SVBony eyepieces?

[Gonko]

So as a Christmas gift from the wife, she is looking to get me some eyepieces. As I wear glasses, some relief would be welcome, but don't want to spend lots of money as I'm only new to the hobby.
Currently I have a 25mm orion that came with my orion dob. 
I've the celestron 20mm, 15mm, 6mm and 4mm. The relief on the 6 and 4 is very bad. 
I've a 2 and 3x Barlow too. 
I'm looking for something with a wider afov and better relief. 
I came across svbony on amazon and seem great value. 
Has anyone any experience with these. 
They also do a 66degree afov range which also get good reviews and are cheaper. 
Anyway here is the set I'm looking at. Any advice welcome. 
Scope is Orion 8inch dob, 1200mm and f5.9.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Svbony-Eyepiec ... NrPXRydWU=

[johninderby]

The Svbony 62 degree eyepieces are plastic bodied with plastic lenses and a metal barrel. However the longer focal lengths are actually not that bad and are certainly usuable. I bought one of the 23mm ones to try and it is probably wotrh the small amount you pay but there are better ones out there for a bit more. Havent tried their wider angle ones so don’t know what they are like.

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by johninderby

[vlaiv]

Have no idea what they are like as I've not used them, but they do look conspicuously like known "gold line" range of eyepieces.

Maybe have a read on that line of EPs to get idea of their performance, although SVBony states 17mm eye relief for whole range - gold line eps differ in ER from 14.8 to 15mm and gold line is quoted at 66 degrees vs 68 of SVBony, EP sizes and range of magnifications seem to match that of gold line.

[vlaiv]

Btw, that line is branded differently, have a look at these examples:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-68-wa-eyepieces-125.html

(this seems to be exact match to SVBony ones you found on e-bay with matching price)

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p4923_TS-Optics-Ultra-Wide-Angle-Eyepiece-6-mm-1-25----66--field-of-view.html

https://www.telescope.com/6mm-Orion-Expanse-Telescope-Eyepiece/p/8920.uts

https://agenaastro.com/agena-6mm-enhanced-wide-angle-ewa-eyepiece.html

And I'm sure list does not end there ...

[banjaxed]

There is a discussion about lower priced eyepieces , Click on the link below.

 

 

[Carbon Brush]

Can I throw something else into the equation?

Why do you wear glasses?
What sort of correction do they offer?
Near/far/astigmatism/varifocal?

The reason for asking is that you do not need to use glasses with an eyepiece if it is just distance correction.

If there is astigmatic correction, then you can use contact lenses.

Either solution gives you a free choice on eyepieces.

You can also buy certain eyepeices with 'bolt on' astigmatism correction. But not as SVbony prices!

Hope this helps, David.

[vlaiv]

On the other hand, for price of that four SVBony eyepieces you can almost get 4 BST Starguiders that are known to work very well.

FLO offers 15% discount on 4 or more EPs purchased, and stock price is £47 for single EP, so if you purchase 4 of them (5, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 25mm focal lengths available and each of them has 16mm eye relief and 60 degrees of AFOV and will work fine on F/6 scope) that will cost you only 20 quid more than offer you linked to.

[Gonko]

1 hour ago, Carbon Brush said:

Can I throw something else into the equation?

Why do you wear glasses?
What sort of correction do they offer?
Near/far/astigmatism/varifocal?

The reason for asking is that you do not need to use glasses with an eyepiece if it is just distance correction.

If there is astigmatic correction, then you can use contact lenses.

Either solution gives you a free choice on eyepieces.

You can also buy certain eyepeices with 'bolt on' astigmatism correction. But not as SVbony prices!

Hope this helps, David.

I use glasses for astigmatism. 

I can't get contacts as I have an issue with anything coming close to my eye. I've tried to use them, but to no avail. 

At the moment my 6 and 4mm is like looking through a straw hole and I tend not to even bother with them....which means I tend not to go after planets....which is a shame. 

I'm looking for decent eyepieces that will allow good eye relief with those focal ep lengths. The afov of the svbony range seems like an added bonus. I'm just unclear as to how they are. Are they budget crap or actually decent. 

For example,, the 20mm ep that came with my celestron astromaster was total garbage. Poor fov for the focal length and a little dark when chasing dso. 

My 25mm orion siris by comparison is much better. As I say, this came with my scope used and is quite good. 

Edited December 8, 2019 by Gonko

[John]

I think these are the same eyepieces optically but £40 less expensive and in less flashy bodies:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BFWFVNP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFZN0xVOTZHTDcxTTUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA3MDIzOTYxNTVFVU1ONklUSU4wJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwNDE2MjYxVjE3WDYwV1c5V0M3JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsMiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

They have been marketed under a lot of different brandings over the years including Skywatcher.  In your 8 inch F/5.9 dob they work quite well. The 9mm is the best one. Dont expect the stars at the field edges to be sharp though.

I've owned and used a set quite happily but that was quite a few years back and my scope then was an F/10 5 inch schmidt cassegrain.

 

 

[DaveL59]

49 minutes ago, Gonko said:

I use glasses for astigmatism. 

I can't get contacts as I have an issue with anything coming close to my eye. I've tried to use them, but to no avail. 

At the moment my 6 and 4mm is like looking through a straw hole and I tend not to even bother with them....which means I tend not to go after planets....which is a shame. 

I'm looking for decent eyepieces that will allow good eye relief with those focal ep lengths. The afov of the svbony range seems like an added bonus. I'm just unclear as to how they are. Are they budget crap or actually decent. 

For example,, the 20mm ep that came with my celestron astromaster was total garbage. Poor fov for the focal length and a little dark when chasing dso. 

My 25mm orion siris by comparison is much better. As I say, this came with my scope used and is quite good. 

to help with eye relief can't you use the longer FL EP in a barlow and in effect have the same eye relief but a shorter FL and increased mag?

So in a 2x barlow your 25mm would be 12.5mm equivalent. A 12mm EP would get you to 6mm etc.

Just a thought as might save some funds and give easier viewing.

[John]

2 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

to help with eye relief can't you use the longer FL EP in a barlow and in effect have the same eye relief but a shorter FL and increased mag?

So in a 2x barlow your 25mm would be 12.5mm equivalent. A 12mm EP would get you to 6mm etc.

Just a thought as might save some funds and give easier viewing.

A barlow lens actually increases the eye relief. This can be a blessing or a curse depending on your preferences.

 

[Louis D]

I use the 23mm 62 degree aspheric in my binoviewers with the eyecup pulled off for widest field views, and they work great for that purpose.  Of course, I'm generally operating at f/18 with a 2x barlow nosepiece achieving 3x ahead of the binoviewer so I can reach focus.

Below are images taken of and through this eyepiece and others close to it in focal length in my f/6 AT72ED refractor.  I have the same issue with strong astigmatism and inability to wear contacts, so the vast majority of my eyepieces have long eye relief.  These are from a thread I started showing the views of and through all of my eyepieces.  I've never tried the 66 degree Svbony eyepieces at 6mm and 9mm because of reports of strong SAEP (kidney-beaning) which drives me nuts.  The 15mm and 20mm versions are just modified Erfles/Konigs, so have poor edge correction.

I would start out with the BST Starguiders (i.e., AT Paradigms).  I compared them to the Meade 5000 HD-60 line, and the only major difference is they lack a bit in eye relief thanks to the eyecup design.

[Science562h]

Yeah, I have some experience, with the brand. I bought this set, like 7 years ago for a used $40 Power Seeker 130EQ, that only had 1 eyepiece. I didn't have EPs, at the time & needed something. The EPs are way more widefield than the Kellners. Lenses are real widefield for 1.25 in eyepieces. This set is extremely cheap but for the price, you get instant magnification  & a functional viewing set. They are unbranded & intended for Celestron. This set is not, like the Orion & Apertura 25 mm Plossl though. I don't know, who makes them. 

Image 1. 4, 10 and 23 mm 62°eyepiece set.

SVbony has a 72 series 34 mm 72° Super Wide Angle (SWA) eyepiece. This one is excellent & has the SVbony label on it. I use it, over the Orion Q70, when deep sky searching & looking, at entire fields, with a 12 in DOB. The view is outright amazing! I find it to be the clearest & most enjoyable overall EP in my set. This SVbony is an entirely different EP though for a different market.

2 inch SVBONY 72-Series    44x    34 mm         72°        SWA    5-Element    Full-Multicoat     True Field of View= 1.63°

Image 2. Third from left, 2 inch SVbony 34mm eyepiece. 2020.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Science562h

[Louis D]

17 hours ago, Science562h said:

SVbony has a 72 series 34 mm 72° Super Wide Angle (SWA) eyepiece. This one is excellent & has the SVbony label on it. I use it, over the Orion Q70, when deep sky searching & looking, at entire fields, with a 12 in DOB. The view is outright amazing! I find it to be the clearest & most enjoyable overall EP in my set.

I'm curious how it performs in the outer 25% of the field.  Does it maintain pinpoint stars to the edge?  Do you have to refocus the edge for best focus (flat-field)?  Do stars change from lateral to radial lines on either side of focus out near the edge (astigmatism)?  Do stars smear into radial rainbows near the edge (chromatic aberration)?  Even if there are some of these issues, are they pretty minor in comparison to your Q70?

How's the eye relief?  Can you see the entire field with eyeglasses (or can you pull back a ways and still see the entire field if you don't wear eyeglasses)?

Not much has been reported on this intriguing eyepiece so far.

[John]

The Q70 was one of the least well corrected wide field eyepieces that I've used in my F/5.3 12 inch dob. The outer 1/3rd of the field of view showed quite strong astigmatism. Another similar one was the Meade 26mm QX - why they provide one as stock with the Lightbridge 12 inc F/4.9 is beyond me - they really don't show the capabilities of the scope off at all plus reach focus at a point that is nearly at the end of the focusser outwards travel.

Here is BillP's take on the Vite 23mm Aspheric from CN:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/503147-vite-23m-aspheric/?p=6644583

Decent performer at F/8 at least.

 

[Louis D]

28 minutes ago, John said:

The Q70 was one of the least well corrected wide field eyepieces that I've used in my F/5.3 12 inch dob. The outer 1/3rd of the field of view showed quite strong astigmatism. Another similar one was the Meade 26mm QX - why they provide one as stock with the Lightbridge 12 inc F/4.9 is beyond me - they really don't show the capabilities of the scope off at all plus reach focus at a point that is nearly at the end of the focusser outwards travel.

That's why I asked how the 34mm SVBony compares to it, since the Q70 sets a pretty low bar to compare against.  It probably wouldn't be fair to compare it to a 35mm Panoptic, though if by some miracle it equalled it, that would be news.

[JonCarleton]

I have a 34mm 2" SVBONY coming from eBay.  I'll report on it when (if ever) it arrives.  Stuff from China presently has untold delays.

Edited March 8, 2020 by JonCarleton

[JonCarleton]

OK..received the SVBony 34mm 2" eyepiece and tried it last evening. With nothing similar with which to compare it, I can only say that it does what I intended.  Tough to beat the price, but it performs well and I see no problems for its use.  It has very good eye relief and no abnormalities that my limited experience can detect.  I am very pleased with the field of view, especially compared to using a stock 10mm with a reducer for sky scanning and "just looking up."

Edited March 8, 2020 by JonCarleton

[Louis D]

They're down to about $59 shipped from China, so pretty cheap I'd say.

I noticed that they claim a field stop diameter of 40mm which translates into a 67 or 68 degree AFOV, well short of the claimed 72 degrees.  It must have quite a bit of edge magnification distortion to get that extra 4 degrees of apparent field.

By comparison, my 35mm Baader Scopos Extreme claims 70 degrees but is actually 66 degrees AFOV.  I measured it as having a 39mm field stop.  My 35mm Aero ED claims a 68 degree AFOV, but is actually 73 degrees with a measured 44.4mm field stop.  The SVBONY seems to fit right in between the two and is about 2 ounces heavier than the Aero ED.

[JonCarleton]

There is some noticeable minor edge distortion, but the wide view field of a 2"  eyepiece coupled with the long relief makes it almost uncomfortable to look that the extreme edges of the field of view.   At that price point, it is still better than a few I have seen that dug a bit deeper into your wallet.

And yes, mine was recently shipped from China.  I choose not to lick it.

[Louis D]

12 hours ago, JonCarleton said:

And yes, mine was recently shipped from China.  I choose not to lick it.

Good call. 😉

Thankfully, the virus is supposed to live less than 9 days on surfaces, and it takes about 2 weeks to ship items from China to the US, so I think we're good on that point.

[John]

The 34mm 72 degree Svbony eyepiece looks much like the William Optics SWAN 33mm 72 degree doesn't it. I wonder if they are the same item optically ?

 

[Louis D]

36 minutes ago, John said:

The 34mm 72 degree Svbony eyepiece looks much like the William Optics SWAN 33mm 72 degree doesn't it. I wonder if they are the same item optically ?

The do look very similar, lens arrangement is the same, eye relief is 1mm different, and weight is 40g different.  The SVBONY alone claims to use aspheric lens(es).  Perhaps the SWAN design was tweaked and re-released?  I'm not going to buy both to try to find out, though.  Perhaps they could revise the 40mm SWAN as well and re-release it?

[bomberbaz]

On 08/12/2019 at 16:22, Gonko said:

I use glasses for astigmatism. 

I can't get contacts as I have an issue with anything coming close to my eye. I've tried to use them, but to no avail. 

At the moment my 6 and 4mm is like looking through a straw hole and I tend not to even bother with them....which means I tend not to go after planets....which is a shame. 

I'm looking for decent eyepieces that will allow good eye relief with those focal ep lengths. The afov of the svbony range seems like an added bonus. I'm just unclear as to how they are. Are they budget crap or actually decent. 

For example,, the 20mm ep that came with my celestron astromaster was total garbage. Poor fov for the focal length and a little dark when chasing dso. 

My 25mm orion siris by comparison is much better. As I say, this came with my scope used and is quite good. 

I wear glasses for astigmatism, and mine is quite a strong prescription.

However it's not all bad news.

I find that once the exit pupil falls below 3mm the astigmatism falls away. So I need glasses with two of my lower power eyepieces in my sig below. Although I actually use an astigmatism corrector (Televue Dioptrix is the name) so I don't actually need my specs at all really.

There are numerous calculators out there which will work out your exit pupil. Anyway I did a quick check for you and anything above 18 will potentially leave you needing glasses as this eyepiece gives a 3mm exit pupil. You may get away with slightly higher but that's my limit with my prescription.