NEW StellaLyra SuperView eyepieces

[HollyHound]

2 hours ago, johnturley said:

Got the chance last night to try out the 50 mm StellaLyra SuperView eyepiece on the Pleiades last night, both through my 150 mm Esprit and my 14 in Newtonian, I was pleasantly surprised that there was only a slight falling off of image quality towards the edge of the field of view, even through my 14in Newtonian. 

However as anticipated the actual field of view was significantly smaller than through not only my Meade 56 mm Plossl, but also my 36 mm Baader Hyperion Aspheric. I would estimate the actual field was at least 10% smaller than through the 56 mm Plossl, and assuming the stated APFOV of 52 degrees for the latter is correct, this would make even the revised (by FLO) APFOV for the StellaLyra of 48 degrees to be a bit on the optimistic size, and I would estimate the actual figure to be between 45 and 47 degrees. According to the information given in Eyepiece Planner (beta) the field stop diameter is 41.88 mm (slightly smaller than for the 42 mm SuperView), when it could have been up to 46 or 47 mm, which would have given an APFOV of around 53 degrees (which the Masuyama 50 mm has), presumably the manufactures have reduced the field stop to reduce edge of field aberrations. 

Since I purchased this eyepiece based on the manufacturers stated APFOV of 60 degrees (which would have given a wider actual FOV than both my Meade 56 mm and Badder 36 mm), I will therefore, sorry FLO, be returning this eyepiece, its really annoying when the manufacturers quote a very inaccurate APFOV, and they must know when this is the case. 

John 

 

Thanks for the report 👍

I had the chance to quickly check the 50mm SuperView against my Aero ED 35mm in my StellaMira 80mm ED f/10 last night and noticed very little difference between the two, except that of course the 50mm view was brighter. Given that the magnification was lower and the FoV almost the same, unfortunately I don't see much advantage in keeping both. I'll try it out in the Bresser 10" dob, but I think that's going to have much to big an exit pupil and given I've since bought the Pentax XW 30mm, can't see much use for it there either.

On the plus side, the view was sharp across the field, it's light and the scope balance was maintained (but the Aero ED 35mm is too) 🤔

[John]

The Aero ED 35mm is a better corrected eyepiece than either the Superview or the Baader Aspherics IMHO. From the reports, the Superviews are performing as I expected. The Baader Aspheric (I had the 36mm for a while) was a disappointment - I had hoped that it would be better.

The Aero ED's are the best of the lower cost super wide eyepieces that I've used. For around £50 pre-owned they are great buys.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2020 by John

[HollyHound]

14 minutes ago, John said:

The Aero ED 35mm is a better corrected eyepiece than either the Superview or the Baader Aspherics IMHO. From the reports, the Superviews are performing as I expected. The Baader Aspheric (I had the 36mm for a while) was a disappointment - I had hoped that it would be better.

The Aero ED's are the best of the lower cost super wide eyepieces that I've used. For around £50 pre-owned they are great buys.

 

 

Thanks for that useful piece of information, I've always found the Aero ED 35mm to be a good wide eyepiece (which is why I still have it) 👍

There wasn't much noticeable difference between the two on the StellaMira, but this is in an f/10 scope, so I would imagine any difference between the two was masked. Given that I already have (and like) the Aero ED 35mm and that I'm gaining nothing in terms of FoV increase and less magnification too, then regrettably I think I will likely be returning the StellaLyra 50mm SuperView as well. I'm enjoying the Pentax XW 30 very much in the Bresser 10" dob, so can't see it being used there at all, especially as it would give a 10mm exit pupil 😮

[ericleo1]

I only paid £140 second hand for a Skywatcher 130 and want to upgrade the eyepieces without breaking the bank. I only do observational astronomy and am keen on looking at doube stars and star clusters. What would you recommend? The StellaLyra 15mm superview looks an option?

[F15Rules]

I think if you are currently using the supplied stock eyepieces, the Stellamira 15mm Superview at £39 will give you nice, wide field views.. just don't expect the edges to be sharp like the centre of the field at this price.

With your scope being F5, 650mm focal length, it will give you c 43x magnification, and a 68 degree field (I believe this FOV has been verified by FLO), so more extended objects like the M42 Orion Nebula will be nicely framed and nice and sharp on axis. With such objects, the larger field can put the object into a nice context, even if the outer edges aren't pin sharp.

Dave

[badhex]

On 20/11/2020 at 13:33, johnturley said:

I can remember  back in the 1970's buying a 47 mm RAS fitting (threaded 1.25 in) Charles Frank Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece, which had a stated apparent field of 57 degrees, but in reality it turned out to be less than 30 degrees!

Holy moly! Whilst reading this thread for background reading on the superviews, you have solved an unrelated ten+ year old mystery for me! I inherited the same Charles Frank "Ultra-wide angle" along with my Charles Frank reflector, but never knew the actual focal length, nor AFOV - Only that it was highly inaccurately labelled

[davekelley]

On 12/11/2020 at 14:40, FLO said:

Also, to compliment the new eyepieces, a StellaLyra ED Deluxe 2x 2" Barlow Lens 🙂 

 

These are becoming scarce with just the 15mm and 20mm available in 1.25" .  I would love to get hold of a 15mm.  Will @FLO be stocking the 15 any time soon please?

[FLO]

On 24/07/2021 at 08:08, davekelley said:

I would love to get hold of a 15mm.  Will @FLO be stocking the 15 any time soon please?

We have plenty of StellaLyra 15mm SuperView eyepieces.

Did you mean 15mm? Perhaps you meant to type a different focal length.