StellaLyra Ultra Flat Field eyepieceS

[John]

On 15/02/2024 at 08:46, Saganite said:

I sold my 30mm Pentax XW  last summer for a Stellalyra 30mm UFF and have no regrets.

That is interesting to hear Steve. I've been considering those two recently. I'm swayed towards the 30mm UFF now despite my admiration for the build and optical quality of Pentax XW's generally.

Hmmm ....... 🤔

[JeremyS]

3 minutes ago, John said:

That is interesting to hear Steve. I've been considering those two recently. I'm swayed towards the 30mm UFF now despite my admiration for the build and optical quality of Pentax XW's generally.

Hmmm ....... 🤔

Interesting to hear that John, considering I thought you had a Nagler 31. Looking for something lighter/less bulky?

[John]

19 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Interesting to hear that John, considering I thought you had a Nagler 31. Looking for something lighter/less bulky?

I have the Nagler 31 and the Ethos 21 and they are both heavy beasts. As well as the weight, I'm motivated by curiosity - I've read a lot about the 30mm UFF variants over the past couple of years.

 

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, John said:

I have the Nagler 31 and the Ethos 21 and they are both heavy beasts. As well as the weight, I'm motivated by curiosity - I've read a lot about the 30mm UFF variants over the past couple of years.

 

That’s as good a motivation as any, John 👍🏻

[mikeDnight]

I sold my 31mm Nagler the year before last because it wasnt sharp to the edge when in my Genesis SDF, and I replaced it with a superb 35mm Panoptic. It was woth losing half a degree of true field to gain a cleaner field of view. I then sold my 35mm Panoptic eyepiece last year as part of a package deal. Then when I was at the Practical Astronomy Show, I grabbed myself a Altair version of the 30mm Ultra Flat. It really is everything it claims to be, and I genuinely don't miss the 35 Panoptic at all. As far as I'm concerned, the 30mm Ultra Flat is every bit as sharp as the Panoptic. As Spock said above - "everyone should have one"! This year I may buy the 24mm Ultra Flat, which if the 30mm is anything to go by, should give the 24 Panoptic a serious run for its money, and the UFF has a larger eye lens making it a bit more comfortable to use.

That first night, when I return home from the PAS, the sky was clear and I was able to have my first look through my new 30mm Ultra Flat. To my delight the stars were sharp across the field, and after aiming my FC100 to M1, there it was, the Crab nebula as large as life. As many will know, this object can be elusive despite its apparent ease, so the night must have been reasonably transparent, but also the eyepiece performed admirably as well.

Edited February 16 by mikeDnight

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, John said:

That is interesting to hear Steve. I've been considering those two recently. I'm swayed towards the 30mm UFF now despite my admiration for the build and optical quality of Pentax XW's generally.

Hmmm ....... 🤔

Check out this post of mine linking to direct comparison edge images of the two eyepieces:

If that's not enough to sway your decision, I don't know what would do it.

[Jimmy81]

On 15/02/2024 at 17:32, Louis D said:

Not sure what telescope you have, but most folks tend to jump from 30mm to somewhere around 12mm to 13mm.  If you start with the 20mm, then you'll probably jump to 10mm, give or take.  The difference in view between 30mm and 20mm tends to not be that significant except in very long focal length scopes such as SCTs and Maks.

Thank you for your response, I’m not sure hi I missed this?!

I had the same thought and was undecided whether to go for the UWA in 20mm or 14mm. I ended up ordering the 30mm UFF and 20mm UWA 80° this weekend so will see how they are once they arrive. I already have a BST Starguider 12mm which is a lovely eyepiece for the money. 
I may end up returning the 20mm but who knows. 

[Jimmy81]

These 2 arrived for me today and I’m very much looking forward to trying them out. I’m still a little undecided whether I will keep the 20mm UWA or exchange it for the 14mm UWA to give a bit more range when partnered with the 30mm. 
I’m hoping for a couple of clear hours one evening this week (although it’s looking increasingly unlikely) to put them to the test and see if they are as good as I’ve read about. 

 

[bosun21]

The 30mm, 24mm and the 10mm are the ones that i have owned and found them to be very good. The 10mm in particular is light and compact with sharp images over its 60° FOV. The 30mm speaks for itself with everyone who owns one.

[John]

43 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The 30mm, 24mm and the 10mm are the ones that i have owned and found them to be very good. The 10mm in particular is light and compact with sharp images over its 60° FOV. The 30mm speaks for itself with everyone who owns one.

I've come across eyepieces that speak for themselves before - they usually say "buy me" 🙄