Antares W70s and Speers-WALERs

[The Warthog]

Anyone used either of these eps, and what did you think? There are mixed reviews on Excelsis.

[John]

I used to own a Speers-Waler 24mm which was quite a nice wide-field eyepiece - it had a 67 degree field and preformed well in the scope that I had then, a TAL 100mm f10 refractor. I don't think it would have done so well on shorter FL scopes however I did get a chance to compare it to a Skywatcher Ultra Wide 20mm and the Speers-Waler was much nicer. I have heard them compared favourably to a Meade 24.5 Super Wide Angle. Generally the Speers 24mm does not get great reviews on the web - but I found mine pretty satisfactory.

I believe the Speers-Waler 10mm is a good eyepiece with a very wide (80 degrees) field and there is a zoom which seems to get good reviews as well. They are huge eyepieces though - about 5 inches or so tall and quite fat.

I have not tried to Antares W70 range but my guess is that they would be in similar performance terms ie: quite good in a medium to long FL scope. There are reviews of these on "Cloudy Nights" and other sites.

I think that the Speers-Waler's are assembled in Canada from optical componants imported from China.

John,

North Somerset

[Ambermile]

W70 is a wicked little EP for the money WH. It stands up well in the 22" to the Baader Hyperion 17mm as well as the 2" WO SWAN 25mm. Not bad for a 1.25" EP and it is the EP of choice (select from the two Hyperions, the two 2" SWANs and the Meade 2" 32mm Superwide and the W70 17mm) for the little 4" triplet.

Not tried the Speers though.

Arthtur

[FLO]

It'd be worth owning one just to be able to say 'Speers-Waler' out loud ..... Speeers Waller .... Speers Waller!!!

Fantastic 8)

[GordonCopestake]

I nearly brought a pair of old carl zeiss binoculars for that exact same reason Steve. Then i managed to slap myself out of it

[FLO]

CZ has prestige but it's definitely more fun delivering the words 'Speers' and 'Waler'.

'Swarovski' is another one that is fun.... I'll get my coat :oops:

[GordonCopestake]

My missus likes swarovski too

Wheres the "all my money has gone" smiley

[FLO]

A while back, Swarovski took me to see their binocular/scope factory - very interesting 8)

[The Warthog]

It'd be worth owning one just to be able to say 'Speers-Waler' out loud ..... Speeers Waller .... Speers Waller!!!

Fantastic 8)

Like buying stocks just so you can say "NASDAQ."

I figured out a while ago that Waler isn't a name of Speers's collaborator. It's "Wide angle, long eye relief." Clever. I thought I might replace my 20mm EWA Knight Owl with an 18mm SWA, but I am picking up Russ's 18mm Erfle. I'm flexible.

I had slotted in a 25mm W70 to replace my 32mm plossl. The W70 has a slightly higher magnification, but the same FOV as the plossl. If it's a little sharper - and there's not that much wrong with the plossl - that's a bonus. The Plossl has been a nice search ep.

[Ambermile]

I thought I might replace my 20mm EWA Knight Owl

Eee - Wacko...