How good are ES 82 series Eyepieces?

[Olli]

Hi

I am looking to upgrade my current BST eyepieces as I dont seem to get long with them and was looking at something different the ones i had an eye on ( no pun intended) were the 82 degree eyepieces from ES. I was just wondering are they a good upgrade from the bst line. Or should I look at something else I dont wear glasses but would still like good eye relief. I was hoping to spend around £100 per eyepiece.

 

Many thanks 

[johninderby]

They are very good eyepieces and perform well and yes are a good upgrade from the BST. Seem to be very well liked by all that have used them.

Opticstar  sells the same eyepieces  under their own brand name and they are a bit cheaper which will help your budget.

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_32

[Buzzard75]

I have two, the 14mm and the 30mm. Optically and quality wise, they are excellent. I would caution that wide FOV eyepieces are not everyone's cup of tea and you may want to try one before buying. Some find 68-72 degrees to be a more comfortable range. At 82, my eye can't even take in the full view. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if that's what you're going for.

[Louis D]

If you need to wear eyeglasses while observing due to strong astigmatism in your observing eye, the ES-82s won't provide enough eye relief to view the entire field.  In fact, you may end up seeing less field than with your BSTs.  They also start to get quite heavy and large at 18mm and above.  The Morpheus line provides nearly the same field of view but with a lot more eye relief and similar correction.

[Ruud]

ES 82s are very good optically.

For the 11mm, my eyelashes are too long. I suppose
because the eye relief is measured from the glass, but the
eye lens lies rather deep. My eyelashes brush the rubber if 
I want to see the full 82°.
A minor issue was that the field stop of the 11mm is not well
defined. I returned the eyepiece and went for a Delos 12mm.

ES 82°  11mm

Skywatcher Nirvana are also very good optically but only
available in 4, 7, 16 and 28mm. The 4, 7 and 16mm come
in a 1.25" barrel and have good ergonomics. The  28mm
is impossibly big. The newer models have a fold down
eye cup, which I have not tried, but the classic model with
twist up eye cup is still around.
SW Nirvana 82°

The Nirvana is also sold as William Optics UWAN,
TS Optics UWAN and more.

[Red Dwarfer]

What about a Baader Mark IV zoom , Olli ? Mine gets a lot of use in the 200P with double stars .

I have an ES 8.8/82 and 18/82 and can`t recommend them enough - in terms of build and performance they are both up there with my best EP , a TV 12 Delos .

I don`t understand why you don`t get on with BST though ... no one has a bad word to say about them , even in faster scopes like your 130P .

[Olli]

1 hour ago, Red Dwarfer said:

What about a Baader Mark IV zoom , Olli ? Mine gets a lot of use in the 200P with double stars .

I have an ES 8.8/82 and 18/82 and can`t recommend them enough - in terms of build and performance they are both up there with my best EP , a TV 12 Delos .

I don`t understand why you don`t get on with BST though ... no one has a bad word to say about them , even in faster scopes like your 130P .

Hi do you mean this ? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html I was thinking about zooms before but didn’t know if they were worth the price or not.

[Olli]

3 hours ago, Ruud said:

ES 82s are very good optically.

For the 11mm, my eyelashes are too long. I suppose
because the eye relief is measured from the glass, but the
eye lens lies rather deep. My eyelashes brush the rubber if 
I want to see the full 82°.
A minor issue was that the field stop of the 11mm is not well
defined. I returned the eyepiece and went for a Delos 12mm.

ES 82°  11mm

Skywatcher Nirvana are also very good optically but only
available in 4, 7, 16 and 28mm. The 4, 7 and 16mm come
in a 1.25" barrel and have good ergonomics. The  28mm
is impossibly big. The newer models have a fold down
eye cup, which I have not tried, but the classic model with
twist up eye cup is still around.
SW Nirvana 82°

The Nirvana is also sold as William Optics UWAN,
TS Optics UWAN and more.

Hi Rudd 

I Have thanks for all the information  unfortunately the tele vue eyepieces are too expensive. But all useful advice thanks.

[Ruud]

Hi Olli, the SW Nirvana are not by TeleVue, you know. They are much less expensive. But good!

I would not by another Delos myself. ( I have the 8 and 12 mm, they're about 5 years old.)

The newer Baader Morpheus are as good as Delos and not as expensive. It is just that the Morpheus weren't around when I decided to replace my ES 11mm 82°!

[Olli]

10 minutes ago, Ruud said:

Hi Olli, the SW Nirvana are not by TeleVue, you know. They are much less expensive. But good!

I would not by another Delos myself. ( I have the 8 and 12 mm, they're about 5 years old.)

The newer Baader Morpheus are as good as Delos and not as expensive. It is just that the Morpheus weren't around when I decided to replace my ES 11mm 82°!

I know I just meant when you said when you bought a Delos 12mm instead. ?

[Alan White]

Olli

The ES 82 line are good optically and build wise,
almost at premium level but not quite in my view, but close, very close.
The 6.7 and 4.7 I had were replaced with Televue (used) Naglers, but due to weight alone.
The ES are a bit heavier than Naglers, but at 1/3rd the price that is a fair trade off.

I compared the 6.7 mm ES against a 7 mm  Nagler and they were so comparable in view I was somewhat taken aback.
But the field stops and final build is a step up on the Televue, but that's me wanting top drawer finish.
In all honesty the ES was as enjoyable to use and would have been just as much a pleasure to view with.

If these fit your price point, you should not be disappointed.
Just heed the warning about eye relief.

Enjoy whatever you buy.

 

[rockystar]

Might they be a bit heavy for a 130 Newtonian ? 

I only have experience of the 24mm (which is excellent), which is a heavy beast - don't know how the rest of the range compares. 

[Olli]

2 hours ago, rockystar said:

Might they be a bit heavy for a 130 Newtonian ? 

I only have experience of the 24mm (which is excellent), which is a heavy beast - don't know how the rest of the range compares. 

Hi

i wouldnt be using them with the 130p. I would use them with the Dob.

[Olli]

What do people think about the Baader Hyperion 68 ° eyepieces? 

[Olli]

17 hours ago, Alan White said:

Olli

The ES 82 line are good optically and build wise,
almost at premium level but not quite in my view, but close, very close.
The 6.7 and 4.7 I had were replaced with Televue (used) Naglers, but due to weight alone.
The ES are a bit heavier than Naglers, but at 1/3rd the price that is a fair trade off.

I compared the 6.7 mm ES against a 7 mm  Nagler and they were so comparable in view I was somewhat taken aback.
But the field stops and final build is a step up on the Televue, but that's me wanting top drawer finish.
In all honesty the ES was as enjoyable to use and would have been just as much a pleasure to view with.

If these fit your price point, you should not be disappointed.
Just heed the warning about eye relief.

Enjoy whatever you buy.

 

Thanks Alan for the advice not 100% sure im going to get these now.

[Louis D]

27 minutes ago, Olli said:

What do people think about the Baader Hyperion 68 ° eyepieces? 

They're fairly poor clones of the Vixen LVW line.  While they have excellent eye relief, they just don't perform that well in fast to moderately fast scopes at the edges.  The Morpheus line is a better option for long eye relief and wide field.

[Olli]

4 minutes ago, Louis D said:

They're fairly poor clones of the Vixen LVW line.  While they have excellent eye relief, they just don't perform that well in fast to moderately fast scopes at the edges.  The Morpheus line is a better option for long eye relief and wide field.

Thanks Louis. I couldn't really find alot of reviews about them.

[Louis D]

Think of it this way for 65 to 76 degree eyepieces: Delos=XW/XL=NAV-SW>=LVW>=Morpheus>Hyperion=Stratus=>Ultima LX/AT70/Redline/other 70 degree offerings.  Each >= indicates some debate on a focal length by focal case.  Here's a good review of the LVW vs Hyperion from years ago that you probably already found.  Here's a more lengthy one.

If you don't need long eye relief, there's no reason to buy the Hyperions at all.  Some people who don't need long eye relief still buy the Delos/XW/XL/NAV-SW lines just because they are so sharp and contrasty across the field with excellent control of stray light.  This is especially true at the shorter focal lengths where the short eye relief of orthoscopics become very tiring in a short period of time.  These premium wide angle eyepieces give up very little to premium planetary eyepieces and generally perform better than entry level orthoscopics all while offering a wider field and excellent eye relief.

[Red Dwarfer]

Check this link , Olli ... an as new ES24/68 at a good price https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332870657683?ul_noapp=true 

The Baader Hyperions have excellent light transmission making them ideal for hunting down faint and tight double stars and also the fainter stars in Open Clusters ... as pointed out above , they do perform better in slower scopes . 

[N3ptune]

ES24/68

I like that one very very much.

[alan potts]

I had most of the Meade 82 range and we all feel these are the same optical elements as the ExSc, maybe coating differ though but they were made in the same place until Meade hit choppy waters. Quality wise I would say they were a small step down from Televue but well worth owning, as i did for some time. The 30mm is a whopper though. I found the 30mm Meade matched up very well to the 31mm Nagler, I even read a review where the guy preferred the Meade.

alan

[Olli]

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

I had most of the Meade 82 range and we all feel these are the same optical elements as the ExSc, maybe coating differ though but they were made in the same place until Meade hit choppy waters. Quality wise I would say they were a small step down from Televue but well worth owning, as i did for some time. The 30mm is a whopper though. I found the 30mm Meade matched up very well to the 31mm Nagler, I even read a review where the guy preferred the Meade.

alan

Thanks Alan for the advice. ?

Think I’m going to get them the others that have been mentioned are slightly out my price range unless I wait for a bit longer. I was looking around and saw some  some others When they use the term Spacewalk is that just a marketing term or do some eyepieces  really give that feeling? 

[Owmuchonomy]

I sold my Baader Hyperions to fund pre-loved ES 82’ EPs due to the poor eye relief of the former. I’m very glad I did. The ES EPs do show some field curvature though when used in my 80 and 120mm frac. The best performer is the 14mm. It suits all my scopes including my 9.25 SCT.

[alan potts]

14 hours ago, Olli said:

Thanks Alan for the advice. ?

Think I’m going to get them the others that have been mentioned are slightly out my price range unless I wait for a bit longer. I was looking around and saw some  some others When they use the term Spacewalk is that just a marketing term or do some eyepieces  really give that feeling? 

I feel the term Space walk can be used with eyepieces like the Ethos range which are 100 degrees, though on those I can see the field stop if I try, but the shorter 4.7mm and 3.7mm with their 110 degree field really are made for that term.

Aalan

[johninderby]

Wonder what the Explore Scientific 2", 9mm, 120°  eyepiece is like?  ?