8mm Brandon finally arrives.

[mike bacanin]

Being a visual planetary enthusiast, i'm always interested in high performing eyepieces especially suited for this type of observing.

Having recently acquired a very nice older SPC8 ota, i needed a gap to fill around the x250 mark.

Having owned the TV 8mm plossl several times, i felt i wanted to try something different. Brandons have always been a bit of a mystery eyepiece for me, purely because they hardly ever come up for sale here in the UK.

so, when a Brandon 8mm was advertised on Astromart, i offered to buy it outright. nearly 3 weeks later, having maybe swam across the atlantic rather than flown, its here on my kitchen table!

Initial impression is, very nice build quality. Light at approx 2 ozs, its finished in what appears to be high gloss black anodise.

the eye lens is 8mm diameter, and mgfl coated, purple in colour.

The eyepiece itself is about 35mm high, 40mm including the rubber eyecup.

Don Yeier, the owner of Vernonscope, makes these in the USA.

That way he totally controls the quality.

looking into the eyepiece, the fov appears to me slightly bigger than the stated 42 degrees, and the field stop is razor, and i mean razor sharp. It also seems very free of stray light, indicating very good baffling.

Users state these have a very pure image in tone, making them excellent for rendering planetary and lunar tones faithfully.

They are renowned for exceptional sharpness and contrast.

As soon as the chance presents itself, i'll check out its performance, and one eyepiece i'll compare it to is the 7mm RG Meade ortho shown in the photo.

Mike

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Any mention of the eye relief?

Always important to me as I wear glasses.

[russ]

Sounds very nice Mike. Look forward to your first light and what you think.

Be interesting to hear how you think it compares to a TV Plossl 7.4mm Smoothside, which i'm currently using for planetary observations.

[AndyH]

Ah Brandons. You don't hear much about these, this side of the pond.

I've heard reports that the older ones are better than the newer ones. Don't know if this is true or just forum banter. They often get good reports from users, especially in planetary viewing head to heads.

I don't think they're cheap new?

Look forward to hearing your impressions, when you get a chance.

Cheers,

Andy.

[AndyH]

Looks like the writing on the barrel is engraved?

Perhaps I'm just shallow, but I prefer that to the screen printing you get on some eyepieces. Gives an impression of quality in my opinion.

The pics seem to show a high standard of machining/finish. How are the lens coatings?

Cheers,

Andy.

[mike bacanin]

Michael, the eye relief would not allow glasses to be worn.

That said, to me it seems slightly more comfortable than the TV 8mm Plossl.

the coating looks very nice, and i understand it is not multi coated.

regards

mike

[AndyH]

Any idea what is the lens design is? Is it an ortho or plossl or a modified design?

Cheers,

Andy.

[dweller25]

Hello Mike,

I think you will be surprised by the performance of the 8mm Brandon compared to the 8mm TV Plossl.

[mike bacanin]

Typing this as i wait for a claear break in the clouds.

I managed 1st light on Jupiter, at x250.

background sky darkness is superb, as good as my zeiss 10mm and 12.5 orthos. contrast and sharpness is very close indeed. The colour rendering is very pure, making it eaay to see the subtle browns in the belts. I am impressed with the lack of scatter around Jupiter's limb. seeing thus far is unsteady, making it difficult to "hold" details, but there is alot of fine detail in the NEB, and subtle detail in the S Temperate zones.

A superb planetary eyepiece, fully worthy of its reputation.

ps,the C8 has really fine optics, my last view just as clouds rolled in. just when seeing has started to settle was as good as any of Jupiter i've had.

the star test is extremely nice.

Mike

[dweller25]

Mike, how does the Brandon stack up against the TV 8mm Plossl ?

[mike bacanin]

David, i feel it is superior, better glare control, better tone rendition.

Mike

[mike bacanin]

see this link for design

Company Seven | Questar Brandon Eyepieces Description Page

[AndyH]

Thanks for the link, Mike.

Sounds like a winner !

Cheers,

Andy.

[moocher]

Nice review Mike.....

Alan

[argonaut]

Hi Mike,

I do believe that Don did try out multicoating a few years ago now. He then went straight back to single coatings.

I have found that my Brandons are the most neutral eyepieces I have ever used. I find that TV Plossls to be quite 'warm' in comparison. I'm not calling TV eyepieces,they are excellent.

Don did have a couple of runs of Gold coloured Brandon sets(50 year anniversary). They sold out very quickly. He is now making sets in Black at the same price. Still not cheap though.

[mike bacanin]

Thanks for all your comments.

What was impressive was how good this was compared to the Zeiss orthos, which are considered pretty much as good as it gets.

Glen, thank you for that info, i had an idea that these are not multicoated. I'm sure you are equally impressed with your lovely set!

These are virtually impossible to find in UK, i bought mine used from USA.

Cloud totally stopped play last night, as the seeing was great! I hoped to do a Jupiter sketch, but i'll try asap.

Mike

[great_bear]

I'm still considering buying a pair of 24mm Brandons for binoviewing - once I've auctioned off some non-astro gear to pay for them...

[great_bear]

Any idea what is the lens design is? Is it an ortho or plossl or a modified design?

Andy,

The design has the lens groups and shapes of a "true" (i.e. non-symmetrical) Plossl, however the glass types involved are different and - most importantly - the design is used back-to-front (i.e. reversed) compared to a Plossl.

I'm still considering buying a pair of 24mm Brandons for binoviewing - once I've auctioned off some non-astro gear to pay for them. I'm interested in their main design characteristic - the almost total absence of scatter - due to the quality of glass and the (genuinely) military-specification polishing standards (the military being one of Don Yiers biggest customers apparently).

When I enquired about them, the man himself (Don) mailed me back personally. His willingness to chat to customers at great length, as well as his enthusiasm for servicing battered old Brandon eyepieces to bring them back to life, has made him a bit of a legendary figure in US Astronomy circles.

[mike bacanin]

Hi GB,

I have a feeling they would be superb.

I would love to put up a 12mm Brandon against my zeiss 12.5mm ortho.

Mike

[dweller25]

Mike,

I compared a 12mm Brandon against a 12.5mm Ortho and the difference in contrast and sharpness was massive. I was very impressed with the Brandon - shame I had to give it back.

[mike bacanin]

Hi David,

The 12mm Brandon vs 12.5 Zeiss would be very interesting.

Don't get me wrong, most Japan 12.5 orthos are good eyepieces, but from alot of personal experience there is a very big difference between a zeiss ortho and a circle , for example.

I suspect, based on what i saw last night, that the 12mm Brandon would be a worthy contender.

your comments support my thoughts.

Regards

Mike

[argonaut]

Hi Mike,

You know where I am. If you are up this area just pop in and I'll lend you the 12mm Brandon, I do want it back though

Glen.