Help me to pick a high quality eyepiece

[mike-h]

I am thinking of buying a high quality eyepiece for my Skywatcher 250px dob (f4.7) and I could do with some advice from other fast dob owners.

I'm considering either Pentax XW or TV Nagler.

I'm thinking that the best all round size to start with is the 10mm pentax (£243 from FLO) or the 9mm Nagler (£202 from Telescope house). Is 10mm a good choice?

I would be hoping to get some crisp view of globular clusters, maybe open cluster and galaxies.

I also wonder whether I will be able to 2x barlow it for the moon and planets.

I wear glasses and realise that eye relief is 20mm and 12mm respectively. Do any of you own a Nagler and wear glasses-is 12mm a problem?

Thanks

Mike H

p.s what, if any, discount would FLO offer an SGL member if I were to buy the Pentax?

[SteveP]

Mike

I've owned the 10XW (and some smaller ones as well) and I also own a 17mm Nagler but not the 9mm. My experience of XW's and Naglers is that they are excellent EP's and you won't go wrong with either. So far as your scope is concerned, with a FL of about 1200mm, you are going to get magnification of 120x and 133x for the XW and Nagler which would be great for many DSOs. With a Barlow at 2x, it will give you 240x and 266x. In the UK, you probably couldn't use any higher mag other than in eceptional seeing conditions.

Although I wear glasses, I don't use them for observing so can't therefore help you whether either is suitable for glasses

Whichever you choose, just go for it. I'm sure you won't be let down with either

Steve

[mike-h]

Thanks for the feedback Steve-much appreciated

Mike H

[Kai]

Fingers crossed i should be getting a 14mm Xw tommorow from Flo for use in my 300 Flextube.

I think that the differences between the Xw and Nagler is slight and certainly with the quality of skies we get here i dont think it makes much difference.

Either way they are both top drawer eyepieces

Sods law that tonight is clear as a bell

[A McEwan]

My Pentax XL 10.5 is one eyepiece that gets used every single time I take a telescope out. The XW will likely be the same for you if you choose to go for it. The Nagler also will be nice I'm sure, but I've not used that eyepiece so can't comment on it.

Happy Hunting!

[mike-h]

You'll have to post a review of the XW 14mm soon. I'll be keen to see what you think of it. What scope will you be using it in?

Thanks for the replies

Mike-H

[John]

I've gone the Nagler / Ethos route although the Pentax XW's are really excellent as well. If you wear glasses to observe you will find the longer eye relief of the Pentax very useful. Personally (and not a glasses wearer) I like the ultra-wide field eyepieces combined with with the undriven dobsonian mount as it makes it slightly easier to keep objects in the field of view with a bit less "nudging".

But both are superb eyepieces - you really can't go wrong

John

PS: I've found that phone calls are the best way to find out the best deals around

[Doc]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem

[albedo0.39]

In in the queue as well, but quite a few places back...

(Ethos.. Nagler... Pentax.. mutter mutter...can't afford, should afford, waste of money, good value, you know it makes sense etc etc.....)

[Rusty Strings]

Me too, I've been wrestling with the Nagler/pentax/uwan dilemma for too long now. It may seem obvious but I think I may need to look through a Nagler or UWAN.

Anybody live near Belper, Derbyshire one or a selection of these beasts???

John

[John]

I think the difficult part of this dilemma is "will I notice £XXX's worth of difference by using these eyepieces ?". It's very difficult to answer because everybody has different expectations, tolerances, acuity, definition of value for money, etc, etc.

I use Naglers and an Ethos and I don't regret a £1 that I've spent on them but I would not claim that they have revoloutionised my observing, changed my outlook on life or anything like that - they just provide very nice views in my opinion

John

[Rusty Strings]

At the moment it's the "will I notice/care about or even find uncomfortable the extra 12 degrees of AFOV from a Nagler/UWAN over a pentax.

I wear specs, but the jury's still out as to whether I need them for observing, it doesn't appear to be a problem with my XW5, but I wonder if having to move my eyes or head to take in the wider FOV may highlight limitations with my vision resulting in having to wear them for a nagler, then the eye relief would be an issue.

John

[John]

It's interesting that people see 82 or 100 degree fields of view as a possible disadvantage - that's the whole reason why Naglers and Ethos (Ethoi) were designed and why people are prepared to invest £100's in them !.

John

[mike-h]

John, I'm wondering the same thing.

I like the idea of the Nagler but I dont know if I'll be able to use it with glasses (or even whether I will need glasses as the 2mm eye relief may mean the astigmatism in my eye is not a problem).

So, are there any SGL members who are glasses wearers and have experience of using a 12mm eye relief Nagler??!! A big ask-hope someone's out there.

Mike H

[A McEwan]

A slightly different way to look at it is this.

The biggest improvement in the view will be in going from a "cheap" eyepiece (like the ones generally supplied with telescope packages) to an "expensive" eyepiece, like the Pentaxes, Ethoi, Naglers, Baaders, etc.

within the "expensive" bracket there are many variations, and some will serve different purposes (and work with different scopes) better than some others - but by nowhere near as great a degree as going from "cheap" to "expensive" in the first place.

I have gone through more eyepieces than I can remember, and have never regretted spending on "expensive" eyepieces, but I have very often regretted buying the cheaper versions.

In short, having made the decision to improve the general quality of your eyepiece, you will not regret whichever type you go for - Pentax, Nagler, Ethos, Meade UWA, Baader or whatever.

Hope you find something you really like!

Ant

[mike-h]

Thanks Ant, I appreciate your comments a lot and find them very encouraging. My only worry is that the 12mm eye relief of the Nagler may not be enough. I really don't want to find myself in a postion where I buy the Nagler but find it awkward to use while wearing glasses. This suggests that I buy the pentax but I really want to try the 82 degree view- if I can get it to work for me (plus the nagler is £40 cheaper).

If i get a couple of replies saying that peolple with glasses find the Nagler okay to use then I'll go for it. On the other hand if people suggest that the eye relief is tight then I may try to fork out for the Pentax.

Thanks

Mike H

[A McEwan]

You're welcome. Why do you wear glasses? Do you suffer from astigmatism? I usually wear glasses all the time - except for observing when I remove them (and sleeping of course). I use the telescope's focuser to bring the view to sharp focus, while relaxing my eye and the view is fine.

If you wear them to correct for astigmatism, they will probably be necessary only at low to medium magnifications. When the exit pupil gets smaller (ie at higher magnifications) the astigmatism (which normally presents at the outer edge of the eye) is not noticed so you can get away with not wearing them. At least, that's how I understand it. I have some minor astigmatism in my observin eye, but it only shows itself at very low magnifications and is very easily overlooked.

The exit pupils with the pentax 10mm and Nagler 9mm will both be about 2mm, whioch shouldn't show any astigmatism unless you are heavily afflicted by it, so you should be able to get away with observing without specs - at least from an astigmatism point of view - and this would make the ergonomics of the eyepieces more comfortable.

Ant

[mike-h]

Thanks again Ant. I had wondered about astigmatism and exit pupils.

Leaning toward the Nagler now BUT these new Skywatcher Nirvana/UWANs represent top value in comparison!!!

Mike H

[A McEwan]

Haven't read a reviw, but they are mightly similar - ina ppearance anyway - to the William Optics thingies which get great reviews. And you could get nearly two for the price!

A comparison between the 16mm William Optics and the Nagler 16T5 put them almost indistinguishably close. But will the Skywatcherrs be the same....?

[John]

Haven't read a reviw, but they are mightly similar - ina ppearance anyway - to the William Optics thingies which get great reviews. And you could get nearly two for the price!

A comparison between the 16mm William Optics and the Nagler 16T5 put them almost indistinguishably close. But will the Skywatcherrs be the same....?

The Skywatcher Nirvanas certainly look pretty much identical to the UWAN and the identical focal lengths can't be a coincidence, can they ?.

I guess the question is whether the lens coatings and internal baffling are of the same quality as the UWAN's - if they are then I would say the Nirvana's deserve serious consideration.

John

[albedo0.39]

Where are you getting the information from about these Nirvana's ? I've had a cursory look but cannot see them anywhere. Thanks

[FLO]

Skywatcher Nirvana eyepieces

[albedo0.39]

Thanks Steve. Had any experience of them in an F4.5 scope ? Are you going to Salisbury and if so, would you mind if I had a peek ? I'm very interested in something like this and freely admit my confusion at the choice on the market.

Thanks

[FLO]

I haven't tried them in an f4.5 scope but I will bring them to Salisbury and you are welcome to try them (please remind me closer to the event)

[pbyrne]

A question that I always ask is do we really need 82 or 100 degrees in a fov? I can understand the "spacewalk" experience, but how often do we really look right to the edge of the fov for an object in a 9mm or longer focal length eyepiece? An 8mm Ethos in a 1500mm focal length scope gives a magnification of X187.5, not a finder eyepiece, the shorter focal lengths perhaps merit the wider fields of view. Chances are we simply look at the centre of the field, after all, isn't that where we position the object we wish to look at?

Personally I like an eyepiece with 60 to 70 degree fov such as the Vixen LWV or the Baader Hyperion.

As a specs wearer I let them hang on my chest held with a spectacle cord when I'm at the eyepiece, that way I know where they are.

Just my humble opinion.

Paul

Wait for the replies from the Nagler/Ethos owners.