Which Zoom?

[aussi skywatcher]

Hi Guys, I am looking to purchase a zoom Eyepiece and have been lucky enough to borrow a Baader Hyperion 8mm to 24mm and am quite impressed with the results. My question is how do the other 2 contenders - the Vixen LV 8mm to 24mm and the Williams 7.5mm to 22.5mm stand up against the Baader? There is a considerable price difference between them and while I dont mind spending the cash I would like to be sure that I am getting value for my money. Whatever I purchase will be used in my Skywatcher 8" dob, light pollution is not an issue where I live. Looking forward to your input guys - Thanks Paul

[Merlin66]

Can't answer your question, but I did try the TV Zoom and the Pentax Zoom. The Pentax was 100% better.

Ken

[johninderby]

Get the Baader zoom. It's definitely better than the other two and worth the extra, you do get what you pay for in this case. Except for the smaller field of view, it's as good as the regular Baader Hyperions between 8x and 20x but not as good at the 24x setting.

John

[aussi skywatcher]

Hi John, Thanks for your comments - this now leads to my next question - how well will these zooms work with a barlow? or is that pushing it a bit too far? I assume John you have used all 3 of these zooms - just how much better is the Baader?

Cheers Paul

[alfingido]

I got the meade 4000 8-24 zoom after reading a review of several zoom eypieces in a recent Sky at Night Magazine. The Meade was placed top, beating similar spec WO, Baader, Televue, Skywatcher and Celestron. It also fared well in the Green-Witch website.

I am very impressed with it and its been used in F5, F7.5 and F9 and F10 scopes. At 11mm. I can see no difference between the views through the Zoom and my Televue 11mm plossl. I have used it with an APO barlow too and views are superb if a little narrow.

I would consider the Meade if I were you, price is about £125

Allan

[johninderby]

Both the Meade and Baader barlow well, not so sure about the WO. You should ignore that farcical zoom test in Sky at Night magazine (it must have been Meade's turn to win that month) where the Baader was acknowledged as the best zoom on test but lost because it "was bigger". Stupid or what.

John

[Mark at Beaufort]

I agree with John that the Hyperion zoom matches the standard Hyperion EPs except for the 24mm end. The 24mm end of the zoom has a smaller FOV than the 24mm Hyperion EP. I use my Zoom mainly on the PST although when I travel I will take it to use with my WO SD66 frac and also use an APO 2x barlow which works very well.

I cannot give an opinion on other zooms as I have never used them. I am also reluctant to buy from reviews because sometimes the cheapest EP wins on the basis of value for money not optically the best EP.

Mark

[Merlin66]

If you can afford it, I'd still recommend you check out the Pentax Zoom - Nitrogen filled and weatherproof.

The Baader I must admit gets good reviews/ feedback......

Ken

[johninderby]

If you can afford it, I'd still recommend you check out the Pentax Zoom - Nitrogen filled and weatherproof.

The Baader I must admit gets good reviews/ feedback......

Ken

I would definately take the Pentax XW Zoom ( ££££ ) over the Baader anytime but however I would take the Baader over the Pentax XF Zoom.

John

[Merlin66]

Pentax XW/ XF?????? ( Need to google)

The one I have is marked "SMC Pentax 8-24mm Zoom - Made in Japan"

Comparison image with TV Zoom and a TV 21mm plossl.

Edit:

The SMC seems to be the one used on the XW scopes,

the XF version is 6.5mm to 19.5mm zoom.....not nitrogen filled??

[dweller25]

I have a TV 8-24 zoom and it is just as sharp as my TV Plossls and Baader Genuine Orthos. I am very happy with it. But I suspect there is variability with the TV zooms as some people find them not up to par. The Baader 8-24 seems to get consistantly good reviews but a few poor ones have been reported. I believe the Baader gives a wider field of view than the TV so if I had to choose between the two now I would go for the Baader.

The TV zoom is fine in my x2 Celestron Barlow.

The only downside to the TV zoom and possibly other zooms is that they get very hard to turn when it's cold - mine started to stuggle at -4'C.

The Pentax zoom sounds nice :-))

[johninderby]

The Pentax XW Zoom specs say it is Waterproof and the specs for the XF Zoom say it's just Weatherproof.

John

[tinvek]

hi paul,

i've got a baader zoom and it works fine (with or without barlows) in my 10" skywatcher dob which is f5 (ish) so should be fine in your 8".

the ability to change mag without changing eyepiece works well and avoids the "loss" of a target whilst you're changing eyepiece and the refocusing is minimal from one setting to another. it also gets a lot of use in the grab and go c80 ed (which is what i wanted it for really) and i've had it using a 3X barlow on that when viewing the moon with no problems.

i got mine s/h off this forum ( thanks johninderby ) and it's made me wonder why i never bought a new one ages ago as it's made a hell of a difference to my viewing. no doubt i'll be replacing it with skywatcher nirvannas or similar in the dob but since yesterday made a big hole in my finances, the baader will be more than capable of holding the fort for a while

[Merlin66]

Just a word of caution.....

When I went looking for a zoom for the SM60/ED80 solar scope I bought a s/h Moonfish zoom and found it had fungal growth on the inside element... next I bought a s/h TV zoom and found there was some loose material ( flake of paint/ foreign body?) in between the moving elements.... I then got the chance of the Pentax and was very impressed... but I still had to try a "good" TV zoom ( all my other eyepieces are TV) eventually found one s/h which was in very good condition. Used the TV and Pentax side by side for a few months and it became very obvious that the Pentax gave better, brighter images. Sold the TV and kept the Pentax.

So, just watch for issues with the zoom eyepieces; the moving components can cause problems.... having said that they are very useful and have their place in your eyepiece case.

Ken

[johninderby]

I used to have a Vixen 8-24 zoom (same as the Meade/TV) which was quite good until it committed suicide one day. It was just sitting there in the scope when there suddenly came a clattering and tinkling sound from it. Turns out an internal locking ring had come loose and had let the inner lenses fall into a heap at the bottom of the eyepiece. Tried reassembling it but it never worked properly again and one of the lenses was scratched anyway.

Also re: the Baader, the first production run had some problems and the eyepiece had to be redesigned slightly. The "bad" one had the numbers on the non-rotating part of the barrel whereas the present version has the numbers on the rotating upper part of the eyepiece.

John

[aussi skywatcher]

Hi Guys, well thanks for all your help, I think I will buy the Baader, you all seem to rate it well, I have been able to use one so I do know what I am getting and I have just found a firm here in Australia selling it $100 less than others. The pentax looks good too but is very pricey by comparison. Thanks again will let you know when I get it and how it goes.

Cheers Paul