Generic 2" oculars

[azrabella]

Looking for a 26-32mm 2" 70 degree fov eyepiece and am confused by the plethora of generics out there. Initially interested in a Panaview, but on seeing very similar spec eyepieces I am wondering if they are not all coming out of the same factory. Prices sem to be reasonably consistant but how about quality? So now I am somewhat confused. Most, it seems, say something like SWA 70° 26mm - see below, but do not mention brand. Any advice on this.

Edited August 18, 2019 by azrabella

[John]

There are a few manufacturers in China and Taiwan that produce a lot of equipment. Some of it has brand names on it and some is sold "unbranded". Usually the unbranded items cost less than the branded ones but can be good value because you still get the same level of performance.

I have seen the 38, 32 and 26mm SWA eyepieces (like your picture) for sale under many different brandings and I've owned the 38mm, 32mm and 26mm SWAs in their unbranded form. The 32mm is the best performing one of the 3 in my opinion.

They are pretty good if your scope is F/8 or slower but show quite a bit of edge of field astigmatism in faster scopes.

Like you, I suspect that these are the same eyepieces as the Skywatcher Panaviews but with a slightly different finish.

 

[Louis D]

The best bet for 70 degrees at 30mm is the APM UFF, though it is probably out of your budget.  If you come across a used 30mm Widescan III clone such as the UW 30 mm 80° or 30mm Agena UWA 80 for $70 or less, they're a pretty decent performer that mainly suffer from field curvature.  If you're younger and can accomodate that FC, then they're not so bad.  The 35mm Aero ED is also no too bad of a mid-priced performer either.  See below for some comparison images I took through these and some other low power eyepieces I own:

[F15Rules]

John's nailed it there I feel. If you are new to 2" viewing, these eyepieces are a pretty low cost way of trying this out.

I also felt the 32mmm was the pick of the bunch..

Dave

[pregulla]

Same focal length and AFoV doesn't nesessarily mean they are the same design. There is also Meade QX 2" 26mm, which is reportedly worse performer than the Panaview or Orion Q70. If you have F/10 or slower scope you can give it a try, with something like F/6 or faster I wouldn't bother.

[John]

40 minutes ago, pregulla said:

Same focal length and AFoV doesn't nesessarily mean they are the same design....

No, but having looked at and through some of them I think a number of them are the same units.

I agree that the Meade QX 26mm is a worse performer though - why they supplied it as the stock eyepiece with Meade Lightbridge dobsonians is beyond me. As well as the poor edge correction the QX 26mm needs so much outwards focuser movement that you can barely get it to focus with those scopes

[azrabella]

I thank you guys for your input, because of my limited expenditure I think I'll have to go for the Panaview 32mm, unless someone can suggest a better one for the same (ideally second hand) price.