LVW 8mm or XW 7mm choice?

[Alan White]

If you could get a Vixen LVW 8mm or a 7mm Pentax XW what would your choice be and why?

I am both an LVW and XW fanboy.

[Timebandit]

 

 

 Personally i would go with the Pentax XW

Why. In my opinion the build is that bit better. The fov at 70d is that bit wider. And the optics on the 7 XW are very very good. I consider overall the 7XW has the edge over the LVW. 

I own both a 7XW and a eyepiece from the LVW range so  no bias,  if I personally had a choice then I would opt for the Pentax 7XW, a super eyepiece IMO ?

 

 

[John]

XW for me, but only by a short "nose". I've used all the LVW's and I thought they were excellent so it's a very close thing but I prefer XW's just a little more. To quantify, the small amount of additional FoV, larger eye lens, adjustable height eyecup, tendancy of the LVW decals to flake plus my other 3 short FL XW's demanding a 4th are what would swing it for me.  

If you decided on the Vixen you still get a great eyepiece though

 

 

[alan potts]

I feel John has said it all, I had the loan of a XW 7mm a few times and it is a very fine eyepiece, think I even wrote a review on it which will be in the equipment reviews and reports somewhere, it's a few years ago .

[mikeDnight]

From 10 down to 3.5mm I'd choose the XW over pretty much anything else in the 70° af range. Pure, transparent, sharp, contrasty, comfortable. Droolworthy!

[Alan White]

I knew you would vote XW, had to ask.

I really like both my 22 LVW and 10 XW for build quality, comfort of use and of course quality of the view, all of which are wonderful to me.
Work well in my f5 Newtonian.

I can get an LVW for about £100 - £120 used, the XW come up on occasion for £180 or so but rarely.
At present several LVW are available and no XW hence why I am dithering as the XW will have to be new and £249 at FLO.

 

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Alan White said:

I knew you would vote XW, had to ask.

I really like both my 22 LVW and 10 XW for build quality, comfort of use and of course quality of the view, all of which are wonderful to me.
Work well in my f5 Newtonian.

I can get an LVW for about £100 - £120 used, the XW come up on occasion for £180 or so but rarely.
At present several LVW are available and no XW hence why I am dithering as the XW will have to be new and £249 at FLO.

 

If you can get 2 LVWs for the price of one XW, I say go for it.  That is, if you can stand the stiff eyecup.  Since I need it to be down for eyeglass usage, I never went the LVW route after struggling with the stiff roll down cups of the LV line.  They always appeared to be similar in photos, though I've never seen an LVW in the flesh, so to speak.  They're just not very popular here in the states.  Their new price was right up there with the XWs through the 2000s and beyond, so most folks went XW since they are a newer design and have a wider field and slightly more eye relief.  They might also be slightly sharper and better corrected from 10mm on down, though I've never done a head to head comparison.

I have the 7mm XW and find it to be a good eyepiece, though I rarely use it.  I tend to use my 10mm Delos or my 5.2mm XL on either side of it.  I think it's a bit harder to hold the view in the XW than the Delos or XL despite being equally sharp.

There's also the 6.5mm Morpheus which is supposed to well corrected to the edge.  I have the 14mm which has a bit of field curvature and astigmatism at the edge, but that 76 degree field is engaging.  Not as engaging as the ES-92's 92 degree field, but still very wide.

[alan potts]

14 hours ago, Alan White said:

I knew you would vote XW, had to ask.

I really like both my 22 LVW and 10 XW for build quality, comfort of use and of course quality of the view, all of which are wonderful to me.
Work well in my f5 Newtonian.

I can get an LVW for about £100 - £120 used, the XW come up on occasion for £180 or so but rarely.
At present several LVW are available and no XW hence why I am dithering as the XW will have to be new and £249 at FLO.

 

That's agood price Alan, for me they are 369e from any outlet in Germany.

[Alan White]

8 minutes ago, alan potts said:

That's agood price Alan, for me they are 369e from any outlet in Germany.

That’s used Alan, not new for the LVW and new for the XW from FLO whose price is good.

[dweller25]

Hello Alan,

I am lucky enough to own these very two eyepieces.

As a glasses wearer I find the XW the more comfortable of the two to view through.

Apart from that both are equally sharp with good contrast.

[alan potts]

3 hours ago, Alan White said:

That’s used Alan, not new for the LVW and new for the XW from FLO whose price is good.

Sorry I feel 249 from FLO is very good compared to the price from European outlets at 369e, at least that was what I saw a few days ago. The biggest problem is they don't come up for sale secondhand very often, I had the 5mm for a long while and it sold in minutes on here.

[Alan White]

I was lucky with my used but good as new 10mm XW from here a while back, missed the 7xl so will have to dig deeper and buy new I suppose.  

It will be a keeper of course so money well spent.

[Timebandit]

 

With regards to price of the XW. When you compare it to its rivals say a delite or Delos then it compares favourable . The XW at £249 , but the Delite is around £245 and the Delite has only a 62d fov ,or closer in comparison with fov is the Delos , The Delos is a 72d fov compared to the XW 70d . The Delos new is around £330, so a considerable increase in price over XW.

IMO it is worth spending that bit extra to get that eyepiece you really want as long as you know you it's a "Keeper" . As I have never regretted the cost of the XW as I know at around the 70d mark then I am not going to get a better eyepiece.     

 

 

[Mr Spock]

I thought my 8mm LVW was expensive when I bought it. It has proved it was worth every penny though.

[F15Rules]

I can't disagree with most of the good advice above Alan. I'd agree, having owned both EPs, that the XW just edges it, not so much on sharpness, but maybe a tad better on contrast.  The LVW is a great EP though and a good deal cheaper used. I think build is comparable, apart from the potential decal wear on the LVWs. Both are very comfortable, and the LVW rubber eyecaps is softer than the older LVs.

I think that 7mm is a bit more useful to me than 8mm too. As you know, I was lucky enough to get that XL7mm recently, and apart from the slightly wider fov (70 Vs 65), I really can't see an optical difference between XLs and XWs.

I do think the LVWs pull ahead on longer FLs though.. I preferred the 13mm LVW Vs the XW14, same for the LVW22 Vs the XW20 (the LVW22 is a wonderful EP). I'd love to try the LVW 17mm too, the only one I haven't tried, and a useful focal length..

So, in summary, for me it's XW/XL up to 10mm, and LVW above that.

Might be worth putting out a wanted ad for an XL?

Good luck☺

Dave

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

I can't disagree with most of the good advice above Alan. I'd agree, having owned both EPs, that the XW just edges it, not so much on sharpness, but maybe a tad better on contrast.  The LVW is a great EP though and a good deal cheaper used. I think build is comparable, apart from the potential decal wear on the LVWs. Both are very comfortable, and the LVW rubber eyecaps is softer than the older LVs.

I think that 7mm is a bit more useful to me than 8mm too. As you know, I was lucky enough to get that XL7mm recently, and apart from the slightly wider fov (70 Vs 65), I really can't see an optical difference between XLs and XWs.

I do think the LVWs pull ahead on longer FLs though.. I preferred the 13mm LVW Vs the XW14, same for the LVW22 Vs the XW20 (the LVW22 is a wonderful EP). I'd love to try the LVW 17mm too, the only one I haven't tried, and a useful focal length..

So, in summary, for me it's XW/XL up to 10mm, and LVW above that.

Might be worth putting out a wanted ad for an XL?

Good luck☺

Dave

Thanks all and the last suggestion of Dave about the XL.

Now added an XL to my wanted list and wanted here.

LVW has been calling because it’s cheaper, but to be honest the Pentax is calling me in the shorter focal length, too many say the same for it to be one persons view alone.

[25585]

I have both. There are 8mm LVWs on ebay, that cost half a new XW. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oculaire-Vixen-LVW-8mm/222769388591?epid=23011316564&hash=item33de171c2f:g:4WgAAOSw~vpaMMZh

Optically the difference I have not really noticed (though my XW is newer so used less), handling in cold weather I prefer the LVW. For eye adjustment the XW wins.

I suggest buying a LVW first to see how much you would use the FL. If much then a XW maybe, if not you still have a fine ep in your optics range.

Both eps barlow well.

[Alan White]

It is a focal length I use a lot, well 7.5mm is with my Tak LE.

The focal length will be great, it’s got to be spot on as I wish to match or improve the Tak LE view with a wider f.o.v.

[25585]

There is also the Nikon 7mm NAV-SW  http://apm-telescopes-englisch.shopgate.com/item/32333831

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

With regards to price of the XW. When you compare it to its rivals say a delite or Delos then it compares favourable . The XW at £249 , but the Delite is around £245 and the Delite has only a 62d fov ,or closer in comparison with fov is the Delos , The Delos is a 72d fov compared to the XW 70d . The Delos new is around £330, so a considerable increase in price over XW.

IMO it is worth spending that bit extra to get that eyepiece you really want as long as you know you it's a "Keeper" . As I have never regretted the cost of the XW as I know at around the 70d mark then I am not going to get a better eyepiece.     

 

 

Somewhat similar in the US.  As I posted in August:

                        US prices           UK prices in US dollars (VAT included)

Orion LHD-80 : $229.49                    $283 - $294

Pentax XW     : $299 - $359              $337 - $420

Televue Delos : $340                        $431 - $445

Televue DeLite: $250                            $330

Morpheus       : $239                            $228

Vixen LVW     :  $269                        $229 - $331

Nikon NAV-SW: $320                            $443

So here in the states, the XW is price competitive with the Delos and NAV-SW while the LVW is price competitive with the DeLite, LHD-80, and Morpheus.  In the UK, the LVW is price competitive with the Morpheus and possibly DeLite and LHD-80 while the XW tends to be between that group and the Delos/NAV-SW.

[25585]

Nikon is 72 degrees fov. It looks the smallest and lightest. The Pentax has same lushness and quality feel for less money. 

Alan if you do not need glasses the Nikon & Pentax have better eye cups, if you do need glasses and will have the cup at lowest, go for a LVW.

Kind of parallell discussion in this thread 

also https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/432471-pentax-7-mm-xw-compared-to-nikon-nav-7-mm-sw/