Widest Field Eyepiece-

[geoflewis]

6 minutes ago, Pig said:

You see the trouble you have caused ??

..... its been a very illuminating thread to follow as I too am interested in getting a wide field eyepiece, but for my C14...

[Pig]

The Nagler T31 is very good, I used mine a lot when I had my 9.25 SCT.... 

[geoflewis]

13 minutes ago, Pig said:

The Nagler T31 is very good, I used mine a lot when I had my 9.25 SCT.... 

I'm currently torn between the TV Panoptic 41mm (but don't really want to spend that much), the ES 68° Series 40mm, or Vixen LVW 42mm (65°). I've not had an opportunity to view through any of these, so am relying on views and reviews here and other forums. I've also had fun playing with the astronomy tools FOV tool under Resources which I didn't know about until earlier today when I read....

On 04/02/2018 at 15:29, Charic said:

....clicking the RESOURCES tab on the menu bar at the top of any page from Stargazers Lounge also takes you there!

 

[Mr Spock]

I've just done a set of measurements of some of my eyepieces based on the actual view through the eyepiece. What I get is:

42mm LVW 72°
32mm Meade Plössl 48°
25mm Celestron Pössl 50°
22mm LVW 64°
12mm NLV 48°
9mm Ortho (circle T) 44°
6mm TMB Planetary II 57°

 

[Louis D]

53 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

I'm currently torn between the TV Panoptic 41mm (but don't really want to spend that much), the ES 68° Series 40mm, or Vixen LVW 42mm (65°).

I would get the Maxvision 40mm 68° and save a few bucks.  Several stores in the UK report having them in stock.

I have the original Meade 5000 SWA version which the Maxvisions were destined to become before the order was cancelled.  It is basically sharp to the edge with a sharp field stop.  It has 29mm of usable eye relief, so it's great for eyeglass wearers.  It can be decloaked to save nearly a pound in weight and about an inch in diameter which is how I use my Meade.  The optics are the same as the 40m ES-68, just in a less ergonomic package but with more usable eye relief.

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I would get the Maxvision 40mm 68° and save a few bucks.  Several stores in the UK report having them in stock.

Thanks Louis, I have made some enquiries with dealers about that option too, so it's great to get your recommendation. Cheers, Geof

[Charic]

7 hours ago, Louis D said:

........... figure out the AFOV directly to end all this arguing about 65 vs 72..............

 

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

........Meade eyepieces are all over the place.  Some are bigger than claimed, others smaller.  Most claims are close, though, regardless of brand.

AFOV 
Apparent Field Of View
Apparent Field Of View
Apparent............ " seeming real or true, but not necessarily so "

I just accept the AFOV that comes with the literature, regardless.
Like my binocular collection, I doubt anyone of them completely matches the numbers engraved on their shoulders!!!

[laowhoo]

We  ordered the ES 40mm 68 last night, for the new frac arriving soon, and even tho we're already using the Hyperion 36mm 72. Just didn't feel right leaving that last little FOV on the table, or not letting the frac shine to its full potential. We're already using the ES 24mm 68 on the Dob and b/c it edged out the Panoptic in one review/shootout. Expecting great things.

[geoflewis]

I took advantage of TH’s on line Astrofest discount and ordered the Agron purged ES 68 deg 40mm eyepiece on Friday and it arrived today ready for a lovely clear night tonight.

I’m primarily an imager, but once in a while like to put my mark 1 eyeball where the camera normally lives. I’m currently using my 4” APO for imaging, which leaves the C14 free for visual, albeit not at the same time, as the 4” is piggybacked on the C14.

Anyway, I dropped (not literally) the eyepiece into the C14’s 2” diagonal and pointed at M42 - wow, what a difference to my cheap and cheerful Meade Super Plossl 40mm (a mere 44 AFOV)...!! I could see almost the entire M42/M43 complex in superb detail in the FOV using the HC to nudge around to get the extreme edges of the Nebula’s wings. Detailed structure visible in the core nebulosity arround the trapeziun was a delight. I drifted over to the Running Man, which showed nebulosity around the stars, but I could not make out the RM. Up to HH, then Flame, I could clearly see nebulosity around both regions, but no sign of the HH itself. Next M78, which I’ve never seen visually before, but was an easy target. Getting on a roll, I thought I’d try some of my old favourite targets that were far too large for my old 40mm eyepiece in C14. The double cluster was still just too big for the FOV, but each cluster easily framed with a couple of nudges back and forth making the views a real delight for me. Next M81 and M82, again not in a single FOV, but fun to nudge back and forth. The starburst region of M82 clearly visible as was the spiral nature of M81. Hopped through several open clusters, M44 (Behive) way too big, but M38, M41, M50 to name a few looked great. Tried M45, again a too big target, but nebulosity around the stars clearly seen. Back to M42, to see it in a fully dark sky as it transitted - just lovely views , then dropped down to M79 (glob), just to see how that sits in this widefield eyepiece - very small, but perfectly formed...

For an imager, this was a fun couple of hours and I’ll try for some more challenging visual targets another night, but I wanted to get back to imaging, so packed my new ‘precious’ away.

Cheers, Geof

[Ruud]

Congratulations Geof! You'll have a fantastic wide view in the 4". I get my lowest magnifications from a 4" f/5 with a 34mm MV, and I just love it for open clusters. A lunar eclipse too looks wonderful in a wide true field of view.

Enjoy!

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Ruud said:

Congratulations Geof! You'll have a fantastic wide view in the 4". I get my lowest magnifications from a 4" f/5 with a 34mm MV, and I just love it for open clusters. A lunar eclipse too looks wonderful in a wide true field of view.

Enjoy!

Thanks Ruud, I’m sure you’re right, I should definitely try that out, though I’ve rarely (if ever) used the 4” for visual. It’s an F5.8 quad dedicated to imaging. I also have a WOZS71 which I used to use piggybacked on my old Meade 10” LX200GPS and that yielded really great widefield views. Unfortunately the ZS71 hasn’t seen the light of day (well night) since I got the 4” APO.

Cheers, Geof