Explore Scientific 82º Series 6.7mm eyepiece?

[Cuto100200]

Anyone have any experience with this eyepiece? I'm stuck choosing between this (for wider field of view) and the Vixen SLV 6mm

 

Link to Explore Scientific: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/explore-scientific-eyepieces/explore-scientific-82-degree-series-eyepieces.html

 

[John]

If you are considering the ES 6.7 82 then you probably out to at least have a glance at the Nirvana 7mm. Also an 82 degree eyepiece and really rather good for it's price:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/ovl-nirvana-es-uwa-82-ultrawide-eyepieces.html

I used to have a Nirvana 4mm and it was a really nice very high power eyepiece

[Cuto100200]

6 minutes ago, John said:

If you are considering the ES 6.7 82 then you probably out to at least have a glance at the Nirvana 7mm. Also an 82 degree eyepiece and really rather good for it's price:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/ovl-nirvana-es-uwa-82-ultrawide-eyepieces.html

I used to have a Nirvana 4mm and it was a really nice very high power eyepiece

Thank you! Seeing as they're half the price would you say it's more worth getting the Nirvana 7mm and putting the extra money I would have spent buying a scientific toward something else? And would you say 6/7mm are appropriate flexible eyepieces for looking at some of the brighter DSO's with an 8" dob (1200 focal)? 

[bingevader]

The 4mm Nirvana OVL is lovely, I'm hoping to get the 7mm because it would be considerably cheaper than the ES.

I have the ES 18mm which I think is great, but others aren't so sure.

[JG777]

I have the ES.6.7 82mm and used it the other night for the first time in a while viewing the moon with one of my 80mm Apos. On nights of good seeing and conditions the 6.7 is nothing short of excellent, a really decent performer so no complaints from here. If however conditions are not near to very good I find the 8.8mm 82 is a much better choice. Haven't used or seen the OVL ones so can't comment on those. 

 

 

 

[John]

5 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

Thank you! Seeing as they're half the price would you say it's more worth getting the Nirvana 7mm and putting the extra money I would have spent buying a scientific toward something else? And would you say 6/7mm are appropriate flexible eyepieces for looking at some of the brighter DSO's with an 8" dob (1200 focal)? 

Personally I would go for the Nirvana over the ES 82's and save some money. The limitation with the Nirvana range is that there are only 3 focal lengths in the 1.25" size - 16mm, 7mm and 4mm.

6mm/7mm is quite a high power for DSO observing. It's OK for the small ones such as planetary nebulae but for galaxies, clusters and larger nebulae I would usually use lower magnifications. The 16mm Nirvana might be a more useful all round DSO eyepiece.

 

[Cuto100200]

44 minutes ago, John said:

Personally I would go for the Nirvana over the ES 82's and save some money. The limitation with the Nirvana range is that there are only 3 focal lengths in the 1.25" size - 16mm, 7mm and 4mm.

6mm/7mm is quite a high power for DSO observing. It's OK for the small ones such as planetary nebulae but for galaxies, clusters and larger nebulae I would usually use lower magnifications. The 16mm Nirvana might be a more useful all round DSO eyepiece.

 

Are there any other eyepieces in the 16-18mm type of range I should look at or would the Nirvana be the optimal choice? 

[Louis D]

19 minutes ago, Cuto100200 said:

Are there any other eyepieces in the 16-18mm type of range I should look at or would the Nirvana be the optimal choice? 

So you changed gears mid-thread.  If price is no object, and you must wear eyeglasses due to astigmatism, the 17mm ES-92 is my favorite in that focal length range.

[Cuto100200]

4 minutes ago, Louis D said:

So you changed gears mid-thread.  If price is no object, and you must wear eyeglasses due to astigmatism, the 17mm ES-92 is my favorite in that focal length range.

Just trying to get a good broad amount of information on all the stuff, I don't want to rush into buying stuff and then realise I should have got something else lol, and thank you for the suggestion, never heard of astigmatism, time to go search that up haha. 

I have an 8mm eyepiece, though I don't know much about the value of having an eyepiece in the sort of 14-18mm+ range 

[Louis D]

11 minutes ago, Cuto100200 said:

Just trying to get a good broad amount of information on all the stuff, I don't want to rush into buying stuff and then realise I should have got something else lol, and thank you for the suggestion, never heard of astigmatism, time to go search that up haha.

With regards to eye astigmatism:

1. Do you wear glasses?
2. If you do, check your prescription for CYL or Cylinder correction.  It will be quoted in diopters.  The bigger the number, the more astigmatism you have in your eye.
3. Check this chart from Tele Vue to get an idea at what exit pupils you can tolerate your astigmatism.  Exit pupil is the eyepiece focal length divided by your telescope's focal ratio.  Astigmatism less noticeable as power increases and exit pupil goes down.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Louis D

[John]

8 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

Are there any other eyepieces in the 16-18mm type of range I should look at or would the Nirvana be the optimal choice? 

The Nirvana is probably the best you can for for it's price. I think it would provide as good performance as the ES 6.7 for a lot less £'s which is why I suggested it.

My personal choice at 17mm are the currently the 17mm Explore Scientific 92 degrees and the Tele Vue Delos 17.3mm but these are £300 plus eyepieces if bought new. Big eyepieces as well

 

 

[John]

8 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

Just trying to get a good broad amount of information on all the stuff, I don't want to rush into buying stuff and then realise I should have got something else lol, and thank you for the suggestion, never heard of astigmatism, time to go search that up haha. 

I have an 8mm eyepiece, though I don't know much about the value of having an eyepiece in the sort of 14-18mm+ range 

Good idea not to rush !

There are so many eyepiece options that it takes time and some experience to work out which will be useful to you.

In general having a range of 4-5 eyepieces ranging from low power to high power is what you need. Many of us seem to end up with somewhat more than that though

 

 

[bingevader]

10 hours ago, John said:

Personally I would go for the Nirvana over the ES 82's and save some money. The limitation with the Nirvana range is that there are only 3 focal lengths in the 1.25" size - 16mm, 7mm and 4mm.

6mm/7mm is quite a high power for DSO observing. It's OK for the small ones such as planetary nebulae but for galaxies, clusters and larger nebulae I would usually use lower magnifications. The 16mm Nirvana might be a more useful all round DSO eyepiece.

 

I don't know what telescope cuto is using, but I don't find going much beyond my 14mm with the 8" dob very useful for DSOs.

Price wise, I'm not sure there's anything else in the same bracket as the OVL at 82º.

Just ordered the 7mm.

Edited April 30, 2020 by bingevader

[Louis D]

There's also the 7mm Celestron Luminos in that rough price range.

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, John said:

The Nirvana is probably the best you can for for it's price. I think it would provide as good performance as the ES 6.7 for a lot less £'s which is why I suggested it.

My personal choice at 17mm are the currently the 17mm Explore Scientific 92 degrees and the Tele Vue Delos 17.3mm but these are £300 plus eyepieces if bought new. Big eyepieces as well

 

 

I would add the 17.5mm Baader Morpheus.  It's supposed to be a top performer as well for less money than the Delos.

[John]

9 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I would add the 17.5mm Baader Morpheus.  It's supposed to be a top performer as well for less money than the Delos.

I would agree Louis but I didn't have one of those and I don't think I could have held all 3 with one hand !

 

[Stardaze]

13 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

Just trying to get a good broad amount of information on all the stuff, I don't want to rush into buying stuff and then realise I should have got something else lol, and thank you for the suggestion, never heard of astigmatism, time to go search that up haha. 

I have an 8mm eyepiece, though I don't know much about the value of having an eyepiece in the sort of 14-18mm+ range 

What I find handy,  is using the Cartes du Ciel comparison on the FLO website. You can add your scope and various eye pieces and see what view you get. It's in each EP section. Helped me to work out the field of view of 68 and 82 degree options. I've concocted a nice spread of EP's that I can work towards with a mix of the Nirvana and some more expensive additions. The Nirvana 16mm is being delivered tomorrow..

Edited April 30, 2020 by Stardaze

[Stardaze]

I should have also said that comparing the 68 degree versions against the 82 degree, is very interesting. I have been contemplating my next EP as being in the 24-30mm range and this comparison has helped me firm up that the ES 24 (82) is still a touch wider than the 28/30 options I was looking at, and wider than the TeleVue Panoptic 27, see here:

 

[John]

What that does not show is the effect of the additional magnification in darkening the background sky which in turn helps to enhance the contrast of deep sky objects. This is why I use my 21mm Ethos a lot more than the 31mm Nagler.

True field is one thing but contrast is also a very important part of deep sky observing.