Meade S4000 8.8mm UWA

[A McEwan]

Hi all.

I recently acquired a used Meade Series 4000 8.8mm Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece. Discontinued now, the range is famous for being competitors to the original Naglers, as they have 84 degree apparent fields of view, reasonable eye relief, very good optical quality and a sense of immersion when viewing.

The 8.8mm is a dual fit barrel, 2" and 1.25". So far I've used it in my 8" Dob and my ED80, in both cases using the 2" barrel fitting.

In the Dob I viewed the Moon as it approached first quarter a week or so ago, and roamed the terminator, picking craters and mountain peaks to explore. The view is very very sharp on axis with a high level of contrast. The view is not as "stark" or cold as through my Pentax 10.5 XL but is nevertheless just as enjoyable and yields about the same level of detail.

Off axis, at about 85% of the field, the view had a very minor amount of false colour on crater rims etc. This was not intrusive or bad, and I suspect is perfectly acceptable for an eyepiece that is not really designed to be a planetary/lunar tool.

In the ED80 I used it today to examine the solar disc. In the ED80 is gives 68x and a true field of 1.23 degrees - more than enough to frame the entire solar (or lunar) disc and still at a high enough magnification to resolve features. Granulation was evident, and limb darkening, and a very nice structure was shown in an active region near the western (?) limb. This eyepiece is going to see a lot of use in my ED80, I can tell you!

I only wish I'd had a chance to use it on some globs or open clusters in my ED120, but sadly it is no longer easy to find any in the evenings as it doesn't get properly dark until very late. Perhaps I'll get a chance one weekend - fingers crossed.

The build quality is incredible. It is hefty (14 3/8 oz) and solid, and feels very well made. No rattles or looseness at all. The fold down rubber eyeguard is very nice, and is securely attached. I prefer to roll it down to make it easier to see the entire field of view, but it is quite vusable with the eyeguard "up" too. So far no blackout issues or kidney beaning, and eye relief is "just right". I haven't measured it, but the stated spec of 9mm seems about right.

Overall I really like this eyepiece. I can't understand why they're no longer made? I'm very happy to have this classic eyepiece next to my 6.7mm version in my eyepiece case.

Ant

[tom.yates]

I have the 8.8 myself and find it to be outstaning the 14mm is even better in fact i sold my 14mm pentax xw as i found the 14mm ultrawide to be better

[A McEwan]

I had the 14mm briefly but found it too heavy. I think in hindsight I maybe didn't give it a fair trial though, so I may keep an eye open for one to replace my 14XL in the future...

[adamsp123]

Nice report Ant, I am looking for something in this range myself, one to consider, what focal ratio is your Dob?

[A McEwan]

Hi, the Dob is f6. Bear in mind that other wide field type eyepieces have also introduced some CA at the very edge when used to view the Moon through the Dob, including my Pentaxes. Ortho's did not! Therefore, I don't consider the Meade to be any worse than any other wide-field for lunar viewing (and it was a fair bit better in that regard than my 16T5). But as always, it's horses for courses...