StellaLyra 8-24mm 1.25" Lanthanum Zoom Eyepiece

[bomberbaz]

Hello all.

I might be in the market for (another) zoom and I was looking at this offering from StellaLyra.

Now apart from it looks different to other zooms in the market and the Lanthanum glass sales pitch, I am wondering if it so different to others in the market from the likes of SW/Celestron/Baader etc

I have looked but can't find anything that refers directly to the eyepiece.

So has anyone got one as a personal review/overview would be helpful.

cheers

steve

[Second Time Around]

I can't help from personal experience but I believe it's the same as the Orion Lanthanum zoom.  You'll almost certainly find some reviews for the latter.

[Louis D]

Here's a brief review of the Orion on CN.

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

Here's a brief review of the Orion on CN.

thanks Louis, I started reading that before but accidentally closed the page. I read it right through this time and found the review which was quite revealing.

Seems to me it is a good step up from the budget zooms from the likes of SW, OVL etc and possibly at the level of Baader which I already own.

If I do decide to buy one I shall run a shoot out between my celestron (Solar) zoom, the baader and this one. Could be a fun exercise. 

[Louis D]

Another good step-up zoom to hunt for used or NOS is the Celestron Regal Zoom 8-24mm.  It was also packaged with the equivalent Olivon spotting scopes.  The latter come with a rubber grip instead of metal ridges as with the Celestron.  I've picked up multiple copies for about $65 each over the years from CN classifieds and ebay to keep with various scopes or in the BV case.

They do lack filter threads, but the top doesn't rotate while zooming.  This is important if you swap in winged eye cups while binoviewing.  The standard twist-up eye cup screws right off after twisting all the way down, revealing an M37 thread making eye cup swaps easier.  It also maximizes eye relief for eyeglass wearers like me.  I use a pair in my binoviewer.  Some versions zoom smoothly while others I've gotten are stiff to zoom.  They come in several different marking variations depending on which spotting scope they were sold with, or if they were sold stand-alone.

I find them easier to use with eyeglasses than the BHZ.  They're not quite as wide at the short end (about 63 degrees) as the BHZ, but it still feels quite wide.  They're 45 degrees at the long end, so an improvement over the cheap Celestron 8-24mm zoom.  They reasonably parfocal, but certainly not perfect.  The field stop is sharpest toward the middle of the range.  The edges aren't perfect even at f/6, but they're not that bad, either.  The central region is quite good throughout the zoom range.

If you can pick them up for cheap on the secondary market, they're quite a good deal.

[Guest]

I have the Orion 8mm to 24mm zoom and i do believe its the same as the FLO offering.  I have compared it to both the Celestron and Baader models. It gives better images then the celestron and is only a half step behind the Baader.  When turning through the power levels mine is heavy but smooth and has no positive stops at each focal length.  I will say that the amount of force necessary to turn it has gotten lighter over the past year.  Not a lot but it is noticeable and not unexpected.  The images are very good and clear edge to edge.  It is a very good eyepiece for planetary viewing and it can be used for brighter deep sky as well.  The price for it was 200 or so USD, so it fits right between the Celestron and Baader in both price and performance.  If you pair it up with a good 2x barlow you will have a very useful set up.  I use mine almost every time i am out and am glad i have it and have no issues recommending one.  With that said keep in mind that no variable will give as good of an image as a fixed focal length eyepiece, at least not at this price range.  

[Louis D]

You can see how my two traditional zooms stack up against fixed focal length eyepieces in various images in this post of mine:

If you open up the individual images in a separate tab, you'll be able to examine the full resolution images in detail after expanding them.  Honestly, the zooms hold up at least as well as Plossls, if not better.  They're certainly better than the various Kellners, MA, RKE, and 25mm Ortho eyepieces in those images.

The SW Zoom spanks most of the other eyepieces, but it should for the original price I paid (about $400 in today's currency).  It's more of a varifocal, though, in that it is not at all parfocal.

[bomberbaz]

38 minutes ago, Louis D said:

You can see how my two traditional zooms stack up against fixed focal length eyepieces in various images in this post of mine:

If you open up the individual images in a separate tab, you'll be able to examine the full resolution images in detail after expanding them.  Honestly, the zooms hold up at least as well as Plossls, if not better.  They're certainly better than the various Kellners, MA, RKE, and 25mm Ortho eyepieces in those images.

The SW Zoom spanks most of the other eyepieces, but it should for the original price I paid (about $400 in today's currency).  It's more of a varifocal, though, in that it is not at all parfocal.

That's one heck of a post and a lot of great data.  You can read all the retail blurb you like but nothing stacks up better than good research and user reports. 

[Louis D]

Since I had a bit of time on my hands, I went ahead and composited the various AT72ED f/6 zoom images into a single image below:

The individual images are each at full resolution.  You can see how both image scale and AFOV shrinks with increasing focal length with traditional zooms.  However, the varifocal SW has a constant AFOV from one end to the other.

If you open the image to full resolution, you can see how the traditional zooms are very sharp at the longest focal length.  They get less sharp with decreasing focal length.  The SW stays about the same.  However, SAEP grows more severe with decreasing focal length in the SW.  This matches with my experience that the more Barlow extension you use, the more SAEP that gets introduced.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Louis D

[F15Rules]

The Speers-Waler variable "zoom" is certainly a big beast..

I bought one in late 2019 or early 2020 at a good price as I was intrigued to try it.

Optically it was rather good, although of limited utility with it's restricted 5-8mm range. And it's sheer size made it a bit unwieldy, see the photos below..

I didn't keep it for long, but it sold on an auction site for over 4 times what I bought it for, much to my surprise and delight..someone clearly wanted it badly!

Dave

[Guest]

On 18/08/2022 at 18:09, F15Rules said:

The Speers-Waler variable "zoom" is certainly a big beast..

I bought one in late 2019 or early 2020 at a good price as I was intrigued to try it.

Optically it was rather good, although of limited utility with it's restricted 5-8mm range. And it's sheer size made it a bit unwieldy, see the photos below..

I didn't keep it for long, but it sold on an auction site for over 4 times what I bought it for, much to my surprise and delight..someone clearly wanted it badly!

Dave

What a cool eyepiece.  I would have kept it just for the novelty of it.  I bet that seriously kicked butt with a 2x barlow 

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, Mike Q said:

What a cool eyepiece.  I would have kept it just for the novelty of it.  I bet that seriously kicked butt with a 2x barlow 

It was optically a nice eyepiece..but with even a short Barlow, at the highest 5mm setting, the combined stack was around 8" long!😱

Dave

[bomberbaz]

On 20/08/2022 at 14:43, F15Rules said:

It was optically a nice eyepiece..but with even a short Barlow, at the highest 5mm setting, the combined stack was around 8" long!😱

Dave

to be fair dave that wouldn't be far in front of a baader zoom and 2x focal extender

[F15Rules]

58 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

to be fair dave that wouldn't be far in front of a baader zoom and 2x focal extender

Agreed..but it's just to long and unwieldy for my liking..I prefer to use a higher power eyepiece with a 1.6x nosepiece to keep things more manageable. And a Hyperion zoom with a 1.6x nosepiece or 2x shorty Barlow makes a very nice high power zoom👍😊

Dave

Edited August 21, 2022 by F15Rules

[bomberbaz]

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Agreed..but it's just to long and unwieldy for my liking..I prefer to use a higher power eyepiece with a 1.6x nosepiece to keep things more manageable. And a Hyperion zoom with a 1.6x nosepiece or 2x shorty Barlow makes a very nice high power zoom👍😊

Dave

You make a good point although I have a nagler 6-3 zoom which sits perfectly in in the spot where a barlowed zoom would cover. 

Makes me wonder do I lose the 6-3 zoom or lose the tele extender as I do have a meade shorty 2x barlow too just in case, hmm. 

PS, when I say lose, I mean sell 😉🤣

[F15Rules]

31 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

You make a good point although I have a nagler 6-3 zoom which sits perfectly in in the spot where a barlowed zoom would cover. 

Makes me wonder do I lose the 6-3 zoom or lose the tele extender as I do have a meade shorty 2x barlow too just in case, hmm. 

PS, when I say lose, I mean sell 😉🤣

I was just going to say "feel free to lose it in my direction"..😁😂

Dave