Aero 40mm vs Vixen LVW 42mm

[Littleguy80]

I have an Aero 40mm which I use mostly with my 4” F7 frac but also with my 10” F4.7 dob. With the dob I only use it with filters but it worked well for tracing Barnard’s loop with an HB filter one time. I paid just under £50 for the Aero and it’s been superb value for that. I’ve often wondered if it could be bettered. The Panoptic 41mm would almost definitely beat it but at a significantly higher price tag. More affordable is the Vixen LVW 42mm but is it much of an improvement over the Aero 40mm? Has anyone compared them?

[Louis D]

I don't know about the Vixen LVW 42mm, but the Pentax XW 40mm is slightly sharper to the edge with better eye relief.  The JOC made Meade 5000 SWA 40mm is much sharper to the edge with lots more eye relief.  The ES-68 40mm is supposed to be similar to the Meade, but with less eye relief due to the design of the eyepiece top.

Weight for weight, though, you really can't beat the Aero ED 40mm.

Here's my comparison image of 32mm to 42mm eyepieces.  My Lacerta ED is the same as your Aero ED.

Edited March 5 by Louis D

[Louis D]

Here are Ernest's tests of the four eyepieces in question:

Levenhuk ED 40mm (Aero/Lacerta/Titan/TMB)

Vixen LVW 42mm

Pentax XW-R 40mm

Maxvision 68° 40mm (Meade 5000 SWA, ES-68)

His testing of the Maxvision/Meade/ES makes no sense to me.  Mine is almost perfectly corrected at f/5, so I can't imagine how it did so bad at f/4 for him.

According to his testing, it performs more similarly to the Meade 5000 Plossl 40mm than the others in the list, which is not true in my experience.  Look at how bad the Meade Plossl did in my photos at f/6.

[Mr Spock]

The 42mm LVW has the largest field stop available in 2" eyepieces. Mine is very sharp.

[Littleguy80]

39 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

The 42mm LVW has the largest field stop available in 2" eyepieces. Mine is very sharp.

Interesting, sounds ideal for maximising FOV then. Performs well in your Tak?

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

Here are Ernest's tests of the four eyepieces in question:

Levenhuk ED 40mm (Aero/Lacerta/Titan/TMB)

Vixen LVW 42mm

Pentax XW-R 40mm

Maxvision 68° 40mm (Meade 5000 SWA, ES-68)

His testing of the Maxvision/Meade/ES makes no sense to me.  Mine is almost perfectly corrected at f/5, so I can't imagine how it did so bad at f/4 for him.

According to his testing, it performs more similarly to the Meade 5000 Plossl 40mm than the others in the list, which is not true in my experience.  Look at how bad the Meade Plossl did in my photos at f/6.

Thanks Louis, that’s super helpful. Will have a read  

[Mr Spock]

7 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Performs well in your Tak?

Yes, 3.7° 

[John]

I'm sorry that I'm a bit late to this.

I had a 40mm Aero ED for a while and thought it a very good eyepiece. Best corrected of the Aero ED's that I've used. I have not compared it with a Vixen LVW 42mm though.

Although the exit pupil is rather over-sized in the scope, I was pleasantly surprised how well corrected across the FoV the Aero ED 40mm was when I tried it in my F/5.3 12 inch dobsonian. 

I would probably want to "try before I buy" in my scopes, especially the faster ones, before jumping ship to the Vixen, just to see that there are some actual benefits.

If you decide to move the 40mm Aero ED on, I'd certainly be interested in owning another one 🙂

 

Edited March 8 by John

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, John said:

I'm sorry that I'm a bit late to this.

I had a 40mm Aero ED for a while and thought it a very good eyepiece. Best corrected of the Aero ED's that I've used. I have not compared it with a Vixen LVW 42mm though.

Although the exit pupil is rather over-sized in the scope, I was pleasantly surprised how well corrected across the FoV the Aero ED 40mm was when I tried it in my F/5.3 12 inch dobsonian. 

I would probably want to "try before I buy" in my scopes, especially the faster ones, before jumping ship to the Vixen, just to see that there are some actual benefits.

If you decide to move the 40mm Aero ED on, I'd certainly be interested in owning another one 🙂

 

Thanks John. Great to hear you got on well with your Aero 40mm. Yeah, try before you buy would be ideal. I’ve not really found anything that’s making me think there’s a big difference between the two. There’s talk of uneven magnification across the FOV with the Vixen. If I do jump ship though, I’ll drop you a message on the Aero  

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

There’s talk of uneven magnification across the FOV with the Vixen.

It's only 42mm in the centre. For my calculations I use 38mm and 72° fov. It's neither 42mm 72° nor 42mm 65°! The 38mm and 72° matches the view through the eyepiece. It's very sharp across the field so it depends if the difference in magnification across the field is important to you. I don't notice it.

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

It's only 42mm in the centre. For my calculations I use 38mm and 72° fov. It's neither 42mm 72° nor 42mm 65°! The 38mm and 72° matches the view through the eyepiece. It's very sharp across the field so it depends if the difference in magnification across the field is important to you. I don't notice it.

Oh that’s interesting. I wonder why it was sold as 42mm 65°! Good to know it doesn’t have a noticeable impact on the views. 

[Mr Spock]

Just now, Littleguy80 said:

I wonder why it was sold as 42mm 65°!

Mine says 42mm 72° on the side  If you look through one it's clearly half way between a regular LVW 65° and Nagler 82°. I think they changed the later ones to 65° because of complaints when they really should have changed the 42mm...

[LondonNeil]

What about the stellalyra 2" 42mm for a cheapo option? Anyone tried it?

[Naughty Neal]

I have the 20mm and it doesn't come to focus in my two refractors, it needs to much in travel.

They are made by GSO, you will likely find  reviews not to flattering.

[LondonNeil]

Oh dear...... maybe its a peach if you add an extender..... but I suspect from your tone you'll never know! 🤣

[Naughty Neal]

It's the only lemon I have bought,  all my other ep's  I have no focus issues with  , meade, celestron, pentax , ovl, baader , svbony , founder.