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...the most memorable view I've had of Jupiter was with the 5mm Supermono when the planet was laced with shades of pastel colors I'd never seen before . . .

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Most people look for more details or better contrast with these premium eyepieces, and forget completely about the unparalleled color renditions they provide!! Glad you caught the colors...beautiful!!

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Yes, I have compared my 6mm ZAO-II against the 5mm XO.

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Yes, I have compared my 6mm ZAO-II against the 5mm XO.

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Ron,
I would be interested in what you noticed while comparing these two fine eyepieces.
Gene

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Gene,

As I mentioned, both of these are superb eyepieces. But I have to be honest - I enjoyed the 6mm ZAO-II more than the 5mm XO.

I have a TEC 140 refractor and 5mm can be a stretch sometimes in our Northern Virginia humidity. The 6mm hits at 163x with just under 1mm exit pupil and this focal length hits the sweet spot for much of my double star viewing.

Both eyepieces showed great color on Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune when I had them at Sky Meadows SP last fall.

The main reason I finally let the XO go was comfort. The XO's eye lens is recessed slightly. Pentax has what seems like a thin rubber cap on top and my eyelash dragged across it when I blinked. I didn't have this problem with my other orthos (or the SPL series) and just left the XO in the display case for a year or so. After Pentax stopped production, I felt like someone who could enjoy the XO should have it.

BTW - I picked up an 8mm Delos last fall and was amazed at how clean and crisp it was, so I also picked up a 6mm Delos, too. Now I have a ZAO-II, A-P SPL, Radian, and Delos in the 6mm focal length and I'm quite happy with all these choices.

Cheers,

Ron

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I enjoyed the 6mm ZAO-II more than the 5mm XO.

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I enjoyed the 6mm ZAO-II more than the 5mm XO.

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Ron,
Following several PM's and a lot of research, many people whose judgement I respect rated the 5XO and the ZAO about equal. They are both the top of the line, with a few others close behind. I was very happy that I landed a 5XO. I received a PM offering to sell me a ZAO. I will pass because I only need one premimum eyepiece. I will probably view with my 6 Delos much more than with my 5XO. However, for special situations, I will have it in the line up. I thought about buying a 4.5 or 3.5 Delos. I decided not to. I rarely need a 4. I already have a 4mm Radian for those rare situations.

Thanks for your input!
Gene

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Gene,

After my experience with the 8 and 6mm Delos, I also toyed with the idea of trying the 4.5. I'm still thinking..............

Enjoy your XO - it's a great eyepiece. I have to use Lumigan eye drops to prevent glaucoma and one of the side effects is longer eyelashes. (They also market this stuff as "Latisse" on the cosmetic side.) The longer eyelashes just didn't work for me with the XO, but the optics are still wonderful!

Cheers,

Ron

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And it would be nice if such a discussion was not promptly "highjacked" by someone...

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Aha... so this would then be a reverse-hijack?... or maybe a "lowjack"?

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You can start your own thread.

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And indeed, he has. I s'pose if one wanted to hear *NO* input from the deep end of the pond, one could initiate such a thread with specific parameters accordingly.

Yet in actuality, these discussions tend to be rather fluid, and as such can be quite helpful. Aspects outside any ONE person's considerations can, many times, be very illuminating... and can open doors that might otherwise have remained closed.

Not just on price, either! This could pertain to wideness of field, amount of glass / number of "elements", tone of transmission, copy of design, market availability, etc., etc.

As a recent example, in the past i've owned & used both FLs of Pentax 'XF' design, and was generally pleased with their performance... but they had always been fairly costly, which tended to dissuade me from attempting a binoviewer pair of them. Then, just recently, it was mentioned in a thread discussing the newer Paradigm Dual ED eyepieces that their design was apparently near-identical to the highly regarded Pentax XF's!

Had some poster not mentioned this, due to the rather large price differential & not wanting to "hijack" anything, i NEVER would've learned of this aspect, and might miss out on the opportunity to even consider the Paradigm EPs!

Personally, i would NOT wish to sculpt these forum discussions too close to the bone. Yes, blatant hijacking can be annoying, but honest discussion i find almost always helpful. And besides, i suspect most folks posting are really trying to be helpful; the true hijackers are few & far between... and tend to eventually leave CN because they get "moderated", which takes the fun out of their fun.

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I wish you would have gone into more detail in this comparison of the two eyepieces on Sirius. So you did see the Pup through both the Delos 6 and the XO 5? How did the view look in each eyepiece?

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That comparison will be made, but for another day (night. ) Jupiter was high up and clear of roof tops, but Sirus was a little low on the horizon. The seeing conditions were 'good.' I did not see the pup. My bet is that the 5XO will show the companion star a little better. We'll see.

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Probably not. There is the Instajust eyeguard - or whatever TeleVue is calling it now - on the Delos. Judging from recent experience with my used Radian 4, I don't think I'd like that feature on the Delos.

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Gene,

Televue still makes a 13mm Nagler - it's one of the little Type 6 eyepieces and works very well if you need to save weight or money.

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You are correct. I missed them on these web sites that I checked. You too will one day be old.

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=21

http://www.astronomics.com/tele-vue-nagler-eyepieces_c86.aspx

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I've come to find that I want comfortable eyepieces for long observing sessions. I suspect that a lot of folks would also find something like the Pentax 5XW a lot easier on the eyes than the XO as well. The 5XO is a great, great eyepiece, just not my cup of tea.

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The amount of space devoted to discussion of high end/premium- read "expensive" kit never ceases to amaze me.
Just how many of you can afford this stuff? I certainly can't Can we have some discussions on kit that is accessible to most- i.e in the $50-$150 range?
And it would be nice if such a discussion was not promptly "highjacked" by someone saying "but of course what you really want is a blah, blah, blah- the last 1% of the F.O.V. really makes a difference and it is a snip at $350!

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A lot of people are interested in this topic; more than 1,600 posts as of Jan. 22; a lot are not. I am not offended that you are not. Why don't you start a new post on the topic(s) you are interested in, or want covered? Believe, me people will join in.

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Personally, i would NOT wish to sculpt these forum discussions too close to the bone. Yes, blatant hijacking can be annoying, but honest discussion i find almost always helpful. And besides, i suspect most folks posting are really trying to be helpful; the true hijackers are few & far between... and tend to eventually leave CN because they get "moderated", which takes the fun out of their fun.

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I've come to find that I want comfortable eyepieces for long observing sessions. I suspect that a lot of folks would also find something like the Pentax 5XW a lot easier on the eyes than the XO as well. The 5XO is a great, great eyepiece, just not my cup of tea.

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Also excellent points! That is why a lot of people bought Radians, Pentax XW's and now Delos eyepieces.

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Thanks, Gene! I must say that I'm very intrigued by the 6mm Delos after reading your review. I have a 6mm Ethos and someday hope to compare it to the Delos. Some of the comments I'd read suggest that the Delos has slightly better light transmission than the Ethos, which would help with really faint fuzzies. I have seen the Pup with the 6mm Ethos in my scope so I bet you'll have no trouble bagging it with either your XO or Delos when the time comes.

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