Svbony 8-3 zoom

[Franklin]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

I generally try to avoid astro stuff from China (especially with a daft name), but this EP appears to be unique. 
 

I like "made in Japan" kit as well but this zoom has been getting very good reviews and it hasn't disappointed, lovely eyepiece.

[John]

I'm using mine right now to observe Saturn with my Tak FC100. Gorgeous views at 225x 😁

[Mark at Beaufort]

I bought mine about a week ago and the other night I observed Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon. I used mine on the StellaMira 125mm ED Doublet which gave me a mag of 325X down to 122X. The best view was the 4 and 5 but the Moon was pretty good with the 3.

I am looking forward to trying it out over the next week - if it stays clear.

[tico]

maybe, can be a good zoom for the SW ED 80/600 ? 

[John]

35 minutes ago, tico said:

maybe, can be a good zoom for the SW ED 80/600 ? 

It would give you magnifications from 75x to 200x with that scope. The whole of the mid to highest magnification range covered with one eyepiece.

 

[badhex]

Uh-oh 😅

[Franklin]

Just been out for an hour before the hazy clouds arrived to give the Svbony 3-8mm it's first light. Scope was the SD81 and the targets Saturn and Jupiter, if the sky clears later I will try it on the Moon as well. First impressions are that this eyepiece is very good, both planets were crisp and sharp across the range, not quite as sharp on the 3mm setting but then I'm only using a 3" scope. The image held up really well towards the edge of field and the image presented was no different, if not slightly better than my SLV's give and with a touch more fov, impressive. The zoom appears to be parfocal across the range but the 3mm setting required a slight tweak to keep focus with the rest of the range. Using the 4mm setting for around 156x in the 81mm F7.7 refractor gave the best view and looked very good, sharp shadows on Saturns rings and hints of belt detail on Jupiter which isn't bad going for such a small scope. I don't normally buy stuff that doesn't say Vixen on the side but this Svbony zoom has serious potential, I like it.

[cajen2]

Just ordered one - the price is going back up....you people do realise you're costing me a lot of money....😛

[DaveL59]

Almost tempted give what today is but...

not sure it'd suit my scopes at the low end however, so maybe next time 🙂 

[Merak]

After thinking about getting one a while, I've finally joined the club and ordered one yesterday.

With things like this I guess that having a realistic expectation will help.   I know it won't match a fixed f/l ep such as a 5mm Delite but if it gets reasonably close then I'll be happy enough.   I could always go down that avenue in the future if need be.

[Naughty Neal]

I found my sv215 package today having received a notice of delivery from AliExp, it was delivered on Monday but the useless postie decided to hide it behind the recycling wheelie bin. I have a old style milk cupboard which is used by most posties and quite obvious adj to the front door, except this particular one not even a left it note to say so.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Naughty Neal

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 06/12/2023 at 18:58, Naughty Neal said:

I found my sv215 package today having received a notice of delivery from AliExp, it was delivered on Monday but the useless postie decided to hide it behind the recycling wheelie bin. I have an old style milk cupboard which is used by most posties and quite obvious adj to the front door, except this particular one not even a left it note to say so.

 

Welcome to the SV215 club. 

Naughty postie / Naughty courier! 😖

Edited December 9, 2023 by RT65CB-SWL

[dnl]

Ordered mine 8 days ago from AliExpress for £71.

Arrived already now where's those clear skies

[John]

I'm pleased that the availability of these zooms is still plentiful. I was a little concerned that the supply of them would dry up after the initial production run had sold out. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by John

[Roy Challen]

16 hours ago, John said:

I'm pleased that the availability of these zooms is still plentiful. I was a little concerned that the supply of them would dry up after the initial production run had sold out. 

Isn't China 'running out' when they're down to the last million or so?😉

Seriously though, the price seems to be dropping so I'd guess they made more than enough to go round.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Roy Challen

[Ags]

I'm glad the price is going down, but I don't really regret buying earier either, the eyepiece has given me a lot of fun. At the current price level I think it is an instant recommendation for any beginner with an f4-f8 scope.

I have been through plenty of eyepiece iterations over the years, but now I m starting to wonder if all I need right now are the Svbony 3-8 for general viewing, my ES 68 degree 20 mm for widefield stuff, and my SLV 25 mm for solar viewing and finderscope duties. Can it really be that simple????

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, Ags said:

I'm glad the price is going down, but I don't really regret buying earier either, the eyepiece has given me a lot of fun. At the current price level I think it is an instant recommendation for any beginner with an f4-f8 scope.

I have been through plenty of eyepiece iterations over the years, but now I m starting to wonder if all I need right now are the Svbony 3-8 for general viewing, my ES 68 degree 20 mm for widefield stuff, and my SLV 25 mm for solar viewing and finderscope duties. Can it really be that simple????

Depends how addicted you are to a wide FOV. These days, I find less than about 76° a bit of a trial.

[Ratlet]

24 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Depends how addicted you are to a wide FOV. These days, I find less than about 76° a bit of a trial.

Oddly I'm the opposite.  I find 60° is just dandy.  I don't mind 76° but I quite like the 60 for just presenting everything right in front of me.  Great for sketching too.

[Naughty Neal]

Sv215 zoom price's are now back to above £126 now b/f & c/m discounts are over

[cajen2]

33 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Oddly I'm the opposite.  I find 60° is just dandy.  I don't mind 76° but I quite like the 60 for just presenting everything right in front of me.  Great for sketching too.

Ah, it's lucky for the manufacturers that we're all different....otherwise they'd only sell us one scope, one mount,......

[Merak]

Scrolling through the thread again reminds me that I have to get a parfocal ring to prevent any risk of it hitting the prism in my diagonal......

[RT65CB-SWL]

22 hours ago, Ags said:

I'm glad the price is going down, but I don't really regret buying earier either, the eyepiece has given me a lot of fun. At the current price level I think it is an instant recommendation for any beginner with an f4-f8 scope.

...

Agreed!

I used to be devoted to TeleVue and Meade. Now I am devoted to TeleVue and Svbony. I have the earlier 6mm ‘redline’ and ‘goldline’ [i.e. no logo on them]. They are good value e/p’s. The ‘goldline’ is used for white light solar duties with my 1.25” Lunt wedge.

[Ratlet]

Svbony gear in my experience follows the usual china tools rule:

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

If it looks like a good deal, it's probably a great deal.

[bosun21]

I'll be the odd one out here. I didn't get on with the Svbony 3-8 zoom eyepiece. I don't fault it optically at all and found the views to be clear and sharp. I just can't observe comfortably with relatively short eye relief and small eye lenses anymore. I think I have just got too comfortable with both of these attributes being larger. That's why I sold all my orthos and short focal length plossl's

[bosun21]

7 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Svbony gear in my experience follows the usual china tools rule:

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

If it looks like a good deal, it's probably a great deal.

Don't they contradict each other?