Using the new Eye Relievers

[iPeace]

Been out with a newt to put the new eyepieces to use. Tonight, it's the OO VX6L, a 6" f/8.

These eyepieces all feature 20mm of eye relief - something I've not insisted on in the past and still don't, but I am getting to like it. They also all lack green lettering.

The Vixen 22mm LVW has a lot of convincing to do; I'm a terminal 24 Panoptic junkie. But there's something compelling about the LVW, a certain ease with which it lets you get on with the task at hand. I really like it.

The Pentax 10mm XW takes some getting used to. Eye positioning is not as easy as I expected - at first. The adjustable eyeguard does help and the views are more than worth it; I'm sure we'll get on.

Finally, the Vixen 8mm LVW is just as nice and easy to use as the 22mm variant.

Being used to shorter fracs, I'm starting to appreciate the value of a good finder. I'm using a decent 60mm job that takes 1.25" eyepieces and I do like it; it makes star-hopping easy.

But for more precise targeting, I'm going to need a specialty eyepiece, something with crosshairs to indicate what should be the centre of view. It's all too easy to let the target drift away while changing eyepieces for higher magnification and then have some faff to get it back into view; the joys of undriven alt-az. Dob users seem to manage; so will we. I've got my eye on an illuminated crosshair eyepiece which should help.

[Ricochet]

Those are some nice new eyepieces you've got there. I've found to use the XWs without glasses I need to have the eyeguard fully extended and then the rim of the eyeguard rests on my eyebrow and the top of my cheek. You end up looking a little bit "sideways" with this method but for monoviewing that doesn't matter.

[John]

2 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

.... I've found to use the XWs without glasses I need to have the eyeguard fully extended ...

Me too. Same for the Delos.

I owned an LVW 22 at sometime in the past as well. Another nice one

It will be interesting to hear your preferences in due course Mike

One thing I've found is that the one that has an edge in one role is not always the top dog in another area. Hence you can end up with a lot of eyepieces eg: my planetary nebulae eyepieces, my Jupiter eyepieces, my Lunar eyepieces, my double star eyepieces, etc, etc

The XW's and LVW's are pretty good "allrounders" though

[iPeace]

8 minutes ago, John said:

One thing I've found is that the one that has an edge in one role is not always the top dog in another area. Hence you can end up with a lot of eyepieces eg: my planetary nebulae eyepieces, my Jupiter eyepieces, my Lunar eyepieces, my double star eyepieces, etc, etc 

Just the sort of excuse justification reason I was groping around for convinced of myself.

[iPeace]

24 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

I need to have the eyeguard fully extended

 

13 minutes ago, John said:

Me too.

That's reassuring, it's what seemed to work best for me as well.

15 minutes ago, John said:

Same for the Delos.

Interesting. I'm planning on the 12mm and 6mm Delos, but haven't used one yet. With the DeLites, I only have the eyeguard about halfway up.

[25585]

Owning the full LVW range and XW 10 & 7 eps, I agree. The LVWs are less critical for eye positioning. 5mm noticably,  7 XW & 8 LVW less difference. Nothing to compare the 10 XW with, but its the best.

Mike, I can assure you the 22 will win your respect. I am always puzzled why they are sold on.

Like your VX6L, with the shield it looks like a refractor ar first glance.

[iPeace]

1 hour ago, John said:

It will be interesting to hear your preferences in due course Mike 

I've certainly got plenty of overlap. I'm also gradually getting to grips with what different scopes do best; aperture is good for resolution (globs and lunar detail), but I'm getting more enjoyable wide field views and star splits with the smaller fracs. It all makes sense, but actual experience is more profound than reasoning.

[iPeace]

...and these just arrived.

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, 25585 said:

Owning the full LVW range and XW 10 & 7 eps, I agree. The LVWs are less critical for eye positioning. 5mm noticably,  7 XW & 8 LVW less difference. Nothing to compare the 10 XW with, but its the best.

I have the 14mm and 5.2mm Pentax XLs as well as the 7mm and 3.5mm XWs.  The XLs are quite a bit easier to find and hold the view in than the XWs.

Contrary to a lot of reports, I find my 10mm Delos easier to hold the view in than the XWs.  Maybe not quite as easy as the XLs, but not far behind.  I'm still coming to an opinion about my 14mm and 9mm Morpheus eyepieces, though they seem quite comfortable.

My 17mm and 12mm Nagler T4s take the top prize for difficulty holding the entire field of view.  The moment the field stop pops into view, any motion in any direction except backing away will lead to blackouts.  The ES-92 equivalents are Delos-like in their ease of holding the view.  Your head can bob around a bit without losing the view to blackouts.

[25585]

6 hours ago, iPeace said:

...and these just arrived.

Do you have the 5mm already? I am puzzled you bought both a XW 7 & LVW 8 together.

[25585]

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

I have the 14mm and 5.2mm Pentax XLs as well as the 7mm and 3.5mm XWs.  The XLs are quite a bit easier to find and hold the view in than the XWs.

Contrary to a lot of reports, I find my 10mm Delos easier to hold the view in than the XWs.  Maybe not quite as easy as the XLs, but not far behind.  I'm still coming to an opinion about my 14mm and 9mm Morpheus eyepieces, though they seem quite comfortable.

My 17mm and 12mm Nagler T4s take the top prize for difficulty holding the entire field of view.  The moment the field stop pops into view, any motion in any direction except backing away will lead to blackouts.  The ES-92 equivalents are Delos-like in their ease of holding the view.  Your head can bob around a bit without losing the view to blackouts.

There is a XL 5.2 on ebay.com at present. But its $ price, shipping & customs to the UK make it too big a gamble.

I have a 9mm Morpheus which was bought for 100x in my 900mm refractors. The 17.5 is better & excellent, a worthy alternative to my LVW 17mm. @BillPthinks well of them too.

[Louis D]

54 minutes ago, 25585 said:

There is a XL 5.2 on ebay.com at present. But its $ price, shipping & customs to the UK make it too big a gamble.

I have a 9mm Morpheus which was bought for 100x in my 900mm refractors. The 17.5 is better & excellent, a worthy alternative to my LVW 17mm. @BillPthinks well of them too.

The 5.2mm XL is a good deal if you can pick it up for $175 or less (including all expenses).  One recently sold on CN classifieds for $170 shipped.  It is easily as sharp as the XWs and Delos, just 5 degrees narrower.  The sky background appears a touch grayer than in more modern eyepieces which is probably due to slight advancements in multicoatings in the past 20 years. 

Already having, and being very pleased with, the 17mm ES-92, I couldn't justify getting the 17.5mm Morpheus during the last US sale.  Although I couldn't resist when I got an additional 10% discount, so I picked up the 9mm for $158 shipped.  I'll be comparing it to my vintage 9mm Vixen LV and 10mm Delos as time allows.

[25585]

On 06/06/2018 at 19:15, Louis D said:

The 5.2mm XL is a good deal if you can pick it up for $175 or less (including all expenses).  One recently sold on CN classifieds for $170 shipped.  It is easily as sharp as the XWs and Delos, just 5 degrees narrower.  The sky background appears a touch grayer than in more modern eyepieces which is probably due to slight advancements in multicoatings in the past 20 years. 

Already having, and being very pleased with, the 17mm ES-92, I couldn't justify getting the 17.5mm Morpheus during the last US sale.  Although I couldn't resist when I got an additional 10% discount, so I picked up the 9mm for $158 shipped.  I'll be comparing it to my vintage 9mm Vixen LV and 10mm Delos as time allows.

I have the 9mm Morpheus. Great eye relief, better than a LV, and of course almost 30 deg AFOV more. But heavier. The 17.5mm will be going up against my 17mm LVW some day.

[iPeace]

And now the Short Set is complete.

So, 120x, 171x  240x and 342x for the newt. Looking forward to next Luna.

100x and 200x may also be useful; those will have to be Delos, if and when.

[25585]

You still need the zoom. Great for the Moon. ?

[John]

7 hours ago, iPeace said:

And now the Short Set is complete.

So, 120x, 171x  240x and 342x for the newt. Looking forward to next Luna.

100x and 200x may also be useful; those will have to be Delos, if and when.

Great set - I love mine !

I do wish they had a 6mm XW though - last night with my ED120, 150x was the "goldilocks" magnification for Jupiter so I had to resort to pulling the 6mm Ethos out of the dob EP's case

 

[iPeace]

37 minutes ago, John said:

Great set - I love mine !

I do wish they had a 6mm XW though - last night with my ED120, 150x was the "goldilocks" magnification for Jupiter so I had to resort to pulling the 6mm Ethos out of the dob EP's case

 

I agree with both points:

- a 6mm XW would be nice, that focal length provides useful magnifications in several scopes; that will have to be a Delos, then...

- 150x is indeed often right there; for the newt, that's the 8mm LVW

[25585]

Where zooms come in handy, filling gaps between prime eps. 

[rwilkey]

On 06/06/2018 at 08:46, iPeace said:

Finally, the Vixen 8mm LVW is just as nice and easy to use as the 22mm variant.

I agree, the LVW's are pleasure to use, eye placement is easy and the views cracking, I only own the 13mm at the moment but find it so much easier to use than the 10mm XW. 

[John]

11 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

I agree, the LVW's are pleasure to use, eye placement is easy and the views cracking, I only own the 13mm at the moment but find it so much easier to use than the 10mm XW. 

I'm a little surprised to hear that Robin but eyepiece ergonomics are very personal I think. I find it the other way around, although not greatly so, probably because of the adjustable top section of the XW's and the larger eye lens. Optically they are both excellent ranges though.

We are lucky to have so much choice

 

[rwilkey]

9 minutes ago, John said:

I'm a little surprised to hear that Robin but eyepiece ergonomics are very personal I think. I find it the other way around, although not greatly so, probably because of the adjustable top section of the XW's and the larger eye lens. Optically they are both excellent ranges though.

We are lucky to have so much choice

 

Hi John, as you say there is so much choice that has mainly come about in the last six years so we have grown up with it, however, it is so hard for the beginner with the myriad of different choices.  I too love the adjustable top section of the XW's and indeed the XF's (eyeguard) and the StarGuiders, they all make viewing more pleasurable. 

[25585]

On 11 June 2018 at 19:25, John said:

Great set - I love mine !

I do wish they had a 6mm XW though - last night with my ED120, 150x was the "goldilocks" magnification for Jupiter so I had to resort to pulling the 6mm Ethos out of the dob EP's case

 

John I think that you may be happy with the Baader Morpheus 6.5mm. Those eps are the "new LVW" to me. 

6.5mm with 76mm AFOV, flat field & easier eye comfort/relief. May be too close to your XW7 and Nagler though. 

[25585]

5 hours ago, rwilkey said:

I agree, the LVW's are pleasure to use, eye placement is easy and the views cracking, I only own the 13mm at the moment but find it so much easier to use than the 10mm XW. 

This is why overall I prefer LVW eps. While no problem with my XW 7mm compared to my LVW 8mm, I know that any LVW will be as good as I can hope for in respect of eye comfort, no matter the focal length or type of scope. 

I prefer my XW 10 to Baader Morpheus 9mm, marginally. 

[iPeace]

The Newt Set is coming along satisfactorily...

[25585]

On 15/06/2018 at 00:38, iPeace said:

The Newt Set is coming along satisfactorily...

If you can find one a 13mm Vixen LVW would be a good addition, also a 17mm.