen SLV's for the forum, what really impressed me was the 6mm. Here was an eyepiece that was well designed and made, comfortable to view though (long eye relief, large eye lens) and it performed just as well as the Baader Genuine Ortho 6mm that I had to compare it with. For several sessions I switched between these 2 eyepieces while viewing Jupiter and Saturn and the SLV matched the Baader GO in all respects in terms of optical quality. The other stern test that I used was to split Sirius (a tough test of light scatter control) and the SLV show the "Pup" star just as regularly as the Baader GO did. Very impressive for such a comfortable eyepiece

I have the LV 6mm which is a good performer. 

Only SLV I own is a 25mm which I bought new. Prefer the LV style as SLV eye cups, though nice, take away some precious millimetres of eye relief. Probably sell the 25 soon.

[John]

56 minutes ago, 25585 said:

I have the LV 6mm which is a good performer. 

Only SLV I own is a 25mm which I bought new. Prefer the LV style as SLV eye cups, though nice, take away some precious millimetres of eye relief. Probably sell the 25 soon.

Not being someone who has to wear glasses to observe makes it difficult for me to appreciate how vital getting the maximum eye relief is for some

 

[spike95609]

I've been very happy with my 6 and 10mm, very sharp, comfortable to look through, and with enough contrast to draw out those extremely faint galaxies. I use the 10mm on pretty much everything as it hits that sweet spot of providing enough magnification and contrast to see the small fuzzies, but not so much that the atmosphere washes it out.

When I bought my TV Plossls they were a lot cheaper and the SLVs more expensive than they are now, but if I was doing it all over again I'd probably end up with just a set of SLVs. The 15mm plossl is comfortable enough and certainly good enough that I can't justify replacing it, and I might never add another eyepiece to the collection, though I do occasionally think about throwing the 25 and 5mm SLVs in there for a bit more flexibility.

[25585]

Just bought a 5mm LVW so hoping for Vixen's wider angle Lanthanum goodness to compare, also against a 5mm TV Radian. The LVWs have best of the "20mm" eye relief of all their LV ranges. Like the LVs their eye cups fold down, which some may consider a step backwards  

 

 

[25585]

11 hours ago, John said:

Not being someone who has to wear glasses to observe makes it difficult for me to appreciate how vital getting the maximum eye relief is for some

 

John as an XW aficionado, how does the Pentax 5mm compare with SLV and LVW? 

[John]

3 hours ago, 25585 said:

John as an XW aficionado, how does the Pentax 5mm compare with SLV and LVW? 

I've never directly compared the XW's with the LVW's but from my memories of the LVW's I have used, I would think that they would be very close which the XW just edging the LVW's on light transmission and light scatter control. Memory can be misleading though !

The SLV's perform very much like 50 degree AFoV XW's to my eyes.

 

 

 

[F15Rules]

I had a similar experience to John, having owned both 5mm LVW and XWs, though not at the same time. But I used both EPs quite a bit and my summary of the ones I owned would be:

5mm, 8mm LVWs Vs 5mm, 10mm XWs = XW win by a short head, slightly less scatter and 5 Deg wider field.

13mm, 22mm LVWs Vs 14mm, 20mm XWs = LVW win by a clear margin...a much more enjoyable viewing experience IMO.

For me, the field curvature in the longer FL XWs was both disappointing and off-putting..I sold both 14 & 20 XWs and replaced them with 14mm Morpheus and 22m LVWs. (I'd rate the LVW and Morpheus 14s very closely with the LVW having slightly better build and the Morpheus having a significantly wider field (76 vs 65 degree).

I'd go so far as to say the LVW 22mm is possibly my favourite eyepiece ever, certainly in my top 3).

Of course, others may have different views, but I genuinely believe that at £169 new (now discontinued of course), the LVW range were/are a greatly underrated range☺.

Dave

[Timebandit]

6 hours ago, 25585 said:

John as an XW aficionado, how does the Pentax 5mm compare with SLV and LVW? 

 

3 hours ago, John said:

I've never directly compared the XW's with the LVW's but from my memories of the LVW's I have used, I would think that they would be very close which the XW just edging the LVW's on light transmission and light scatter control. Memory can be misleading though !

The SLV's perform very much like 50 degree AFoV XW's to my eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

I did do a bit of testing with the 4mm NLV , this is my understanding was the Japan made  predecessor to the SLV, and the Pentax XW 5mm. This was done with the 120ed and carried out in day light conditions. I used a far away tree to target and concentrated on a branch detail and colour to try and do a comparison. To my eyes the Pentax XW did seem to allow  more light through than the NLV . And when it came to sharpness of the optical quality I concentrated on some sort of fungi/moss growing on the branch . To my eyes the Pentax did seem to edge it given that slight more sharpness of image. To me the Pentax edge's it between the two eyepieces. But remember this was between a 4mm and  5mm so this may have some bearing on the results. But to my memory on that day the Pentax took the podium position, but for the price point I was very impressed with the NLV. And let's not forget IMO the Pentax XW is one of the best eyepieces on the market for quality optics , combined with great fov and eye relief?

 

 

[John]

Great feedback from Timebandit and F15Rules

I ought to have said in my post that I have only owned and used the 10mm, 7mm, 5mm and 3.5mm Pentax XW's. I opted for Delossss's and a Panoptic for longer focal lengths although I'd have been happy with LVW's instead I'm sure.

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Of course, others may have different views, but I genuinely believe that at £169 new (now discontinued of course), the LVW range were/are a greatly underrated range☺.

The LVWs have been $269 for at least a decade in the US compared to $289 to $299 for the Pentax XWs, thus not much of a bargain here.  20 years ago, the LVWs where $169 while the Pentax XLs were $220, so a bit of a better differential considering both were 65 degree eyepieces.  As I've pointed out before, I think that high price here in the states for the LVWs helped to kill off their sales and hasten their demise.

[25585]

7 hours ago, Louis D said:

The LVWs have been $269 for at least a decade in the US compared to $289 to $299 for the Pentax XWs, thus not much of a bargain here.  20 years ago, the LVWs where $169 while the Pentax XLs were $220, so a bit of a better differential considering both were 65 degree eyepieces.  As I've pointed out before, I think that high price here in the states for the LVWs helped to kill off their sales and hasten their demise.

That explains the high prices on Amazon UK for 30 & 42 new, including import charges. Those two fl eps are the only ones Amz still sell. Ebay has 13, 8, 5 & 3.5 pre-owned at lower prices but more than new cost in the UK. 

 

 

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, 25585 said:

That explains the high prices on Amazon UK for 30 & 42 new, including import charges. Those two fl eps are the only ones Amz still sell. Ebay has 13, 8, 5 & 3.5 pre-owned at lower prices but more than new cost in the UK. 

 

 

I recall similar inflated used prices for Baader Genuine orthos when they were discontinued here as well. That silliness passed quite quickly, and hopefully the same will happen with the LVWs..

Dave

[Louis D]

12 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I recall similar inflated used prices for Baader Genuine orthos when they were discontinued here as well. That silliness passed quite quickly, and hopefully the same will happen with the LVWs..

Dave

So far, used prices for the discontinued Pentax XW 30mm and 40mm eyepieces haven't come down.  Neither have used prices for Zeiss ZAOs, AP SPLs and TMB monocentrics come down.

[Piero]

I had the 9mm and 5mm. Very nice eyepieces and were sold them just because I wanted a small unit covering both of them. 

[25585]

10 hours ago, Louis D said:

So far, used prices for the discontinued Pentax XW 30mm and 40mm eyepieces haven't come down.  Neither have used prices for Zeiss ZAOs, AP SPLs and TMB monocentrics come down.

Vixen's LVW 42mm is a good ep. If no 40 XW is around or affordable, I recommend the Vixen as an alternative. Also to the 41 Panoptic.