Seeking decent mid-priced EPs for a binoscope

[Photonic Nights]

I've been trying for quite a while now to purchase a second Explore Scientific 8.8mm 82 degree ep for my new APM binoscope (I already own an ES 8.8mm). Unhappily, whether it's due to Brexit or Covid - or an amalgam of these two "conditions" - it seems that ES wide-field eyepieces in particular are exceedingly hard to come by here in the UK at present. With Televue waaay beyond my reach for now and in the foreseeable, I've hit upon Skywatcher's eyepieces instead, which do seem available here in the UK. The trouble is that I'm really out of my depth with Skywatcher's eps. I'm looking for mid-power ones that'll give me approx 45x~50x mag, which I guess is getting towards the upper 'panning' limit for this 70mm SD binoscope (given the fitful viewing conditions here in the UK). Someone did recommend a pair of 8mm Sky-Watcher SWA 70s. Can anyone back up this claim? Otherwise do upper-end SW eps have a good reputation? 

Regards

 

[Louis D]

I tried a pair of 17mm Astro Tech AF70 which are optically the same as the SW SWA 70s.  I couldn't get my nose between the two because the tops are too broad, too close to the eye lens.  I need a tapered top or a narrow body overall.

I find a 60 to 65 degree eyepiece pair is fine for binoviewing because you can't look off axis without losing the view through one or the other eyepiece.  With two eyes, it seems at least 5 degrees wider than with monovision.

Have you considered using a ~20mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow nosepiece to get upwards of a 7mm equivalent (2x operating a ~3x due to optical path length).  At the higher f-ratio, just about any 20mm looks great.

[Don Pensack]

On 19/09/2021 at 06:34, Photonic Nights said:

I've been trying for quite a while now to purchase a second Explore Scientific 8.8mm 82 degree ep for my new APM binoscope (I already own an ES 8.8mm). Unhappily, whether it's due to Brexit or Covid - or an amalgam of these two "conditions" - it seems that ES wide-field eyepieces in particular are exceedingly hard to come by here in the UK at present. With Televue waaay beyond my reach for now and in the foreseeable, I've hit upon Skywatcher's eyepieces instead, which do seem available here in the UK. The trouble is that I'm really out of my depth with Skywatcher's eps. I'm looking for mid-power ones that'll give me approx 45x~50x mag, which I guess is getting towards the upper 'panning' limit for this 70mm SD binoscope (given the fitful viewing conditions here in the UK). Someone did recommend a pair of 8mm Sky-Watcher SWA 70s. Can anyone back up this claim? Otherwise do upper-end SW eps have a good reputation? 

Regards

 

I would really hunt for one.  I think JOC might have discontinued the 8.8mm in favor of the 8.5mm, as they recently discontinued the 6.7mm in favor of the 6.5mm.

I would look before the market place is completely dry of them.  You might have to look for US as well as EU sources.

[Shimrod]

On 19/09/2021 at 14:34, Photonic Nights said:

I've been trying for quite a while now to purchase a second Explore Scientific 8.8mm 82 degree ep for my new APM binoscope (I already own an ES 8.8mm). Unhappily, whether it's due to Brexit or Covid - or an amalgam of these two "conditions" - it seems that ES wide-field eyepieces in particular are exceedingly hard to come by here in the UK at present. With Televue waaay beyond my reach for now and in the foreseeable, I've hit upon Skywatcher's eyepieces instead, which do seem available here in the UK. The trouble is that I'm really out of my depth with Skywatcher's eps. I'm looking for mid-power ones that'll give me approx 45x~50x mag, which I guess is getting towards the upper 'panning' limit for this 70mm SD binoscope (given the fitful viewing conditions here in the UK). Someone did recommend a pair of 8mm Sky-Watcher SWA 70s. Can anyone back up this claim? Otherwise do upper-end SW eps have a good reputation? 

Regards

 

I have read elsewhere on here that the Opticstar 82 degree eyepieces are the same as the Explore Scientific eyepieces. Certainly if you compare the specs here the only difference appears to be the weight - the 24mm and 14mm look identical to my ES eyepieces although I have never compared them 'in real life'.

[Andrew_B]

The same eyepieces seem to be sold under the Maxvision brand as well but for whatever reason there don't seem to be any 8.8mm ones available. Must be a popular focal length.

[Ricochet]

14 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

I would really hunt for one.  I think JOC might have discontinued the 8.8mm in favor of the 8.5mm, as they recently discontinued the 6.7mm in favor of the 6.5mm.

I would look before the market place is completely dry of them.  You might have to look for US as well as EU sources.

Do you know if the new eyepieces are redesigns or have they just changed the rounding for marketing purposes? 

[Ricochet]

On 19/09/2021 at 14:34, Photonic Nights said:

I've been trying for quite a while now to purchase a second Explore Scientific 8.8mm 82 degree ep for my new APM binoscope (I already own an ES 8.8mm). Unhappily, whether it's due to Brexit or Covid - or an amalgam of these two "conditions" - it seems that ES wide-field eyepieces in particular are exceedingly hard to come by here in the UK at present. With Televue waaay beyond my reach for now and in the foreseeable, I've hit upon Skywatcher's eyepieces instead, which do seem available here in the UK. The trouble is that I'm really out of my depth with Skywatcher's eps. I'm looking for mid-power ones that'll give me approx 45x~50x mag, which I guess is getting towards the upper 'panning' limit for this 70mm SD binoscope (given the fitful viewing conditions here in the UK). Someone did recommend a pair of 8mm Sky-Watcher SWA 70s. Can anyone back up this claim? Otherwise do upper-end SW eps have a good reputation? 

Regards

 

Personally, I think that BST Starguiders are the most comfortable eyepieces to use for binoviewing if you don't need glasses to observe. Their coatings aren't as good as top end eps but if you're not using them for bright objects you might not notice. There are a couple of 8mm available in the classifieds at the moment so you could always try them and only risk losing the cost of postage if you don't like them. 

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, Ricochet said:

Do you know if the new eyepieces are redesigns or have they just changed the rounding for marketing purposes? 

The LER lineup within the 82 series (4.5/6.5/8.5mm) are new designs to increase the eye relief a bit compared to their predecessors.  They came onto the market over 2 years ago.  It appears that the old 4.7/6.7/8.8mm 82s are now discontinued to make room for these new LER eyepieces.

[vlaiv]

11 minutes ago, Louis D said:

The LER lineup within the 82 series (4.5/6.5/8.5mm) are new designs to increase the eye relief a bit compared to their predecessors.  They came onto the market over 2 years ago.  It appears that the old 4.7/6.7/8.8mm 82s are now discontinued to make room for these new LER eyepieces.

Do you know how they perform compared to earlier models? I have 6.7mm and apart from ER - I quite like those (have 11mm also but that is not redesigned).

[jetstream]

We have a 6.7mm ES 82 and its a very good eyepiece and unusually sharp for its design.

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, vlaiv said:

Do you know how they perform compared to earlier models? I have 6.7mm and apart from ER - I quite like those (have 11mm also but that is not redesigned).

Sorry, but not enough eye relief to interest me.  Besides, I have 9mm Morpheus, 7mm XW, and 5.2mm XL at approximately those focal lengths, so I'm good.  I also have a S-W 5-8mm zoom if I want to go wider with less eye relief in that focal length range.

There has been little forum reporting on these eyepieces that I've seen.  The initial 2019 lot had to be recalled due to image quality issues (reversed lens maybe?).  This was fixed by year end 2020, perhaps earlier.  Denis the binoviewer guru posted a brief reaction to his 8.5mm pair on CN.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Louis D

[PeterW]

I’d go with the Morpheus, I found 82degree a little large to take in - with the Naglers I used to use.  I got some cheap 7mm 82degree which are nice, but the Morpheus has more eye relief and higher quality. They’re not small and noticeably heavier than the Naglers, but I’ll be good to go even when I find I need glasses now!

Peter  

[callisto]

7 minutes ago, PeterW said:

with the Naglers I used to use

One mans loss is another mans gain 😁

[Don Pensack]

12 hours ago, Ricochet said:

Do you know if the new eyepieces are redesigns or have they just changed the rounding for marketing purposes? 

They are different designs, with a few more mm of eye relief (still not glasses-compatible, though).

But, control of internal light scatter is not as good as the older ones in my testing (in fact, it's quite poor), so I'd still hunt for the originals: 8.8mm, 6.7mm, and 4.7mm

instead of opting for the newer 8.5mm, 6.5mm , and 4.5mm.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Don Pensack

[Kon]

There is an ES 8.8 82 degrees up for sale in classifieds if you are quick.