Meade 40mm SWA 5000 vs Skywatcher 38mm Panaview

[Kef9]

Hi Guys

I'm looking for a very low powered eyepiece so have any of you guys had experience with these? They both have similar specifications and FOV but why is the meade so much more expensive?

The skywatcher costs £85 from FLO and I think it looks cooler.

The meade at FLO retails for nearly £350.

I have been offered the meade for a very good price of around £170

What do you guys think?

[Plantins]

I used to have the Meade 40mm SWA.

It performs similar to the Panoptic range but the Pans are better corrected around the outer FOV. A big issue with the Meade is the weight, they are very bulky and heavy so you will need to take that into consideration. I can't comment on the Skywatcher, maybe others can.

[Kef9]

Thanks for responding! Someone was selling one on here a while back I took a photo of it next to a 30mm skywatcher aero and it looked like a bomb!

http://stargazerslounge.com/sale/107171-meade-swa-40mm-sw-aero-ed-30mm.html

Are the drawbacks you have stated reasons why you got rid of it or was there another reason?

Is it wildly overpriced in your opinion considering a 41mm panoptic only costs a bit more new?

What was the fit and finish like?

Cheers

[Plantins]

The fit and finish on them are excellent, I tested it against my 35mm Panoptic which I personally prefered and still have. If you could get one at the right price it may be worth it for you to try it out, if you don't get on with it you could sell it on and try something else. It is a nice eyepiece but as mentioned very large and heavy.

If you are planning on spending similar money to a Panoptic I would personally go the Panoptic route.

[Andrew*]

In my experience, the Meade 5000 series are generally good-performing eyepieces, but in many cases do not offer good value for money at new prices. The UWAs are probably the best, performing well even in fast scopes, and are considerably cheaper than Naglers. The SWAs and Plossls do not excell in fast scopes, but are probably marginally better than PanaViews. I would say PanaView is the way to go if you want to save money, or Panoptic if you want brilliant performance. Meade will offer neither!

Buy used and you will save significantly on new prices, and if it doesn't perform to your liking, you will lose little or nothing in selling them on.

Andrew

[Kef9]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the feedback. I have an f9 focal length 900mm ED refractor.

I'm wondering if the meade is worth twice the price? A bit more thinking to do I think.

[Moonshane]

I have used neither but got my mint 35mm Panoptic for £200. For me there would be no contest. It's a superb eyepiece - and I love TV so I wouldn't even think about it.

[Kef9]

Thats quite close in price. I wonder how much the 41mm goes for second hand usually, It shouldn't be that much more?

Ummmm

[Moonshane]

Personally I reckon it's a case of biding your time, placing wanted ads etc and then being patient. I bet you'd get a used 41mm Pan for not much more.

The advantage of the TV range (well, one of them) is that they really hold value well and also they work in all but the most unusual scopes. Alternatives often don't quite do this and therefore if you ever get a faster scope you may have to buy again.

Personally, if you have some cash now then try and get either a used 41mm Panoptic in due course or if you cannot wait (I usually can't ) a new or preferably used 38mm Panaview (as a temporary measure). I'd expect the Panaview to work well in your current scope and you may not even want to change once you use it - again try a wanted ad. If a 41mm Panoptic comes up, price the Panaview right and it will sell quickly. This has been my philosophy in the past and it's worked well for me.

Eg I sold a WO 33mm SWAN for £40 (cost me £50) and therefore, the Pan cost 'only' £160 to swap. Money well spent.

All the above said, the 41mm might be a bit wide for a fast newt as there would be a massive exit pupil. This is one reason I went for the 35mm - it gives plenty of field.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

If this is the range you are looking at, I would check out the TMB Paragon 40mm. I use it on my F/10 scope which is close to your focal ratio. I have yet to find fault with the lens. It is by far the most comfortable EP to use, and I use this nextto the Nagler T4 22mm. It is quite large, but not extremely heavy. You can see my mini-review here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/94856-some-thoughts-tmb-paragon-40-mm.html

[Kef9]

Umm the Paragon seems interesting but I don't know where you would get one. How much do they go for second hand?

Similary do you guys know what you would expect to pay for a second hand panoptic?

I think I might put a post in the wanted section to see what happens.

[Plantins]

Secondhand prices as a rough guide.

35mm Panoptic £200.

41mm Panoptic £250-£275.

Meade 5000 40mm SWA around £150-£170.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I got my TMB Paragon from Robtics | Astronomische Instrumenten en Accessoires (Netherlands) about 260 EURO so roughly GBP 210 NEW, I do not know whether he ships abroad.

[Kef9]

Thanks for that information on the prices and the paragon. The price however is quite close to the panoptic.

You guys are so bad making me want to go for a panoptic. I might put out a wanted ad and see what happens.

I wouldn't mind but I want to get the 21mm ethos in the telescope house sale in August aswell.

My aim in buying an eyepiece like this though is to get the maximum FOV possible. A panoptic will deliver a 3.1 degree TFoV in my scope vs the ethos 2.33 degrees which is quite a difference.

[Kef9]

Slightly off topic but I was thinking and wondering if anyone has ever seen a 21mm ethos for sale second hand because I haven't. I have never seen longer focal length Pentax eyepieces for sale either. Either no one can afford them or they are blumming good and no one wants to part with them.

[Moonshane]

I once saw a 30mm Pentax for £300 used (I think). as you say though they are rare.

I have said this to a few other members before. if you ever wanted to try my 35mm Pan you'd be welcome to bring your scope sometime (if you live anywhere near Manchester of course!).

[Astro_Baby]

Jeez that is one hell of a large eyepiece.

I have the 38mm Skywatcher Panaview - and for its price its an awesome bit of glass. Well made and solid and for me very comfy to use.

It suffers some edge distortions in an F5 but in my F9 frac its very nice. Even in the F5 despite its edge issues (which are almost invisible to most people) its still a great eyepiece and for the money its a total bargain.

Cant sy how it compares with the Meade though.

If your at Salisbury you are welcome to try out my 38mm Panaview.

[Kef9]

Thanks for the offers guys and wouldn't you know it but I live in Manchester so I might take you up on your offer! I have a speers waler zoom and a 13m ethos which you might like to have a look through.

I think I need to go to a star party soon becauase I only started this hobby in April and to be honest there aren't that many other astronomers that you see day to day to talk about it with apart from the guys and gals on here.

Its a shame the skies are so light at the moment. I have given up on astronomy for the time being because the light skies and the light pollution means you can't really see much.

The 38mm panaview is very tempting for the price and it looks the part too. To be honest I think it now has come down to a second hand 41mm panoptic or the 38mm panaview. My frac is also F9 so I know the panaview will be usable. If I get a big dob with a fast focal ratio in the future these long focal length eyepieces won't be usable due to the large exit pupil meaning the choice will be for the frac only so maybe the panaview's not as good performance in fast scopes doesn't matter.

[Astro_Baby]

Well I use a 38mm Panaview in an F5 8" newt. In theiry the exit pupil is too big but I never notice anything rong in the view. In perfect daylight IF I look for problems I can (with some effort) see the secondary but at night, for me, Its quite invisible no matter how hard I look. I dont see a contrast drop either at the centre of the FOV.

Obviously everuones eyeballs are different but I think you;d still find it usable in a big dob.

I dont want to 'sell' this EP overmuch because at heart its a budget EP albeit a very good one. I dount it would compare favourable against eyepieces two or three times its price but then I'd not expect it too. With that said the most expensive EP I won is an Explore Scientific 14mm 100' FOV and while its performance is pretty amazing the 38mm Panaview still holds up well for views with it and its still a great EP for sweeping the sky and for wide angle targets.

I used the 38mm a few months ago with my TAL F9 frac to catch Mars as its crossed the beehive cluster...heres what I wrote at the time....

"The 38mm Panaview made it possible to take in most of the Beehive with the red planet nearby providing a very lovely view. Stars were pin point sharp across the field and the Panaview made the most of the scopes wonderful contrasty views with an ink black sky, beautiful bright and well defined stars in the company of a the small red orb of Mars."

It was a great view - the other good one was the Pleiades and M13 a year or so back with the F5 Newt - sepcially the Pleaides which looks really stunning at a dark sky location.

[Andrew*]

There are other options you could consider...

Skywatcher Aero - better than the PanaView below f/7

42mm Vixen LVW. Largest true field available anywhere, with 72° AFOV. A bit more pricey, but apparently a very good eyepiece.

If you want an eyepiece for a future fast scope, you'll anyway be better off with a smaller exit pupil, so a focal length of around 30mm. But if you want a large FOV as well it'll cost you... I would go with something that'll work well in the f/9, but not break the bank (PanaView). Then get another wide field ~30mm eyepiece when the time comes.

Saying that, I'm another that doesn't tend to be bothered by large exit pupils - I used an 8.3mm eyepiece quite comfortably in my 16" dob. You might find you're also fine with it...

Andrew

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Large exit pupils are not a real problem if you are younger than 35 (7-8mm is fine). However, you lose the most expensive part of the light from your objective (i.e. coming from the outer inches). On my 8" scope, using an EP with an exit pupil of 8mm, with a pupil in my eye which does not go (far) beyond 5mm, I have turned my C8 into a C5 with a larger central obstruction. That means I am losing a full magnitude of light. The visual impression may be OK, but the image is certainly going to be too dim. This is not noticeable in general, because the field appears bright anyway at low magnification.

My advice: NEVER use an EP which produces an exit pupil much larger than your eye's pupil at full dilation.

[Moonshane]

just a thought, have you considered a short tube achro refractor? for wide field CA should not be too much of an issue and your existing eyepieces would give you over 2.5 degrees and a 35mm 68 degree eyepiece over 4.5?

[Andrew*]

My advice: NEVER use an EP which produces an exit pupil much larger than your eye's pupil at full dilation.

This is fair enough to say if you're wanting to pull the faintest out of something. However, if the views aren't uncomfortably blacked out in the centre of the field, and you get a wider TFOV, it can be well worth it.

For example, with a 8.3mm exit pupil I could fit in the Pleiades into the FOV on my 16", and be able see the nebulosity, which I found too spread out to view at a higher magnification. Even a 31mm Nagler doesn't offer the widest possible FOV from a 2" barrel...

Andrew

[Moonshane]

Even a 31mm Nagler doesn't offer the widest possible FOV from a 2" barrel...

Andrew

maybe not but I bet the new 33mm Ethos will.

[Moonshane]

just kidding.