82 degree eyepieces

[bosun21]

I am now looking to try a 82 degree eyepiece to see for myself if this wide field is truly for me. I have narrowed it down to a few choices them being 

a) Explore Scientific 14mm

b) OVL Nirvana 16mm

c)Celestron luminos 15mm

I have pre ordered myself the Nirvana due to hearing other folks feedback but want to know about the other makes as the Nirvanas are limited to only three focal lengths. Of which only two are really practical for me. I look forward to hearing of any folks findings with the ES and Celestron EP’s. Thanks 

[Ags]

I've had both ES and Nirvana EPs, and felt strongly that the ES eyepieces were somewhat better. That opinion was based on use in F5 Newtonians, fast refractors, SCTs and Maks.

Never tried the Luminos, but was put off them by the reports I read.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Ags

[Victor Boesen]

I too own the Explore Scientific 14mm and have had it for more than 5 years. I use it a lot and it was one of my first eyepieces from the 82 degree series. It's very sharp even in my rather fast Evosyar 72 at F5.8, and amazing for observing the moon at longer focal lengths.

I haven't tired any of the other eyepieces, but I wanted to share my experience with the 14mm anyway.

[Kon]

I have the ES 14mm 82 as an upgrade from BST 15mm; the BST was/is nice but I wanted wider FOV. I have felt in love with the wider FOV. Be aware that it has a tight eye relief and your eyelashes will almost touch the eyepiece to get the whole FOV (I use it with the rubber guard down). I personally like it a lot with my 8" Dob. Stars stay almost sharp all the way to the edges from my observations.

[bosun21]

Thanks for the thumbs up for the ES. I had no idea that the luminos Ep’s had received negative reviews. Looks like I’ve pre ordered the wrong ones 

[johninderby]

You might also consider the Opticstar eyepieces. Same eyepiece as the ES bit slightly cheaper.

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_322

[bosun21]

12 minutes ago, johninderby said:

You might also consider the Opticstar eyepieces. Same eyepiece as the ES bit slightly cheaper.

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_322

I’ll have to have a look at these as for what i can see they are the ES with a different label 

[johninderby]

Opticstar are great to deal with. First class service. 👍🏻

Edited December 6, 2021 by johninderby

[rwilkey]

The Luminos are not too bad, I owned them in their previous incarnation, Axiom LX's 7, 10 & 23mm, although I have sold the 23mm now, but they are reasonable, but I also have the ExSc 82 degree series, which are much better both on axis and sharp to the edge.  I would recommend these to anyone. 

[John]

I've owned Nirvanas (28, 16 and 4mm, not the 7mm though) and the 4.7mm ES 82. All pretty good. Perhaps the 16mm Nirvana was slightly weaker in my F/5 newtonian than the rest. Eye relief can be quite tight in 82 degree eyepieces so not that great for the glasses wearer.

I ended up with a Tele Vue Nagler set about a decade back before I got the (expensive !) taste for even wider 100 degree eyepieces

 

 

[jetstream]

Ive found ES 82 eyepieces to be sharp on the moon and planets and with vg contrast on DSO. They are the toughest EPs out there IMHO.

[F15Rules]

3 hours ago, rwilkey said:

The Luminos are not too bad, I owned them in their previous incarnation, Axiom LX's 7, 10 & 23mm, although I have sold the 23mm now, but they are reasonable, but I also have the ExSc 82 degree series, which are much better both on axis and sharp to the edge.  I would recommend these to anyone. 

The Luminos are NOT the same as the Axiom LX range, made by different manufacturers. The originals, the Axiom LX, are significantly better. 

The Axioms are very similar to the ES range, just as good in my experience and very sharp in my F8 apo.

Dave

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by F15Rules

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Thanks for the thumbs up for the ES. I had no idea that the luminos Ep’s had received negative reviews. Looks like I’ve pre ordered the wrong ones 

As I recall, edge of field brightening (EOFB) was a big deal for early adopters.  EOFB makes the edges brighter and less constrasty than the center.  Thus, it makes seeing nebulosity more difficult.

The Luminos line is also less well corrected off axis than the preceding Axiom LX line in faster scopes.

[rwilkey]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

The Luminos are NOT the same as the Axiom LX range, made by different manufacturers. The originals, the Axiom LX, are significantly better. 

The Axioms are very similar to the ES range, just as good in my experience and very sharp in my F8 apo.

Dave

Hi Dave, thanks for clearing that up, I assumed they were the same because they look the same.  What I like about the Axiom LX's is that the central part of the eyepiece (the eyeguard) can be twisted up by turning the body, it was quite a novelty to me at the time when I had little experience with ep's.

[Pixies]

I have the 14mm ES. It replaced the 16mm Nirvana.

I found the Nirvana hard to get comfortable with. Not sure exactly why but eye-placement seemed more fussy. However, others have not had this problem, so it's try it and see. The ES was a case of just stick your eye in it and view!

[F15Rules]

3 hours ago, F15Rules said:

The Luminos are NOT the same as the Axiom LX range, made by different manufacturers. The originals, the Axiom LX, are significantly better. 

The Axioms are very similar to the ES range, just as good in my experience and very sharp in my F8 apo.

Dave

 

Further to the above, and for interest, here's a link that tells a bit more about the story of Axiom LX..

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/707836-how-did-celestron-axioms-differ-from-the-luminos/

I have decloaked both my 23mm and 31mm (fully reversible process) and rate both highly👍

Top 2 photos fully cloaked. Bottom photo uncloaked, next to Nagler T2 12mm for comparison. The decloaking saves about 35% of the original weight.

Dave😉

Edited December 6, 2021 by F15Rules
Photo added, Text added

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Dave, thanks for clearing that up, I assumed they were the same because they look the same.  What I like about the Axiom LX's is that the central part of the eyepiece (the eyeguard) can be twisted up by turning the body, it was quite a novelty to me at the time when I had little experience with ep's.

I think the change from Celestron Axiom LX to Luminos occurred at about the same time that Meade switched eyepiece suppliers, around 2013.  This was about when Celestron was bought by Synta, Meade was bought by Ningbo Sunny, and JOC focused sales through the Explore Scientific brand.  I'm guessing Synta and Ningbo Sunny didn't want to continue buying eyepieces from a direct competitor (JOC), thus the change in suppliers.  The Luminos look very similar to the Axiom LX while the newer Meade 5000 UWAs looked identical to the older ones, just with a few new focal lengths quietly added and some quietly discontinued.  I have no idea if Synta and Ningbo Sunny made them in house (less likely) or contracted them out to another supplier (more likely).

[John]

13 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Further to the above, and for interest, here's a link that tells a bit more about the story of Axiom LX..

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/707836-how-did-celestron-axioms-differ-from-the-luminos/

I have decloaked both my 23mm and 31mm (fully reversible process) and rate both highly👍

Top 2 photos fully cloaked. Bottom photo uncloaked, next to Nagler T2 12mm for comparison. The decloaking saves about 35% of the original weight.

Dave😉

And before those Axioms, there were these Axioms

 

 

[F15Rules]

Yes, John, nice looking set👍.

I've heard of those, made in Japan, but never tried them..did you, John?

Dave

[JeremyS]

3 hours ago, F15Rules said:

 

I have decloaked my Bottom 

 

Not sure I could handle pics of that Dave.

[JeremyS]

3 hours ago, John said:

And before those Axioms, there were these Axioms

 

 

Is that your workshop John? Looks impressive!

[F15Rules]

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Not sure I could handle pics of that Dave.

Nor will you EVER have to Jeremy!!😂😂..

(Nice piece of "text photoshopping" btw!)..

Dave

[Don Pensack]

16 hours ago, bosun21 said:

I am now looking to try a 82 degree eyepiece to see for myself if this wide field is truly for me. I have narrowed it down to a few choices them being 

a) Explore Scientific 14mm

b) OVL Nirvana 16mm

c)Celestron luminos 15mm

I have pre ordered myself the Nirvana due to hearing other folks feedback but want to know about the other makes as the Nirvanas are limited to only three focal lengths. Of which only two are really practical for me. I look forward to hearing of any folks findings with the ES and Celestron EP’s. Thanks 

The Nirvanas are made by United Optics and available under many labels, including Meade and Stellarvue.

They are made in 4mm, 7-8mm (some companies say 7mm, others say 8mm), 15-16mm (same as the 7-8mm), and 28mm (2")

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, John said:

And before those Axioms, there were these Axioms

 

 

Yes, that's why you'll notice I was very careful to always say Axiom LX to avoid confusion.

Celestron also had/has both X-Cel and X-Cel LX eyepiece lines to also create similarly named products confusion:

vs

And the Ultima, Ultima LX, and Ultima Edge:

vsvs

Notice a pattern of Celestron reusing names?

[Louis D]

6 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

The Nirvanas are made by United Optics and available under many labels, including Meade and Stellarvue.

They are made in 4mm, 7-8mm (some companies say 7mm, others say 8mm), 15-16mm (same as the 7-8mm), and 28mm (2")

And, apparently, 10mm and 13mm when Astronomics gets their new ASTRO-TECH 10MM UWA 82° and ASTRO-TECH 13MM UWA 82° eyepieces in stock.