Carl Zeiss Jena Eyepieces

[Dave1]

So lastnight I gave my CZJ H-25 and H-16 its first light. I used my Towa 339 80mm F15 to conduct the test. What can I say, other than they gave very sharp views. So sharp I was taken by surprise. I looked at Jupiter, Saturn, Arcturus, Castor, Beehive Cluster, Iota Cancri. I think I also looked at 17 Comae Berenices, but I need to check that. At times when looking at Jupiter I could see 4 belts. North and South equatorial belts, and north and south temperate belts. I could see structure in the north equatorial belt particularly, a dark concentration.

Why I say these CZJ Huygens surprised me, is because for the first time in a long time, I got lost in the moment. I got that good warm fuzzy feeling inside when something is just "right". I stuck the CZJ H-25 in and just browsed cruised the night sky, sitting at zenith for awhile, happy just to aim indiscriminately, with out a care at what I was looking. If I found something interesting. Then I would swap out the H-25 for the H-16. Then back to the H-25 and I would just pan here or there. Its been a very very long time since I did this, was just content. 

I did compare the H-16 to my nearest eyepiece at the beginning of the evening. Which was a Edmund Optics 15mm RKE. I thought the H-16 was just a tad sharper and rendered high contrast details better. Subconsciously the H-16 stayed in my diagonal!

That is just it and the real indication for me. That the CZJ Huygens eyepieces stay in the focuser subconsciously. I am an observer that is always swapping eyepieces to see which one is best. Well not tonight! And that says a lot in itself!

I am now in a position of, do I keep an eye out for WW2 era Zeiss Huygens, so I can get shorter focal lengths, the brass body Zeiss Huygens are suppose to be even better optically. Or even get CZJ Ortho's or Pentax SMC Ortho in 0.965". Lastnight was a real eye opener just to what a very good 0.965" eyepiece can do. 

Believe it or not I was going to try and go down the one eyepiece line root, thought it would be Brandon's ! Not so sure now! Still buying different eyepieces trying to decided which eyepiece line to choose 🤣

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Dave1

[Doc]

I used to love my green eyepieces and had a complete set of Delos and a few Naglers and then I discovered Clave of Paris eyepieces and even though they only have a FOV of 48° I just loved them, they were sharper, and showed more detail, and were comfortable as all my viewing is done in the centre.

If you love the Huygens just wait to you try the ortho's they are sharper still. They are on my list to collect as well.

[Dave1]

The 0.965" Pentax SMX Ortho's are on my "watch" list. They are suppose to be as good as ZAO-I. You know going back 3-4 years ago, there was a fairly complete set of Clave Plossls on eBay. At the time, I thought "they're expensive for what they are". If I new then what I know now! In hindsight they were not that badly priced at all! Even had the wood presentation box.

A 0.965" Clave Plossl with 48 degrees is more than my 1.25" Brandon, Edmund RKE, and Ortho's. The Clave having 48 degrees, sounds good to me.

David

[Doc]

Clave done different sizes to the rest they were: 27mm, 1 1/4", 50mm and a 2". I don't think they never had a 0.965" size eyepiece.

As for FOV eyepieces from 3mm to 45mm had a FOV of 48°.  55mm had a FOV of 42°. 65mm had a FOV of 37°. And the large 75mm had a FOV of 32°.

[Dave1]

Ah there you go! I remembered the wrong size. Probably a set of 1.25" then! I live and learn.

[F15Rules]

Nice report Dave

The small CZJs are nice eyepieces. I especially liked the 10-0 (Ortho), which I found to be very sharp. The Telementor 60mm F13 refractor came in most cases with 10-0 and 16-0 orthos and the 25mm Huygenian as standard equipment, and all gave lovely views..with an easily available 0.965" to 1.25" sleeve, they perform well in modern scopes too.

I have a lovely vintage Tak MC (multi coated) 18mm Ortho in 0.965" with a good quality 1.25" sleeve, and in my Tak FS128 the views of the moon are just jaw dropping - every bit as good in quality the Pentax XW range, apart from the field of view. Also, the 1.25" sleeve is threaded to accept my Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow: this gives 2.25x magnification, so when used with my Tak 18mm gives me an effective 8mm eyepiece, or x130 power - a 1mm exit pupil and ideal for splitting close double stars with beautiful stellar images.

I must try this combination in my own Meade 339 F15 which had the Moonraker treatment a few years ago. I'm sure it will deliver superb views, at F15 the bottom of a Coke bottle would work well too!🤣

The Pentax SMC 5mm is indeed considered to be an all time great eyepiece of it's type (I've not had the pleasure of using one), however these days I find a 5mm Ortho to have much too short eye relief for comfortable observing, I would far rather use a longer FL and Barlow it, to retain half decent eye relief, as with my Tak 18mm mentioned above (see pics below).

Good luck with your search for an smc (or XO) Pentax if you do decide to go that route! 

Dave

Edited April 23, 2020 by F15Rules

[F15Rules]

[Dave1]

Hi Dave ( @F15Rules )

Thanks for the lengthy reply! Your Mead 339 set up is very impressive. I doubt you get any problem with dew with a dew shield that size! The rings look very beefy, the rings look like Moonraker build, perfectly matches the mount! 

I've read the 0.965" Takahashi Ortho are as good as the CZJ Ortho's. Which is good news if its true, as the Taks are usually cheaper from what I've been able to research. The CZJ O-10 is suppose to be a very goot eyepiece. I'm going to be keeping an eye out for any quality 0.965" eyepiece, to see what prices they are. Good quality costs, doesn't matter what size it is. Then make a decision. 

Funny you mention about your 0.965" eyepiece adapter accepting the Baader 2.25x barlow. I noticed lastnight that my Baader 0.965" eyepiece adapter accepts 1.25" filters, which means it will accept a Baader 2.25x barlow, which I just so happen to have!

David

Edited April 23, 2020 by Dave1

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, Dave1 said:

I doubt you get any problem with dew with a dew shield that size! The rings look very beefy, the rings look like Moonraker build, perfectly matches the mount! 

Hi David,

Yes, the dewshield is a beast..if anything, a bit too long and heavy (it does significantly alter the balance point of the scope), but I think it does finish the scope off nicely in terms of aesthetics😃.

The rings are typical of Moonraker, very solid polished aluminium, and work well. My only criticism is that I'd prefer wingnuts or knurled knobs for adjusting them to rotate the tube, rather than the hex nuts which need an Allen key to be kept handy and is more fiddly at night😁.

Dave

[Alan White]

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I know this is Dave1's eyepiece thread, but where did that GPDX sneak in from Dave F15Rules?

As to nice simple older glass, well that is a rabbit hole (that you have fallen down with a thump) and like all things astro make get a touch expensive.
But a nice affliction to have after all.

@Dave1, nice to see back about and astronomising;
at one point I thought we might lose you, glad you are out and about....or not as to speak atb present.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Alan White

[F15Rules]

Hi Alan,

Sorry about the GPDX pic, it was actually just posted to show David my ex Meade 80mm F15 OTA, which was turned into the polished aluminium prototype in the photo by Mark Turner at Moonraker about 5 years ago😃.

Sadly the GPDX went a few months ago, so the OTA is technically mount less at the moment, I will probably get an adapter to allow it to fit into my Tak EM2 equatorial, which would hold it nicely.

Dave

[Alan White]

Hello to you as well Dave.

That's made me chuckle .....''sorry about the GPDX'', what's to be sorry about.
Out of interest, how did it handle the f15?

 

[Dave1]

@Alan White thanks , it's good to be back. I have definitely fallen down the old glass rabbit hole that's for sure. I've already found a 0.965" Tak Ortho MC for sale of the 7mm variety. 

@F15Rules The Vixen GPDX looks brill and I've heard they are very good. Mind you I'd imagine that a Tak EM2 to be out of this world!

David

Edited April 23, 2020 by Dave1

[F15Rules]

On 23/04/2020 at 19:49, Alan White said:

Hello to you as well Dave.

That's made me chuckle .....''sorry about the GPDX'', what's to be sorry about.
Out of interest, how did it handle the f15?

 

Hi Alan,

The GPDX handled the long F15 OTA beautifully. It's a good deal more solid than the standard GP and has a load capacity of around 10.5kg (for visual I think it would take a little more if the scope was shorter).

I do sometimes remove the dewshield if sky conditions are very good, that takes almost a foot off the scope's length!

On 23/04/2020 at 20:32, Dave1 said:

@Alan Whitee

@F15Rules The Vixen GPDX looks brill and I've heard they are very good. Mind you I'd imagine that a Tak EM2 to be out of this world!

David

Hi David,

Yes the Tak mount is superb. The build quality and smoothness is amazing and it tracks beautifully. (There is actually one very similar for sale on UKABS at the moment, very unusually).

What I like is that it is so simple to operate..no go-to, no declination drive, just a very reliable R.A. drive, that when visually aligned with Polaris through the supplied illuminated polar scope, just keeps the object centred for at least 20-30 minutes, much longer if I do a proper alignment.

Also, I have now had the scope (FS128) and mount for 3 years, and have only had to replace the batteries once in that time.

In weight.and size I would say the EM2 and Vixen GPDX are very similar to each other: if you think of build quality, the GPDX is very noticeably better than a Skywatcher EQ5/HEQ5, and the Tak EM2 is very noticeably superior to the GPDX- but that is not in any way to talk down the GPDX, which continues to offer amazing value on the used market!

Dave

[estwing]

Fantastic ep's ...never go anywhere without my Zeiss, perfect in my Telementor