Pricey zooms worth the money?

[John]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

How does the Hyperflex perform in regards to reflections, ghosting and scatter? I've wondered about getting one for h-alpha but wonder if that might push it a bit too far. 

I keep swapping mine out with my Pentax XWs expecting the XWs to be noticeably better with regard to the issues that you mention but the differences are really quite small if I'm honest. Having spent the best part of £1K on the Pentaxes I'd love them to be markedly better but I'm really not seeing that big jump other than the AFoV and a bit more eye relief 

There probably are slight improvements at times and on particular targets but, at least for me, they don't jump right out. hence the zoom gets more use than I thought it would.

I did use the zoom with my Lunt LS50 when I had it and it worked nicely. It's also good with the Lunt Herschel Wedge in white light.

 

 

 

[Ricochet]

Thanks, John. Sounds like it might be worth me getting one then to keep with the scope. 

[Don Pensack]

Zooms will be interesting to me when they go from 70° at the low power to 90° or so at the highest power.

The only one that even comes close is the Leica Aspherical Zoom 8.9mm-17.8mm which is 57°-78° (measured).

It is one of 4 expensive zooms, the others made by Nikon, Swarovski and Zeiss (which all need adapters to use in telescopes).

The Baader Mark IV 8-24mm is more of a mid-range zoom, while most of the others are of the inexpensive class.

All Zooms are fun to use, though, so even though I regard them as too much of an optical compromise, I still keep a Baader Zoom around for playing around.

It is a lot better eyepiece than the similarly-priced ones from other companies, especially from 12mm down to 8mm.

So far, though, the only one that has truly rivaled separate fixed power eyepieces is the Leica.

I wonder how many of these are the same zoom in a different housing:

Agena	Zoom	7-21
Agena	Zoom	8-24
Altair Astro (UK)	Lightwave Zoom Premium	8-24
Apertura	Zoom	9-27
Astromania	Zoom	7-21
Astromania	Zoom	8-24
Baader Planetarium	Mark IV Zoom w/click-stops	8-24
Celestron	Zoom	8-24
Discovery	Zoom	7-23
Discovery	Zoom	8-24
Leica	Aspherical Zoom	8.9-17.8
Lunt	"Solar Eyepieces"	7.2-21.5
Meade	Series 4000 Zoom	8-24
Meopta	Zoom	7.3-14.6
Omegon	APO Zoom	7-21
Omegon	Cronus Zoom	7.2-21.5
Omegon	Flatfield Zoom	7.5-22.5
Omegon	Magnum Zoom	8-24
OpticStar (Opticstar Brand)	Zoom	7.2-21.5
OpticStar (Opticstar Brand)	Zoom	7.5-22.5
Orion	E-Series Zoom	7-21
Orion	Lanthanum Zoom	8-24
Orion	Zooom!	7.2-21.5
OVL (First Light Optics)	Hyperflex Zoom	9-27
OVL (First Light Optics)	Hyperflex Zoom	7.2-21.5
Pentax	XF ZOOM	6.5-19.5
Pentax	XL Zoom	8-24
Russell Optics	Zoom	8-16
Saxon Australia	Zoom	7-21
Saxon Australia	Zoom	8-24
Sky Mentor (Khan Scope, Canada)	Zoom	7-21
Sky Mentor (Khan Scope, Canada)	Zoom	8-24
Skywatcher	Hyperflex Zoom	9-27
Skywatcher	Hyperflex Zoom	7.2-21.5
Skywatcher	Zoom	7-21
Skywatcher	Zoom	8-24
Telescope Service	Planetary HR	7.2-21.5
Telescope Service	Zoom	7-21
TeleVue	Nagler	3-6
Vixen	Zoom	8-24

[John]

38 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

...I wonder how many of these are the same zoom in a different housing:

Agena	Zoom	7-21
Agena	Zoom	8-24
Altair Astro (UK)	Lightwave Zoom Premium	8-24
Apertura	Zoom	9-27
Astromania	Zoom	7-21
Astromania	Zoom	8-24
Baader Planetarium	Mark IV Zoom w/click-stops	8-24
Celestron	Zoom	8-24
Discovery	Zoom	7-23
Discovery	Zoom	8-24
Leica	Aspherical Zoom	8.9-17.8
Lunt	"Solar Eyepieces"	7.2-21.5
Meade	Series 4000 Zoom	8-24
Meopta	Zoom	7.3-14.6
Omegon	APO Zoom	7-21
Omegon	Cronus Zoom	7.2-21.5
Omegon	Flatfield Zoom	7.5-22.5
Omegon	Magnum Zoom	8-24
OpticStar (Opticstar Brand)	Zoom	7.2-21.5
OpticStar (Opticstar Brand)	Zoom	7.5-22.5
Orion	E-Series Zoom	7-21
Orion	Lanthanum Zoom	8-24
Orion	Zooom!	7.2-21.5
OVL (First Light Optics)	Hyperflex Zoom	9-27
OVL (First Light Optics)	Hyperflex Zoom	7.2-21.5
Pentax	XF ZOOM	6.5-19.5
Pentax	XL Zoom	8-24
Russell Optics	Zoom	8-16
Saxon Australia	Zoom	7-21
Saxon Australia	Zoom	8-24
Sky Mentor (Khan Scope, Canada)	Zoom	7-21
Sky Mentor (Khan Scope, Canada)	Zoom	8-24
Skywatcher	Hyperflex Zoom	9-27
Skywatcher	Hyperflex Zoom	7.2-21.5
Skywatcher	Zoom	7-21
Skywatcher	Zoom	8-24
Telescope Service	Planetary HR	7.2-21.5
Telescope Service	Zoom	7-21
TeleVue	Nagler	3-6
Vixen	Zoom	8-24

Lots I expect, but not the Nagler zoom

The Nagler zoom is one that I do think rivals good quality fixed focal length alternatives.

 

[alan potts]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Lots I expect, but not the Nagler zoom

The Nagler zoom is one that I do think rivals good quality fixed focal length alternatives.

 

I feel you may see a bigger difference when you use XW's in a faster scope. I had 8-5mm zoom with an 82 degree FOV, the name of which has completely gone from the dormant organ in my head. It was decent in the centre but at the edges the wheels feel off. Fully agree with the Nagler zoom. 

Alan

[Steve Clay]

I use the Hyperflex for normal and Ha viewing. As a glasses wearer I find the eye relief good. Pretty much parafocal throughout the range with a little tweak at the  7.2 end. Ideal for finding the seeing limitation.

[Don Pensack]

1 hour ago, alan potts said:

I feel you may see a bigger difference when you use XW's in a faster scope. I had 8-5mm zoom with an 82 degree FOV, the name of which has completely gone from the dormant organ in my head. It was decent in the centre but at the edges the wheels feel off. Fully agree with the Nagler zoom. 

Alan

Speers-WALER

[Paz]

I would go with a cheap zoom if the objective is to work out what fixed focal length eyepieces you want, but take care to allow for the fact that the apparent field of view of the zoom eyepiece may vary over its range.

I use a zoom for travel or for very short sessions where I don't want to be dealing with lots of eyepieces, and also when it's very cold and I don't want to be taking my hands out of my gloves to change eyepieces.

[globular]

24 minutes ago, Paz said:

when it's very cold and I don't want to be taking my hands out of my gloves to change eyepieces

astrogloves 

 

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, globular said:

astrogloves 

 

I fail to see how these keep your fingertips warm in sub-zero F temps unless you keep your hands in a hand warmer waist pouch while observing.  I'm more partial to ice fishing gloves with flip-up mitten covers.

[globular]

35 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I fail to see how these keep your fingertips warm in sub-zero F temps

It's surprising how keeping the majority of my hands and fingers warm makes the odd colder fingertip bearable.
I sketch too so the constant fiddling with your favoured flip-up mitten covers, not just occasionally for eyepiece changes, makes them impractical for me.
And now I'm used to it I prefer them even when I not sketching.
It's a good job we're not all the same and a variety of solutions are available to meet our differing priorities 

 

[IB20]

On 11/11/2020 at 01:59, johninderby said:

I used to have a Baader zoom, and while it was good it wasn’t much of a difference over the Hyperflex or one of it’s clones. Just a bit of an  improvement. Have been testing one of the Svbony 10-30 zooms and it is also rather good.

Zooms are great for first use in a scope as they give you a chance to find the optimum magnifiation before switching to a fixed focal length eyepiece although sometimes don’t get round to a regular eyepiece.

 

 

 

On 11/11/2020 at 01:17, John said:

It is a continuous zoom (no click stops). I would say that it is optically about the same as the Baader 8-24 but the field of view is narrower - around 38 degrees at 21.5mm to around 55 degrees at 7.2mm.

It barlows well with the Baader 2.25x Q-Turret barlow to give a 9.55mm - 3.2mm zoom.

 

 

 

 

Cheers, the 6mm BCO was next in-line to be purchased but that has been parked for now and I've just pulled the trigger on the Hyperflex 7-21.5mm from FLO. Have never used a zoom before so very much looking forward to it, hopefully it works well with my TV 2x barlow as well. 

[LDW1]

On 10/11/2020 at 08:10, DaveL59 said:

I have both the SV135 (7-21) and SV171 (8-24) zooms, they are nicely made and perform well optically from the brief outings they've been able to have so far 😉 The SV171 is huge and heavy but potentially better optically but the smaller SV135 works very well and is a more "normal" size and weight. Adding a good 2x Barlow they still perform very well so to me they are an easy recommendation. Going direct to their store on Ali current retail is USD 49 and arrives in a week ish so they are a bargain at the moment.

I'm sure the Baader will be better, but £100 better? Can't comment as I don't have the Baader to compare against but others will be along I'm sure.

Svbony 10-30 zoom is no slouch either ! I have all 3.

[LDW1]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:44, DaveL59 said:

to give a sense of scale, pic shows the SV171, SV135 and regular NPL 20mm and TAL 25mm plossl

Note the overhang on the SV171 which can obstruct/lean against the eyepiece retaining/locking screw. Did I mention it's pretty heavy? 😉 

The 171 has great performance vs the cost, I have all three of their models as well as Meade and Orion models !

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, LDW1 said:

The 171 has great performance vs the cost, I have all three of their models as well as Meade and Orion models !

Sounds like its time for a 5-way zoom shootout. 😁  I'm especially interested in usable eye relief characteristics, mechanism smoothness, and sharpness/contrast center to edge across the focal length range.

[Mark at Beaufort]

SVbony 10-30mm delivered today and is currently installed in my Heritage 130P scope. This is a brilliant little zoom for £45.99 and already had views of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars plus numerous DSOs - fuller report to follow.

I like this zoom already.

[LDW1]

12 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Sounds like its time for a 5-way zoom shootout. 😁  I'm especially interested in usable eye relief characteristics, mechanism smoothness, and sharpness/contrast center to edge across the focal length range.

And they are parfocal !

[Solar B]

In response to the topic title I would say yes as you do get what you pay for 

But as ever they are subject (like any EP) to the laws of diminishing returns ...

My money would be on the Baader as you've got to go some to beat that , i normally 

use the Leica ASPH for everything now but would love to try the Pentax XL zoom  (not XF) 

Brian 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Solar B

[LDW1]

24 minutes ago, Solar B said:

In response to the topic title I would say yes as you do get what you pay for 

But as ever they are subject (like any EP) to the laws of diminishing returns ...

My money would be on the Baader as you've got to go some to beat that , i normally 

use the Leica ASPH for everything now but would love to try the Pentax XL zoom  (not XF) 

Brian 

 

 

As a famous singer once wrote “ the times they are a changin’ “, and fast !

[johninderby]

This new crop of zooms are remarkably good for the money. I would say the Hyperflex and clones are about 90% as good as the Baader if not better. Been testing the new Svbony 10 - 30 zoom and am very impressed. A really nice zoom to use. 

Used to have a Baader but now wouldn’t buy another one as it’s a big increase in price for not a huge improvement. 

Would love to have theLeica zoom though. 👍🏻

Edited November 14, 2020 by johninderby

[John]

I had the Leica ASPH zoom and the Baader VIP barlow combination for a while. I was thinking that my Pentax and Tele Vue eyepieces would be soon made redundant but it didn't quite happen for me 

I've had 3 of the Baader zooms - a Mk II and a couple of Mk III's. Didn't really take to those either. The 7.2-21.5 zoom, especially used with the 2.25x Baader barlow has been the first zoom that I've really taken to.

I guess the answer to the OP's questions is, well it depends who you ask !

 

 

[DaveL59]

2 minutes ago, John said:

 

I guess the answer to the OP's questions is, well it depends who you ask !

 

 

Also what they are comparing against. For me the Svbony 7-21 & 8-24 are very good but then my main eyepieces are TAL Plossl, Vixen NPL and a couple of old ortho's which to me all give good views, the NPL perhaps a little more relaxed than the Plossls. I guess if you are more used to high end eyepieces they maybe won't seem as good so the caveat on these really is YMMV 😉 

[Armand Popa]

I have a SW 8-24 zoom eyepice. It not bad at all. Recently i bought a Baader Zoom Mark IV 8-24mm and I am impressed. 

The SV 8-24 looks exactly like the Baader 🤨. Is that a clone ?

[LDW1]

3 minutes ago, Armand Popa said:

I have a SW 8-24 zoom eyepice. It not bad at all. Recently i bought a Baader Zoom Mark IV 8-24mm and I am impressed. 

The SV 8-24 looks exactly like the Baader 🤨. Is that a clone ?

It might be for about 1/4 the price !

[Solar B]

If I honestly thought these "times are a changing" zooms were a patch on the Baader IV

I'd sell mine in a heartbeat ... But I've been using the Baaders for over 15yrs and if they 

were no one would be entertaining the Baaders kind of like Audi , Merc v Ford , Vauxhall.

Brian