What did the postman bring?

[HollyHound]

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

Tried a 5mm XW in the dob but really missed the wider fov. 🙂

I have the XW 10 and 7, which I love... tried the Delite 5mm, which was good but narrower FoV and a lot of nudging in the dob. I’m considering the XW 5, but want to try something different, and may just get on with the larger FoV 🤔

[johninderby]

While the XW 5mm would be a bit better optically than the ES 4.7mm I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of performance for the fov in the dob.

[Dantooine]

12 hours ago, johninderby said:

While the XW 5mm would be a bit better optically than the ES 4.7mm I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of performance for the fov in the dob.

The 14mm & 8.8mm were my favourites. Come to think of it, all of the 1.25 inch ones. Well built, compact and equal weights.. topped off with an Es 24/68 👍

[Dantooine]

13 hours ago, HollyHound said:

I have the XW 10 and 7, which I love... tried the Delite 5mm, which was good but narrower FoV and a lot of nudging in the dob. I’m considering the XW 5, but want to try something different, and may just get on with the larger FoV 🤔

Apm 5/100 or Es 5.5/100 ??

[HollyHound]

5 hours ago, Dantooine said:

Apm 5/100 or Es 5.5/100 ??

I'm still not really sure about 100 degrees, but keeping an open mind and wanted to try 82 degrees again in a cost effective way, hence giving this ES 4.7 a try first, before I just go ahead and get an XW 5.

I keep reading good things about APM eyepieces, so really should give these a try at some point, the do seem highly recommended. Glad you've had good experience with them too, as I'm sure you've compared them with your Ethos 👍

[John]

I've just sold an ES 82 4.7mm. Nice little eyepiece I thought. Very sharp indeed. It's only drawback for me was that I found the eye relief quite tight so accessing the full AFoV was more of a struggle than I thought it might be from the published ER. I guess it looses a few mm due to the recessed eye lens ?

Nice quality little eyepiece though for under £100.

 

[Dantooine]

3 hours ago, John said:

I've just sold an ES 82 4.7mm. Nice little eyepiece I thought. Very sharp indeed. It's only drawback for me was that I found the eye relief quite tight so accessing the full AFoV was more of a struggle than I thought it might be from the published ER. I guess it looses a few mm due to the recessed eye lens ?

Nice quality little eyepiece though for under £100.

 

Funny thing eye relief. Different results for different people. I’m not sure what the eye relief is on my Es 5.5/100, it’s tighter than my ethos 4.7mm but easier for me in use. This is why I have kept it.  Ethos are 15mm and the Es must be less than 12 but however I plant my eye into the cup it seams a perfect view. Being pressed in so tight really gets me inside the view.  I sometimes wonder if all eyepieces could be improved for comfort just by having a “custom” rubber cup ??

[John]

1 hour ago, Dantooine said:

Funny thing eye relief. Different results for different people. I’m not sure what the eye relief is on my Es 5.5/100, it’s tighter than my ethos 4.7mm but easier for me in use. This is why I have kept it.  Ethos are 15mm and the Es must be less than 12 but however I plant my eye into the cup it seams a perfect view. Being pressed in so tight really gets me inside the view.  I sometimes wonder if all eyepieces could be improved for comfort just by having a “custom” rubber cup ??

I think facial shape and eye socket shape have something to do with this as well.

Soft, foldable rubber eye cups also help.

What people find works for them is a very personal thing I think, having read many reports on the same eyepieces and seen very substantial variation in their reception.

Some folks like to be able to hold their eye a little off the eye cup. Some folks like to bury their eye into it.

Some folks like very wide views, some folks don't.

I've never read a thread on eyepieces where all posters share the same opinion of the eyepiece in question and I doubt I ever will 

 

[DaveL59]

funny how things work out. Having seen and won a couple of vintage velbon camera tripods and then one with a posable column popped up and I bought that too I now have a trio of triffids. The one in the centre just arrived this morning.

With the leg braces that VGB-3C is very stable, perhaps slightly more so than the posable VS-3 at the back. The HE-3 at the front is nice and light so will be the travel-about one, am considering if to swap the Manfrotto video head onto the VGB-3c and switch that head onto the HE-3, hmmm. Other than the head on the HE-3 that I swapped out , all are in very good condition considering they date from the 70/80's they look barely used. Says a lot for the built quality back then.

No more purchases on this front for me tho, I mean, how many tripods does someone really need! 😮  I already had a Pyser one, tho that being ally and plastic is a lot less stable than these which are all metal construction. Was almost considering if I could swap the LT70AZ head onto one of these but perhaps not.

Edited January 2, 2021 by DaveL59

[Nakedgun]

3 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

funny how things work out. Having seen and won a couple of vintage velbon camera tripods and then one with a posable column popped up and I bought that too I now have a trio of triffids. The one in the centre just arrived this morning.

With the leg braces that VGB-3C is very stable, perhaps slightly more so than the posable VS-3 at the back. The HE-3 at the front is nice and light so will be the travel-about one, am considering if to swap the Manfrotto video head onto the VGB-3c and switch that head onto the HE-3, hmmm. Other than the head on the HE-3 that I swapped out , all are in very good condition considering they date from the 70/80's they look barely used. Says a lot for the built quality back then.

No more purchases on this front for me tho, I mean, how many tripods does someone really need! 😮  I already had a Pyser one, tho that being ally and plastic is a lot less stable than these which are all metal construction. Was almost considering if I could swap the LT70AZ head onto one of these but perhaps not.

 

Nice having "vintage" gear so well cared for. My Velbon VEF-3, on the other hand, along with this King tripod from the same era, both Japan made, were found by me where they had been discarded at the local landfill. I added Manfrotto quick-release camera plate adapters for easier use to them both and my wife uses the Velbon for flash support in her office studio while the King rides in my pickup truck for binocular support duties.

 

[Nakedgun]

This just arrived, to be added to a small ep set for use with my Borg 90FL, and carried in my Tundra for instant use while on the road somewhere:

 

 

 

 

[DaveL59]

2 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

 

Nice having "vintage" gear so well cared for. My Velbon VEF-3, on the other hand, along with this King tripod from the same era, both Japan made, were found by me where they had been discarded at the local landfill. I added Manfrotto quick-release camera plate adapters for easier use to them both and my wife uses the Velbon for flash support in her office studio while the King rides in my pickup truck for binocular support duties.

 

 

Thanks David, those were very lucky finds I'd say! I've likewise added 323 plates so the 200PL QR can just click into place in use, I've a few of those on the various bits of gear and it makes life much easier. I had thought about getting a carbon fibre one but then for very few pennies I have 3 tripods for way less than a single one would've cost new, what's not to like 😉 

[John]

7 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

This just arrived, to be added to a small ep set for use with my Borg 90FL, and carried in my Tundra for instant use while on the road somewhere:

 

 

 

 

They are so cute aren't they ?

I recently had the 4.7mm for a short while and it seemed so tiny !. Nice and sharp though.

 

[Ags]

Pi 4 alu case and 64Gb card. Setting up Astroberry tonight.

[PXR-5]

So far, 7 days of clouds and 🌧️☔

Boy, the cloud Gods don't like new gear!!!!

[callisto]

5 minutes ago, PXR-5 said:

So far, 7 days of clouds and 🌧️☔

Boy, the cloud Gods don't like new gear!!!!

I know what you mean....same here     

[Nigella Bryant]

1 hour ago, callisto said:

I know what you mean....same here     

Same here and more😭😭😭

[johninderby]

Snowing here tonight and no clear skies forecast for ages. 😢😢😢

 

[Dantooine]

2 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

This just arrived, to be added to a small ep set for use with my Borg 90FL, and carried in my Tundra for instant use while on the road somewhere:

 

 

 

 

Good, solid & reliable 👍

[DaveL59]

decided to renew some tools, so new Vessel precision screwdrivers for when I'm working on optical gear, some new synthetic PTFE helicoid grease etc

and some PEC Pads to use with the Zeiss lens cleaning fluid while servicing

Guess there's no excuse to not do that full strip-down on the huge vintage Zeiss Sonnar 180mm lens now... but it can wait a while I think 🙂 

[Nakedgun]

3 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

decided to renew some tools, so new Vessel precision screwdrivers for when I'm working on optical gear, some new synthetic PTFE helicoid grease etc

and some PEC Pads to use with the Zeiss lens cleaning fluid while servicing

Guess there's no excuse to not do that full strip-down on the huge vintage Zeiss Sonnar 180mm lens now... but it can wait a while I think 🙂 

 

Love my Vessel JIS drivers, too.

 

 

 

If fact, yesterday I ordered a set of their Tang-Thru/Demolition models for the garage toolbox.

 

[faulksy]

New ep 🤣 yee haaa

[HollyHound]

Arrived this afternoon from a fellow forum member... Explore Scientific 4.7mm 82 degree... solid, well made and compact 🙂

I haven't tried any eyepiece over 72 degrees since the Nirvanas I had in the summer and none in the 10" dob, so will be interesting to see how this works... I've certainly been very impressed with the ES focal extenders 👍

Edited January 4, 2021 by HollyHound

[Ags]

2 hours ago, HollyHound said:

since the Nirvanas I had in the summer

I have had both Nirvanas and ES 82, and the ES are a step up all around in my opinion.

[recceranger]

One of these! 😃🥃🎄