Caveats with Wide AFOV eyepieces in "fast" telescope

[amaury]

13 hours ago, KP82 said:

our choices in 30mm+ are actually quite limited

That is very true @KP82, I think I'll be patient and get a second-hand ES68 when one becomes available.

12 hours ago, Louis D said:

you can't really go wrong with the 30mm APM UFF

This is a really a high quality eyepiece indeed, 9 elements in 5 grous. I may get one of those.

What about the Baader Scopos? lookk pretty solid edge to edge in your comparison. A quick google search tells me now they are called the Hyperion Aspheric and they are really well priced.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-aspheric.html

12 hours ago, John said:

looking at the photo with the advert, I think that is a 62 degree ES. There is a 32mm in that range

That's my impression too. Still a solid eyepiece I believe 

12 hours ago, Paulhinthe808 said:

It hasn’t been mentioned, but keep the APM 30mm UFF

@Louis D mentioned it just before you did, thanks anyways. They certainly don't get much attention, everyone seems to recommend ES before anything else. That APM looks really good. 

[amaury]

Never mind, looks like the Hyperion Aspheric struggles a lot at f/6 as reported by @John

 

 

[Louis D]

9 hours ago, amaury said:

What about the Baader Scopos? lookk pretty solid edge to edge in your comparison. A quick google search tells me now they are called the Hyperion Aspheric and they are really well priced.

The Baader Scopos Extremes were an entirely different design from the Baader Hyperion Aspherics.  They were larger, heavier, and better corrected.  I would stick with the Aero EDs due to them being about as well corrected as the Hyperions while being smaller,  lighter, and cheaper.

[amaury]

Thank you all.

I've decided to go for APM UFF. I am still flipping a coin between the 24mm or the 30mm (4mm and 5mm exit pupil respectively with my f/6)

The Altair re-brand is a bit cheaper, just a bit heavier. Some shiny internals have been reported. Doesn't seem to affect its performance. Any thoughts on this?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/715544-shiny-internals-on-30mm-uff-especially-altair/

I haven't seen a single one of these EPs showing up in the second market in the UK, I believe the design is too new. 

I guess I'll have to buy brand new or wait for an ES 68 (or clones) to show up in the second hand market.  

[Louis D]

The 24mm version doesn't perform as well as the 30mm version.  It's good, but not spectacular.

The Altair version is heavier because it uses a stainless steel barrel (lower only?) instead of aluminum as with the APM.

[amaury]

On 05/04/2021 at 15:07, Louis D said:

The 24mm version doesn't perform as well as the 30mm version

Would you say the ES68 24mm performs better that the APM UFF 24mm? they are priced fairly similar

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, amaury said:

Would you say the ES68 24mm performs better that the APM UFF 24mm? they are priced fairly similar

Not having looked through an ES68 24mm, I wouldn't know.  I have strong astigmatism, so I wear eyeglasses at the eyepiece; and the ES doesn't have enough eye relief for me to view the entire field while the APM does.

From what I've read online, the APM is at least as good as the ES, just not as good as a 24mm Panoptic.