Vixen SLV vs TeleVue Plössl

[danielhigham]

I have an f/5 Newtonian, and I’m looking to upgrade my 20mm eyepiece for DSO work.

I can get the Vixen SLV 20mm or the TV Plössl 20mm for the same price. Both have the same 50° aFOV; the Vixen slightly more eye relief (20mm vs 14; I prefer to wear glasses).

Which would you pick and why?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The TV Plössl 20mm is no doubt one of the best Plössls you can find, but eye relief alone would make me go for the SLV. I have three of these (5, 9, and 15mm in my travel and outreach set) and their performance is superb. They basically give the same optical quality across their 50° aFOV as the legendary Pentax XWs give across their 70° aFOV. I have several XWs so have been able to verify this. It's almost like having orthos with good eye relief.

[jjohnson3803]

SLVs are my preferred EP, but I've never tried a TV.  I wear usually wear glasses while observing and the ER of the SLVs is quite good.   Plus they don't have undercuts and the eyecups are twist up if either matter to you.

I've been considering adding a 20mm SLV to my 10, 6, and 4mm.  I have a couple of cheaper Paradigms / BSTs - 25mm and 15mm - that I'd probably sell.

 

 

Edited March 18 by jjohnson3803

[Mr Spock]

2 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

It's almost like having orthos with good eye relief.

Exactly how I describe them.

[John]

I've owned lots of TV plossls and I've tried lots of the Vixen SLV's as well.

Optically they are pretty much in the same league I feel. For the glasses wearer (which I'm not) the SLV will be somewhat more comfortable.

I did find the 6mm SLV pretty indistinguishable from the 6mm Baader Genuine Ortho when I compared them - except that the SLV has a much larger eye lens, about 5 degrees more AFoV and much more eye relief.

 

Edited March 18 by John

[Elp]

If you wear glasses forget the TV plossls. I had a range of them, although optically good, FOV is restrictive (if you've used UWA) and obviously couldn't use them with glasses on barring the 32mm, which is the only one I've got left.

I did have a budget eyepiece once which was optically around 80-90pc of one of the TVs around 60pc of the centre FOV but sold it off, it was an Orbinar 20mm SWA 70 degree I think.

Edited March 18 by Elp

[danielhigham]

Thanks for the replies everyone, seems the consensus leans heavily toward the greater eye relief of the SLV!