Vixen LVs LVWs and SLVs

[IB20]

So I’m thinking maybe giving the Vixen SLV range a dart, I’m not fussed with super wide FOVs right now and seem to be more into contrast, reduced light scatter and sharpness.

Looking on the used market for some SLVs and occasionally I have come across the LV range, LVWs a bit rarer. Do members have any experience with the older Vixen ranges and how do these compare to the current SLV range? 

[Mr Spock]

The LV, NLV and SLV use the same optics. The only difference is in the design of the upper barrel. These are perfect for planetary and are often compared to orthoscopics. I've just sold some NLVs and purchased SLVs - different sizes for a different scope.

The LVW is a larger 65° which are no longer available new. Good luck finding one - owners rarely want to sell!

[Louis D]

35 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

The LV, NLV and SLV use the same optics. The only difference is in the design of the upper barrel.

Well, that and country of manufacture.  The LV and NLV lines were made in Japan while the SLV line is made China.  This matters to some folks.

Orion USA also sold the LVW line as the Orion Lanthanum Superwide series.  These often go for less on the secondary market because younger folks don't recognize them for what they are.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Louis D

[IB20]

Is it fair to say 2nd hand LVs would go for about the same as used SLVs?

[UKDiver]

4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

The LVW is a larger 65° which are no longer available new. Good luck finding one - owners rarely want to sell!

Currently there's a 42mm on ABS...

[John]

I think I've owned or used most of those.

The LV's were the original long eye relief alternative to the plossl and were "the thing to have" back in the late 1980's. They are still nice eyepieces although later develoments in coatings leave their light transmission lagging a little compared to current alternatives. The NLV's followed them, still Japanese made but with more sophisticated twist up eye cups. Vixen chose a chinese manufacturer for the latest SLV versions of these and to my eye these are the best performing of the series apart from a shiny internal spacer on some of the very early production runs.

The LVW's are Vixen's answer to the Tele Vue Panoptic / Delos / Pentax XW's and are very fine super wide eyepieces with long eye relief as well.

Vixen also produced the ultra-wide SSW range which was an interesting development from them.

For what they are worth, here are some reports I've posted on these Vixen eyepieces over the years:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217971-vixen-slv-eyepiece-report-6mm-12mm-and-20mm/

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/78165-comparing-baader-hyperions-to-the-vixen-lvws/

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/255080-vixen-ssw-ultra-wide-angle-eyepieces-review/

Vixen also had some 2 inch wide angle eyepieces which were called NLVW's.

 

[Don Pensack]

In my experience, the exit pupil is better controlled, with less spherical aberration (SAEP) in the SLV line than it was in the LV line.

I think the LV line was also sold by Orion under another name.

With SLVs, you want to either buy new or have the right to return it if used.

Early versions of the SLV had a bright shiny spacer under the eye lens that resulted in massive internal reflection in the eyepiece.

Later versions fixed this problem, apparently.  If you buy used, you may not know which version it is.

Of course, that doesn't matter if taking an eyepiece apart and blackening interior pieces is not intimidating.

[IB20]

3 hours ago, John said:

I think I've owned or used most of those.

The LV's were the original long eye relief alternative to the plossl and were "the thing to have" back in the late 1980's. They are still nice eyepieces although later develoments in coatings leave their light transmission lagging a little compared to current alternatives. The NLV's followed them, still Japanese made but with more sophisticated twist up eye cups. Vixen chose a chinese manufacturer for the latest SLV versions of these and to my eye these are the best performing of the series apart from a shiny internal spacer on some of the very early production runs.

The LVW's are Vixen's answer to the Tele Vue Panoptic / Delos / Pentax XW's and are very fine super wide eyepieces with long eye relief as well.

Vixen also produced the ultra-wide SSW range which was an interesting development from them.

For what they are worth, here are some reports I've posted on these Vixen eyepieces over the years:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217971-vixen-slv-eyepiece-report-6mm-12mm-and-20mm/

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/78165-comparing-baader-hyperions-to-the-vixen-lvws/

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/255080-vixen-ssw-ultra-wide-angle-eyepieces-review/

Vixen also had some 2 inch wide angle eyepieces which were called NLVW's.

 

The SSWs seem such a strange range of eyepieces at a questionable price point. They don’t seem to get much love at all and I’ve read multiple reports about them having fussy eye placement.

Personally If I’m buying a ~£250 eyepiece I’d be buying a Pentax XW and lose 13°.

[John]

3 minutes ago, IB20 said:

The SSWs seem such a strange range of eyepieces at a questionable price point. They don’t seem to get much love at all and I’ve read multiple reports about them having fussy eye placement.

Personally If I’m buying a ~£250 eyepiece I’d be buying a Pentax XW and lose 13°.

Yes, I was a little disappointed overall with the Vixen SSW's as I indicated in my report on them.

It was great of FLO to loan me a set - it would have been expensive to have to buy them to do that review and then to sell them on, no doubt at a loss, afterwards.

[mikeDnight]

The finest view of the central rille running along the Alpine Valley that I've ever had, was viewed through a pair of 15mm LV's in a barlowed binoviewer. They are excellent eyepieces that are perhapse  out of fashion due to their narrow apparent field. They are really nice for lunar & planetary.

[Louis D]

The LV line has super stiff, roll-down eye cups.  The rubber tends to crack with age as well.  My 24 year old 9mm has yet to tear off, though.  The LV line has slightly longer usable eye relief because the eye cup can be rolled down completely flush while the NLV/SLV cup only twists down so far, robbing a few millimeters of usable eye relief.  Personally, I hate the roll down eye cup.  I'm always putting a fingerprint on the eye lens trying to get it to roll down.  The supplied eye lens cap only fits when rolled up.  Back in the late 90s, I ended up going with the Pentax XL line for 3x the money per eyepiece and never regretted that decision.  They were more enjoyable in almost every way.

My 9mm LV does view a bit "dark" for whatever reason.  It might be due to coatings or glass types used.  It views very much like the Pentax XL/XW line, just 50 degrees wide.  Stray light is well controlled.  I've never noticed contrast or ghosting issues.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Louis D

[Don Pensack]

22 hours ago, John said:

Yes, I was a little disappointed overall with the Vixen SSW's as I indicated in my report on them.

It was great of FLO to loan me a set - it would have been expensive to have to buy them to do that review and then to sell them on, no doubt at a loss, afterwards.

I heard they were also discontinued by Vixen.

[Froeng]

I am a big fan of the original LV line. If you are wearing eyeglasses like I am, the twist down rubber eye cup is the only option imo. For me - the newer eyecups do not push down enough. I tried an SLV before and I found it difficult to see the field stop with glasses on. YMMV…

I also have the newer 50NLV and 30NLVW, which I also recommend. The comfort and relaxed eye placement, I find are even better than in the famous 42LVW. Esp. the 30mm is my favourite eyepiece. I use all of them in my C8. 

[Guest 12green]

I'm looking to upgrade my BST Starguiders for Lunar/Planetary observing. Will Vixen SLV 9/6mm give me that in F10 SCT

[Franklin]

3 minutes ago, 12green said:

Will Vixen SLV 9/6mm give me that in F10 SCT

Yep.

[John]

9 minutes ago, 12green said:

I'm looking to upgrade my BST Starguiders for Lunar/Planetary observing. Will Vixen SLV 9/6mm give me that in F10 SCT

Smaller field of view but possibly a touch sharper with less light scatter. Small gains but welcome perhaps ?

The 6mm will give you 333x so might not get a lot of use, depending on the seeing conditions and target choice.

[Franklin]

I think the SLV range is great and well thought out. As long as you're not after super wide field veiws I think they're hard to beat for the money. Ignoring the 2.5mm in the line up, the range is split into 3 groups which correspond to low, medium and high power. If used like this as follows, 25mm,12mm 6mm - 20mm,10mm,5mm - 15mm,9mm,4mm all giving accurate low, medium and high powers depending on whether your scope is around f/10, f/8 or f/6 respectively.

[Mr Spock]

With the C9.25 I had, the NLV I used for planetary was the 10mm. That gave a nice x235 which is the maximum you'll want to use on Jupiter. I also used the 12mm - x196 quite a bit. My 9mm, x261, almost never got used.

[Guest 12green]

Thanks, did you notice any glare on spacer ring? When observing moon?

[Don Pensack]

1 hour ago, 12green said:

I'm looking to upgrade my BST Starguiders for Lunar/Planetary observing. Will Vixen SLV 9/6mm give me that in F10 SCT

I may be a contrarian here, but I don't regard that as an "upgrade".

A true upgrade to the Starguiders would be the TeleVue Delites.  They are optically better in nearly every way.  But don't expect miracles.  We're talking maybe 5% better.

[Mr Spock]

19 minutes ago, 12green said:

Thanks, did you notice any glare on spacer ring? When observing moon?

No glare.

[Mr Spock]

Here's a review I did a long time ago: 

And a similar one: 

 

Similar conclusion to both. The Vixen v TeleVue is a close call optically. The TV's have slightly better build quality but are more than double the price. It's an easy choice really 

[Louis D]

If you can find some used LVs for under $70 (which used to happen quite a bit here in the States), they would be a bargain upgrade.

I don't know that I'd pay $169 for SLVs when Tele Vue Delites are $269 and Pentax XWs are $266 here in the States.  Either would give a very nice boost in performance over the BST Starguiders.

[Ags]

I think the SLVs are a nice option in a small telescope. The SLV 6mm gives about 0.7 degrees FOV in my ZS66 with an exit pupil of 1mm, which is perfect for viewing DSOs in that scope. The 9mm NLV I have coming from Mr Spock (alarmingly the avatar shows the Mirror Spock, equipped with an Agonizer!!!!) should give a slighty brighter and wider view, also ideal in the ZS66.

In a larger scope, the SLVs become more specialist planetary eyepieces as the FOV of course becomes very narrow.

[Mr Spock]

23 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I don't know that I'd pay $169 for SLVs when Tele Vue Delites are $269 and Pentax XWs are $266 here in the States.

In the UK SLVs are £115 and the Delites £247 - just not worth the extra.