Do you have a vintage jewel?

[Stu]

21 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

What’s the TOE 2.5 mm like?

It’s very good but to be honest I haven’t had the conditions to properly try it yet. Must try harder!

I’ll make a judgement soon as to whether to keep hold of these short focal length eyepieces. My floaters aren’t great at small exit pupils so binoviewing is better for lunar and most planetary, although the TOEs and HR are good for close doubles where floaters aren’t a problem.

[Peter Drew]

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Best to keep your eye on that 32mm Erfle Peter. You know how untrustworthy these binoviewer users can be! 

Sure do, I'm one of them!        🙂

[Saganite]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

 Unfortunately I only have a pair of 25mm Parks Gold, so nothing you'd be interested in Steve. 

In fact come to think of it, I have a box full of those exquisite pseudo Masuyama's, (mostly in pairs). 

 

Very nice Mike, particularly the 25mm PM's. 

The 24mm Ultima is such a rare beast that I am unlikely to see another on this side of the pond.  I also have had for a long time, a single UOVT 25mm Ortho, another jewel , and finding a second one of those is as difficult.

[Stu]

I guess I also have my Zeiss 25mm orthos which count, used for binoviewing 👍

 

[Space Hopper]

Not really a vintage jewel so to speak, but i think the Docter UWA 12.5mm is destined to become a classic.

It really is a superb bit of glass. I love mine.

 

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

Not really a vintage jewel so to speak, but i think the Docter UWA 12.5mm is destined to become a classic.

It really is a superb bit of glass. I love mine.

 

Very much a vintage jewel I would say! Had two, sold two, regret it! 😱😱

[Roy Challen]

Is it a coincidence that the two Celestron 30mm Ultimas that were on ENS now seem to have sold? Was considering one myself, thought they were a bit pricey at £100 each, but maybe not. A fine eyepiece that I should have held onto...like many others😂

Edited February 20, 2022 by Roy Challen

[Highburymark]

The Docter 12.5mm is back in production under the Noblex brand - check out the price at APM - €839.

The 2.5mm TOE is an incredible eyepiece in my opinion, but won’t divert the vintageness of the thread.

Here are some more olde worlde orthos offering nice new worlde views.

[Saganite]

That is certainly a line up to drool over Mark, very very nice.  I have eight pairs of eyepieces  75% of which are vintage, and may well be up to 88% soon....all of them jewels to be honest.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Saganite

[F15Rules]

26 minutes ago, Saganite said:

....all of them jewels to be honest.

Just like you, Steve!! 😃🙃🤣

Dave

[Deadlake]

16 hours ago, Stu said:

It’s very good but to be honest I haven’t had the conditions to properly try it yet. Must try harder!

I’ll make a judgement soon as to whether to keep hold of these short focal length eyepieces. My floaters aren’t great at small exit pupils so binoviewing is better for lunar and most planetary, although the TOEs and HR are good for close doubles where floaters aren’t a problem.

I find BV very comfortable and I'm thinking of getting a BARADV instead of the 2.5 mm TOE as would give the additional magnification.

At that point I might just sell off the HR's as surplus to requirement, although I suspect some people would state what about doubles...

[paul mc c]

My RKE 28mm, apparently fairly rare first run Edmonds. Amazing floating views. 

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

Is it a coincidence that the two Celestron 30mm Ultimas that were on ENS now seem to have sold? Was considering one myself, thought they were a bit pricey at £100 each, but maybe not. A fine eyepiece that I should have held onto...like many others😂

I think Baader were the most recent to supply a 35mm Eudiascopic, which is truly an awesome eyepiece.  I seem to remember they were £150 new, so £100 may be just about right for a second hand one. I suppose the five element design might put some off who are unfamiliar with the design, imagining they won't work well in short focal length scopes, but at F5.4 in my Genesis SDF the views are mouthwatering.

Incidentally, the Masuyama's are available through FLO though they now tend to be around 80°+ for some strange reason. They are high contrast, high definition on axis, but i think to do this newer wider field version justice you'd need a long scope. Could be great in a Cassegrain. Expensive though!

[Don Pensack]

2 hours ago, paul mc c said:

My RKE 28mm, apparently fairly rare first run Edmonds. Amazing floating views. 

I had an even older eyepiece than that early RKE--a 4 element Edmund eyepiece labeled 1-1/8" for the focal length.

[Saganite]

I bought this superb 10.5mm  65 deg  Carton eyepiece from Dave a while back with little hope of finding a second , but within hours of posting an ad, I was offered its Orion Megavista badged chum, and they are superb as a bino pair.  At around 10mm focal length , I have tried several eyepiece pairs and rejected them , but these are definite keepers.

[mikeDnight]

16 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

I had an even older eyepiece than that early RKE--a 4 element Edmund eyepiece labeled 1-1/8" for the focal length.

I don't suppose you have any pic's Don?  I don't think I've ever seen the earlier version.

It was amusing at a local star party a good few years ago, when a fellow observer walked over to my FS128 to take a look at the double cluster. He'd used the scope many times and he'd seen the double cluster hundreds of times no doubt, but when he looked into the eyepiece he was momentarily wowed by the view. The double cluster looked as if it hung in free space right before his eye and he asked "what eyepiece is this?" How I wish I'd have had my witt's about me and said "it's a new line of TV eyepieces." Instead I blurted out the truth - "it's a 28mm RKE" I said. His interest was immediately lost, but his initial reaction was priceless and told the real story. It makes me wonder how many people lust over eyepieces merely because of a brand name, and conversely, dismiss them on the same basis?

 

[Highburymark]

RKE 28mm is still in production too. Have never seen them sold through a main astro retailer though. Have to buy direct.  
A while ago I bought two rubber eyeguards from Edmund Optics UK (for the Zeiss OPMIs pictured earlier in this thread) for around £20. I now get sent the humongous Edmund catalogue on a regular basis. It’s like an Argos catalogue for optics nerds.

[paulastro]

1 minute ago, Highburymark said:

RKE 28mm is still in production too. Have never seen them sold through a main astro retailer though. Have to buy direct.  
A while ago I bought two rubber eyeguards from Edmund Optics UK (for the Zeiss OPMIs pictured earlier in this thread) for around £20. I now get sent the humongous Edmund catalogue on a regular basis. It’s like an Argos catalogue for optics nerds.

I used to have this catalogue delivered Mark, it's amazing isn't it.  The range of optical products they can supply is stunning.

[Don Pensack]

5 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I don't suppose you have any pic's Don?  I don't think I've ever seen the earlier version.

It was amusing at a local star party a good few years ago, when a fellow observer walked over to my FS128 to take a look at the double cluster. He'd used the scope many times and he'd seen the double cluster hundreds of times no doubt, but when he looked into the eyepiece he was momentarily wowed by the view. The double cluster looked as if it hung in free space right before his eye and he asked "what eyepiece is this?" How I wish I'd have had my wit's about me and said "it's a new line of TV eyepieces." Instead I blurted out the truth - "it's a 28mm RKE" I said. His interest was immediately lost, but his initial reaction was priceless and told the real story. It makes me wonder how many people lust over eyepieces merely because of a brand name, and conversely, dismiss them on the same basis?

 

Some information about it:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/363923-the-edmund-1-18-lens-description/

and a pic:

http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/Illustrations/edmund_scientific-catalog-astronomy-1962.pdf

See page 23 in the old catalog.  Edmund described it as a Kellner, but also mentions it has 2 achromatic lenses inside.

That is because Edmund called Plössls "Kellner Type III" eyepieces. [Kellner type I was the regular Kellner, Kellner Type II was what became RKE]

Here is a picture instead of a drawing (scan through the images to see--it's the all-black eyepiece) Click on any image to see it larger.:

https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/eyepieces/show/rare-vintage-edmund-scientific-rke-plossl-set-excellent

Note: The barrel had no filter threads, there was no field stop (so it had a vary vague field stop and just faded out at the edge), and it worked only so-so below f/8.

I had one in the '60s with an f/10.5 scope and in the early '70s with an f/15 scope and it worked fine.

I bought one used in the '90s and even in my SCT of the time, it was not a good eyepiece.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Don Pensack

[mikeDnight]

2 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Some information about it:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/363923-the-edmund-1-18-lens-description/

and a pic:

http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/Illustrations/edmund_scientific-catalog-astronomy-1962.pdf

See page 23 in the old catalog.  Edmund described it as a Kellner, but also mentions it has 2 achromatic lenses inside.

That is because Edmund called Plössls "Kellner Type III" eyepieces. [Kellner type I was the regular Kellner, Kellner Type II was what became RKE]

Here is a picture instead of a drawing (scan through the images to see--it's the all-black eyepiece) Click on any image to see it larger.:

https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/eyepieces/show/rare-vintage-edmund-scientific-rke-plossl-set-excellent

Note: The barrel had no filter threads, there was no field stop (so it had a vary vague field stop and just faded out at the edge), and it worked only so-so below f/8.

I had one in the '60s with an f/10.5 scope and in the early '70s with an f/15 scope and it worked fine.

I bought one used in the '90s and even in my SCT of the time, it was not a good eyepiece.

Thanks for all the info Don. You're a wealth of information and an international treasure. 🏆

How I wish we had catalogues like Edmunds today; with yesterday's selection of goodies and at yesterday's prices. 

[Nyctimene]

A rare bird - my  2" Wild Heerbrugg 30 mmf/77°:

Bought many years ago during an astro fair. It was taken from a military surplus optic, produced by the renowned Swiss company ( - "swords to ploughshares!"). An excellent wide angle overview eyepiece of the "Bertele" design with six lenses. Field lens and eye stop diameter of 42 mm - the maximum usable size for 2" barrels. Very comfortable and relaxed view (eye relief of 15 mm), especially good with the 18" f 4.5 Obsession (TFoV 1.13°, mag 68x). Will never be sold.

Stephan

Edited February 22, 2022 by Nyctimene

[Mr Spock]

Interesting eyepiece. Not seen one like that before.

[Nyctimene]

30 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

nteresting eyepiece. Not seen one like that before.

As I said, it's a rare bird. As far as I know, the (modified) Bertele design was never in production by any of the big astro companies. The seller, Manfred Pieper in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, had modified the military optics by adding a 2" barrel, even with filter threads - an excellent ATM piece.

The Wild's optical design can be found here (in the diagram: third line, No. 3):

http://www.quadibloc.com/science/opt04.htm

Stephan

[Louis D]

The Wild design is reminiscent of the Panoptic design:

[Mr Spock]

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

The Wild design is reminiscent of the Panoptic design:

As the Wild design preceded the Panoptic by 30 years I think you meant the Panoptic is reminiscent of the Wild design  There are differences in the design though. The Vixen LVW is a similar 6 element design.