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Skywatcher Panaview FOV


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I'm interested in the Skywatcher Panaview 38mm , 32mm and 26mm .

Will these eyepieces give undistorted views to the edge of field on an F6 200mm Celestron Starhopper (identical to Skywatcher 200mm Dob) ?

Or will I have to spend more ? :)

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The Panaview produces very nice views but the stars towards the edges of the field of view will show some distortion at F/6. Many people use these eyepieces in similar scopes and enjoy the views so, unless you are very fussy about having stars sharp to the edge, they are good eyepieces.

If you really must have wide or ultra-wide AND sharp to the very edge you need to think about Panoptics, Pentax XW's, Naglers, Skywatcher Nirvana's / William Optics UWAN's etc so a higher price bracket unfortunately.

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Hi astrobase. I've owned/borrowed quite a few inexpensive low power eyepieces & they all compromised sharpness towards the edge of the field of view in my F6 & especially F4 scopes. Having said that, with my F6 Dob, many of them gave a nice view that lots of folks would be happy with. Personally, I woudn't buy all 3 of 26/32/38mm. Perhaps 26 & 38 ? It depends on what others you have. Happy viewing, Ed.

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I think the advice above is very good and Russ on another thread summed it up nicely in that for wider views and as a finder the edge of field seems less important than when looking at say planets with higher magnifications.

Personally, I'd buy one and test it out - you can usually get free postage. which one depends what you have now. if you can wait you often get good bargains in the for sale thread on this site - worth watching and waiting.

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I have the 26 and the 38 for an F5 scope. I find the 38 gets used quite a bit as its brilliant on open clusters. The 26mm while a nice eyepiece just doesnt have the WOW factor of the 38mm though.

38mm is too big for my F5 and has an overlarge exit pupil which should, in theory, lead to seeing the secondary reflection but I never see it (maybe my eyeballs ate still good). It does exhibit some coma but only at the extreme edges and to be honest I never notice it. You kind of have to swivel your eyeballs inside the EP to see the extreme edges and normally looking straight ahead your aware of the edge of the field but not overly so. Its kind of peripheral vision stuff.

Lots of people have bought panaviews and few seem to have issues with them.

I just like the really big views with the 38 - as I say the 26 is nice but it lacks the super wide views. The build quality is superb for the money though on both of them and they are comfy to use. Some people find the 38 a bit awkward because the eyepiece cup is so large - about the size of a large mug - personally I find it very comfortable.

If you get one remember to twist the eye cup up away from the lens - I have lost count of how many times I have forgotten and then wondered why the view seems poor :D blackouts and kidney beans abound without the eye cup extended.

The 38mm is also a VERY heavy bunny at almost 2lbs of weight.

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for wider views and as a finder the edge of field seems less important than when looking at say planets with higher magnifications.

Wow... How weird that should be the total reverse of my thinking (and, I suspect, many others).

On a driven mount I don't care about edge-of-field too much when looking at planets, and wide star-filled views are where I want crispness to the edge.

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Yup buit your eyaball cant take in everyting. The field of view of the human eye is quite narrow and a good portion of the eyballs field of view is limited to the acute area which is quite tiny. The edge of the vision, the peripheral vision, for the human eye is not terribly good at fine detail.

So although edge to adge sharpness is desirable its quite expensive to get and may not be worth it. The outer edge of my 38mm does have coma but to be honest I never really notice it because its the central area of the eyepiece that my eyes are looking at.

I dont know what else you own so I hope I dont sound patronising here but if you have only seen a view through something like a 32mm Plossl its quite unlike the view through a Panaview. The Plossl tends to present a view thats directly in front of you like looking at a TV screen from a normal distance whereas the 38mm Panaview is like being seated right in front of a cinema screen. Its very hard to describe but its like the view is wrapped around your eye. As a result only the central part is ever really being used.

I find with my 100' FOV eyepiece you kind of have to swivel your eye (nay even your head) to seee the outer edges of the FOV. The Panaview isnt quite so extreme but its still rather like putting your head in a bucket.

If your anywhere near either Gatwick or Worthing your welcome to come along and have a try with my Panaview or if your at Salisbury Star Party you could try it out there.

Mel

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