William Optics eyepieces - any good?

[Louis D]

6 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

Thanks LouisD will look at that.

I've been playing with FLO's field of view options and quite taken by the fov with a ES 68° series 28mm - any thoughts anyone?

Usable eye relief is 14mm, very similar to the 27mm TV Panoptic which I mentioned above.  I find it a bit too tight to be comfortable, thus the move to the 30mm APM UFF recently with 16mm of usable ER.  Otherwise, it is reportedly a very fine performer falling off just slightly in sharpness at the edges.

[fwm891]

The eye lens on the ES 28 mm 68° series lens must be sunk down as it's quoted as 21.6mm on FLO's spec sheet...

[John]

I believe that there are reasons why some manufacturers choose to recess an eye lens:

- to reduce the build up of dust / eyelash grease

- to reduce the propensity for dewing up.

The figure of the eye lens is often concave for wide and ultra wide eyepieces, thus reducing the useable eye relief. Eye relief is measured from the centre of the top surface of the eye lens so if it is deeply concave and the eyecup relatively inflexible, viewing comfort is not what it might have been.

It would help if the eye relief quoted was the useable eye relief, I agree.

Lots of options around to choose from though so all tastes are catered for

 

 

 

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, fwm891 said:

Thanks LouisD will look at that. Is this the one: https://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/eyepieces/58-74-wide-angle/apm-ultra-flat-eyepieces/apm-ultra-flat-field-30mm-eyepiece-70-fov.html  ?

Yes, that's the one.

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, fwm891 said:

The eye lens on the ES 28 mm 68° series lens must be sunk down as it's quoted as 21.6mm on FLO's spec sheet...

I was going off of what Ernest measured in this CN post.  He's quite accurate in his lens testing measurements on his optics test bench.  His number agrees very closely with my measured number for my 27mm Panoptic, upon which the 28mm ES-68 was based.

[fwm891]

My 6.5 mm Morpheus has just arrived (sorry no unboxing vid !) looking forward to trying it out. Big but no massive, just dwarfs my old eyepieces ?

Will let you know how it goes - hopefully later.

Fog.... ?

[fwm891]

Not so foggy last night and it gave me a chance for a quick test of the Morpheus 6.5 with my Altair 115 EDT-APO frac. on iOptron iEQ45 Pro goto mount. Moon bright (45° phase and -11.35 mag) so avoided its immediate vicinity and looked at Mars,  Albireo which really showed of the golden and blue components, Lyra's double double which split easily, a few M's (81, 82, 97, 108, 45, 57, 27, 15 and 31) strangely couldn't see M33 then a few random stars before finishing up on the moon.

The fuzzies were fuzzie (but well defined fuzzies!) M57 showed well with a good clean outline, M45 was too low down in the east when view and only showed a vague trace of wispiness near the bright star: Alcyone. Stars in general were crisp and fairly snapped in/out of focus. I then turned to the moon to finish up with. The terminator showed very good in focus detail edge to edge in the fov and the lunar sea's showed good colour variations and rays across their surfaces. Really enjoyed the viewing despite the moon and now look forward to: a) getting my 10-inch dob and b) some moonless nights. ?

[Geoff Barnes]

Knew you wouldn't be disappointed! Just wait until you use the 10 inch Dob, you'll be blown away! ?

[fwm891]

Browsing *bay earlier this week and bagged a ES 68° series 24mm eyepiece. Call it impulse but it was one of the eyepieces I was homing in on for something 'mid range'. The postie delivered it thismorning - original box etc etc...

Just been looking at a distant line of trees and it's giving a really crisp view edge to edge - can't wait for a clear night view once the moon has abated a bit.

[MetroiD]

I figured I'd use this here informative thread rather than start a new one for a simple query... which is - would you recommend a Skywatcher Nirvana aka William Optics aka TS Optics 16mm UWAN over an ES 14mm? I am currently looking to add a 1.25" 82-degree EP to my collection and even though I'm rather fond of ES, I've so far been avoiding their 14mm offering due to its infamous off-axis field curvature issues - although I must say I've never had the opportunity to personally try it out.  I'd be using this new teen-mill EP in a 8" f/5.9 Skyliner 200p dob, so I'm wondering whether it's worth taking a 'risk' on the 14mm.

[Ricochet]

On 28/10/2018 at 16:56, MetroiD said:

I figured I'd use this here informative thread rather than start a new one for a simple query... which is - would you recommend a Skywatcher Nirvana aka William Optics aka TS Optics 16mm UWAN over an ES 14mm? I am currently looking to add a 1.25" 82-degree EP to my collection and even though I'm rather fond of ES, I've so far been avoiding their 14mm offering due to its infamous off-axis field curvature issues - although I must say I've never had the opportunity to personally try it out.  I'd be using this new teen-mill EP in a 8" f/5.9 Skyliner 200p dob, so I'm wondering whether it's worth taking a 'risk' on the 14mm.

I've not used either of the eyepieces in question but I own a 28mm Nirvana and have owned ES68° eyepieces. My gut feeling is that the Nirvanas have slightly better coatings so I would go with the Nivana/UWAN. 

[John]

On 28/10/2018 at 16:56, MetroiD said:

I figured I'd use this here informative thread rather than start a new one for a simple query... which is - would you recommend a Skywatcher Nirvana aka William Optics aka TS Optics 16mm UWAN over an ES 14mm? I am currently looking to add a 1.25" 82-degree EP to my collection and even though I'm rather fond of ES, I've so far been avoiding their 14mm offering due to its infamous off-axis field curvature issues - although I must say I've never had the opportunity to personally try it out.  I'd be using this new teen-mill EP in a 8" f/5.9 Skyliner 200p dob, so I'm wondering whether it's worth taking a 'risk' on the 14mm.

 

I've not used the ES 82's but I have owned and used the 28mm, 16mm and 4mm UWAN / Nirvana's and found them to be very nice eyepieces. Close to Tele Vue quality at a much more reasonable price. The latest versions seem to be well below £100 (for the 1.25" ones) now which is great value. I wish there were more focal lengths in the range.

[MetroiD]

Thank you for the input! I've only recently started replacing my Plossls with UWAs and even though I've done quite a bit of digging through this and other forums, I still can't say I've figured it all out. After having so far acquired a 2" Meade 5000 UWA 24mm, a 1.25" ES 82 8.8m and a 1.25" Meade 5000 UWA 6.7mm, I see a 1.25" ~teen EP as the last missing piece that can potentially become the top dog in my collection - so I'd really like to make an informed choice, considering how opportunities to test different makes & models within my local community are rather limited.

19 minutes ago, John said:

The latest versions seem to be well below £100 (for the 1.25" ones) now which is great value. I wish there were more focal lengths in the range.

John - now that you have mentioned that, I must say I'm at a bit of a loss as to the difference e.g. between this and this... Both William Optics aka Nirvana, yet showing a drastic difference in pricing. I seem to recall also having come across some other OVL 16mm UWAN EPs that seemed to have the twist-up eyecups as opposed to the fold-ups shown in the "cheaper" version above, and those were also priced substantially above 135 GBP. As long as the eyecups are indeed the only difference though, I'd call it a no-brainer - the question is though, is that the case? Sorry if that's a stupid question but I'm still finding my feet here...

[Ricochet]

36 minutes ago, MetroiD said:

Thank you for the input! I've only recently started replacing my Plossls with UWAs and even though I've done quite a bit of digging through this and other forums, I still can't say I've figured it all out. After having so far acquired a 2" Meade 5000 UWA 24mm, a 1.25" ES 82 8.8m and a 1.25" Meade 5000 UWA 6.7mm, I see a 1.25" ~teen EP as the last missing piece that can potentially become the top dog in my collection - so I'd really like to make an informed choice, considering how opportunities to test different makes & models within my local community are rather limited.

John - now that you have mentioned that, I must say I'm at a bit of a loss as to the difference e.g. between this and this... Both William Optics aka Nirvana, yet showing a drastic difference in pricing. I seem to recall also having come across some other OVL 16mm UWAN EPs that seemed to have the twist-up eyecups as opposed to the fold-ups shown in the "cheaper" version above, and those were also priced substantially above 135 GBP. As long as the eyecups are indeed the only difference though, I'd call it a no-brainer - the question is though, is that the case? Sorry if that's a stupid question but I'm still finding my feet here...

According to the OVL website the internals are the same. Interesting that they seem to have changed the design. 

[MetroiD]

Either way, the first store that I linked to now lists them as sold out. Luckily, I did snatch the 16mm UWAN I'd been after - at that price, it was practically a steal. Can't wait to try it out soon!

[Trikeflyer]

On 16/10/2018 at 14:31, BillP said:

The Baader Morpheus 6.5mm and 9mm are both quite fantastic and also have the long eye relief necessary for effective use with eyeglasses.  Finding something in the 20-24mm range also with close to 20mm eye relief will be a bit more difficult.  The 2" 24mm Explore Scientific 82deg is marketed as 17mm eye relief, but this is measured from the center of the eye lens, which I believe may be concave on that one (not sure).  If it is then the usable eye relief from the top of the folded down eye guard may be insufficient for eyeglasses.  I have not tried but it seems to get pretty good reviews, the APM 24mm Ultra Flat Field Eyepiece.  This is marketed as having 65° AFOV with a 29mm eye relief, plus is a smaller 1.25" eyepiece that might fit your need well.

 

Btw, I used to have the 28mm UWAN.  It is monstrously large and heavy which made it a pain to use so sold it.

I have the ES 24 82 eyepiece and use it with glasses on.  You do have to get close but it is easily achievable and the views are stunning. I think the cost is £223 from FLO. I'm looking at an 8-10mm eyepiece and I might go with a Morpheus. 

Good luck with your choice.

Steve 

[fwm891]

I have an ES 68° 24mm and really like it. It barlow's well as well.

I bought a 6.5mm Morpheus, great eye relief and the 76° field is superb - but I'm selling it, realise I like wider fov's (longer fl's) and I think 10mm perhaps 9mm will be as short as I go...

[BillP]

6 hours ago, fwm891 said:

I have an ES 68° 24mm and really like it. It barlow's well as well.

I bought a 6.5mm Morpheus, great eye relief and the 76° field is superb - but I'm selling it, realise I like wider fov's (longer fl's) and I think 10mm perhaps 9mm will be as short as I go...

 

It's funny...the longer I'm in the hobby and the more I observe, I tend to use lower magnifications more.  Before I was always pushing the limits.  These days I enjoy DSO better in the context of a larger surrounding FOV so observe mostly between 50-150x and rarely more.  Occasionally will venture up to 200-250x if a difficult double or planetary nebula or Moon/planet.  The Moon is about the only object I enjoy at higher magnification regularly so am either very low to get the entire thing in the FOV or at 250x...one or the other and rarely anything in between.