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Equipment Discussions >> Eyepieces

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Mike Hosea
Post Laureate
*****

Reged: 09/24/03
Posts: 3226
Loc: "Metrowest" Boston
Re: Ethos vs High end planetary eyepieces.....Hmmm new [Re: CESDewar]
      #2685409 - 10/07/08 01:31 PM

Quote:

The 13mm Ethos and 5x powermate has an effective FL of 2.6mm




Just FYI, Tele Vue says that the 5x Powermate functions at 5.18x in this combination for an effective focal length of 2.5mm.

Here's the table from the instructions.

BWC-2200 2X Big Barlow 1.94X 6.7mm
PMT-2200 2X Powermate 2" 1.98X 6.5mm
BLW-2125 2X Barlow 1¼" 2.17X 5.9mm
BLW-3125 3X Barlow 1¼" 3.25X 4.0mm
PMT-4201 4X Powermate 2" 3.73X 3.5mm
PMT-5126 5X Powermate 1¼" 5.18X 2.5mm

I would expect that 2.5x Powermate and 2" 2x Powermate are probably 2.5x and 2.0x, respectively.

--------------------
Mike
  • 7" f/6.7 home-built planetary Newt
  • 35mm Panoptic
  • 13mm Ethos
  • 5mm Tak LE
  • 2x TV Barlow
  • Canon 10x30IS Binoculars


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WRose
Pooh-Bah
*****

Reged: 07/08/05
Posts: 1043
Loc: Colorado, USA
Re: Ethos vs High end planetary eyepieces.....Hmmm new [Re: Rick Woods]
      #2685683 - 10/07/08 04:20 PM

Quote:

If you're a die-hard planetary observer, I don't think you'll get the performance you want from an Ethos. All eyepieces are compromises in one area or another, and the best planetary EPs trade off FOV and edge correction for razor-sharp on-axis performance.
But if you're not so rabid about your planetary observing, but just want a nice view of everything, it's probably a good idea.




All optics are a compromise in one form or another.
In the '60s - '70s a wide field eyepieces was ~70°. Unless you purchased one of the expensive wide fields, there was a very noticeable difference in detail & contrast between a "typical' wide field and a "planetary" eyepiece on-axis. Over the years that difference has been dramatically reduced. With the advent of new technology in the last decade, the difference between a high end wide field and a high end "planetary" eyepiece is so small; the average amateur, using typical equipment won't see any difference on-axis.
Because the perceived image is the total of the combined light path from the target to the brain, every piece of that light path plays a role in the perceived image any given individual sees. In forums like this people often forget that everyone “sees” slightly differently.
IMHO the technology of modern objective and eyepiece optics has advance to the level that the person using entirely very high end equipment is limited by the atmospheric conditions and their "eye". The vast majority of the time, the atmospheric conditions are the limiting factor and all very high end eyepieces will be perceived as being basically equal by the average amateur astronomer. On the very rare occasions when conditions are excellent+, it then becomes a factor of the observers’ physiology, training, and experience.
There’s not a lot we can do to improve our physiology other than correct gross defects such as astigmatism, etc. On the other hand, people can be trained to become better observers. This takes time at the eyepiece and practice. Optics companies & labs and military have been training observers for over 100 years; something that is infrequently considered or done in the amateur astronomy community.

--------------------
Clear Skies, Bill





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ovgjr
journeyman


Reged: 09/14/08
Posts: 7
Re: Ethos vs High end planetary eyepieces.....Hmmm new [Re: turtle86]
      #2692121 - 10/10/08 11:48 PM

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't take my Ethos to a star party!

--------------------
Tele-Vue 60is
Tele-Vue 102
Losmandy G11
Ethos 8mm
Ethos 13mm
Ethos 6mm pre-ordered
Ethos 17mm pre-ordered
Nagler 31mm T5
Nagler 26mm T5
Nagler 20mm T5
Nagler 16mm T5
Nagler 13mm T6
Nagler 11mm T6
Nagler 9mm T6
Nagler 7mm T6
Nagler 5mm T6
Nagler 3.5mm T6
Nagler 2.5mm T6
Nagler 2-4 zoom
Panoptic 41mm
All the TV Plossls


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Luigi
Carpal Tunnel


Reged: 07/03/07
Posts: 1960
Loc: Massachusetts
Re: Ethos vs High end planetary eyepieces.....Hmmm new [Re: ovgjr]
      #2692444 - 10/11/08 08:20 AM

>>>technology of modern objective and eyepiece optics has advance to the level that the person using entirely very high end equipment is limited by the atmospheric conditions and their "eye"<<<

Don't forget the limitations of physics, mainly diffraction in this case.

--------------------
17.5" f/5 Discovery Truss
IM715 7" f/15 MCT, Eon-120ED
Lunt 60mm single etalon HA
CG5A coffee grinder, Orion Skyview Alt-AZ
35,19,15 Pans.9 Nag. Meade 24.5 4kSWA, 4.7 5kUWA.
BO-TMB 7mm planetary.
Zeiss Diascope 85
Zeiss, Leica, Canon IS, Fujinon, Nikon binos


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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Woodland Hils
*****

Reged: 06/12/02
Posts: 2858
Re: Ethos vs High end planetary eyepieces.....Hmmm [Re: WRose]
      #2692660 - 10/11/08 10:53 AM

Excellent post Bill. I completely agree, in fact I tested a very high quality wide-field eyepiece to a simpler high quality design on Jupiter from a mediocre seeing environment in a high quality refractor. I couldn't even see a difference in fact I was quite satisfied with the wider field eyepiece, then I did the same test with a friend of mine at Charlton Flats and the differences were actually surprising. I used a high quality 6" F-8 apo for the test and once an observer sees that the scope and eyepiece are working to their limits, only then would most of those differences become apparent and they really do depending on the quality of the eyepieces being tested.

--------------------


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