Here I Go Again

[LDW1]

I have pretty well a complete set of Baader Morpheus eyepieces which followed a set of Hyperions which followed a set ......., which followed etc.   The Morpheus are my top line group but I have now put together a small collection of Celestron Ultima Edge eps. I like their pinpoint, edge to edge, wide field performance, their smaller size / weight and the thought of having a handy comparison, a shootout between the 2 sets when the notion strikes and the skys are right. The spring time nite skies are greatly improving and now I can hardly wait, its what I like, lol !   PS: Here I go again !

[Don Pensack]

I have compared all of them.  The 15mm is not compatible with glasses, though the 30, 24, and 18mm are.

The 30mm is sharp to the edge and has a noticeably flat field, and superb contrast for its 70° apparent field (the other 3 are 65°).

It is among the top 3 30-32mm eyepieces I've ever used.

I preferred the APM versions because of a smooth lower barrel.  The Celestrons have a tapered undercut on the lower barrels.

That makes them a little problematic in binoviewers.  They are the same, optically.

The actual field stops are not what you find in the literature.

They are:

30mm--36.3

24mm--27.6

18mm--21.7

15mm--18.2

The 24mm has, as a result of the large field stop, a bit of vignetting at the edge, but it is not obtrusive.  It does make the edge a little less sharp than in the others.

I consider the 30mm an "honorary" Morpheus, and the 30mm to 17.5mm is an excellent jump in scopes of less than 2000mm focal lengths.

In my 12.5" (1826mm focal length), the jump is from 61x to 104x, and I never feel a need for anything in between.

 

I look forward to your comparison with the Morpheus series. 

 

[Highburymark]

They look very nice indeed.
I see Lunt has just replaced it’s (wrong!! - why does spellcheck keep changing its to it’s for the possessive? A real bugbear of mine) old solar eyepiece range with the flat fields. They must be a contender for the most badged-engineered eyepieces on the market. Good value though. 

[cajen2]

@Don Pensack - you must have read my mind. I've been thinking that the view through my Celestron Ultima Edge 30mil is very Morpheus-like.

I also look forward to the comparison with interest, though from what I've heard, the UFF EPs are a little patchy in quality across the range.

Edited April 14, 2023 by cajen2

[LDW1]

I just added the 10mm to this collection, I will get it Tues.