I figured since we have a thread for the 17.5mm Morpheus with binoviewers it would be a good idea to have a thread for regular observing with the 17.5mm Morpheus.
My 17.5mm Morpheus arrived yesterday and tonight I had some clear skies to test it. The sky contrast was ok tonight - subjectively a 3/5 if a 5 is the best sky contrast I have seen at my house.
The scope used is the SW120ED with which the magnification is 51x and the TFOV is 1.5 deg. I also used it with the 1.6x Nikon barlow which gives 82x.
I observed M42 and numerous open clusters ranging from fully resolved clusters to partially resolved clusters.
In short I am thrilled with the 17.5mm Morpheus. It is very sharp across the field and sharp right to the field stop. I can't see any field curvature. There is no EOFB - and if there was the lower contrast of tonight's skies would have made it visible.
The comfort level of the 17.5mm matches the other Morpheus eyepieces. I had no problems with blackouts and the field has the same natural feel as the others.
This eyepiece has been worth the wait and is the eyepiece I have been looking for in this FL range. I've tried the 20mm XW, 18.2mm DeLite, 17.3mm Delos, 17.5mm Nikon NAV, 18mm APM UFF, 17mm LVW, 17mm Astrotech AF70, 16mm ES68. All of those eyepieces had some reason that it did not suit my tastes. The 17.5mm Morpheus is exactly what I have wanted.
I am so glad Baader delayed its production to get it right - and they did get it right!
I'd get into more specifics about my observations but I dislocated multiple fingers on one hand last week and typing is making them throb.
Edited by russell23, 18 February 2018 - 11:28 PM.