9 replies to this topic

[12BH7]

I bought this Denkmeier about 20 or so years ago.  There are no markings to indicate what model so I think it may be their original??? Honestly, I didn't use it much back in those days. But now I find myself enjoying more relaxed viewings of the moon and planets. And to be honest the binoviewer blew my socks off when I used it on the moon. There is no world of difference between a single eyepiece and a binoviewer when it comes to lunar observing.

 

The eyepieces I've been using were those Meade 27mm Plossl's that come with all their gear. I seem to have a few of them.

 

I was wondering if it would be worth it to bump up the eyepiece to two 24mm Panoptic's. I already have one, but my concerns are:

 

Is it worth the extra $360 to get the second?

 

Will I get that much "more" out of using a 62 degree field vs a 52 degree field?

 

I do need the two cups pretty close together. Will that be a problem with the larger eyepiece?

 

Thanks

charles

[betacygni]

I do find wider AFOV eyepieces worth it, especially for lunar (gives more of that floating over the moon impression). The 24mm panoptics are rightly considered among the best for wide field binoviewing eyepieces, and even though they look somewhat wide, they taper significantly before the eye lens and I’ve never heard of anyone not finding them totally comfortable (unless you wear glasses).

That said I wouldn’t pick these for lunar/planetary. They have pretty bad pincushion distortion, which is unnoticeable during normal deep sky observing, but might be in lunar and planetary, and are not generally regarded as “planetary” eyepieces.

Instead I’d go with delites. They can be “decloaked” by removing the adjustable eyecup, making them very narrow. Another great option (and my personal favorite) is the Baader Morpheus, but these are much wider, so watch your IPD, but they have good eye relief, and a great AFOV if you face can handle them. If not go delites.

Edited by betacygni, 16 January 2022 - 12:17 PM.

[12BH7]

That said I wouldn’t pick these for lunar/planetary. They have pretty bad pincushion distortion, which is unnoticeable during normal deep sky observing, but might be in lunar and planetary, and are not generally regarded as “planetary” eyepieces.

Instead I’d go with delites. They can be “decloaked” by removing the adjustable eyecup, making them very narrow. Another great option (and my personal favorite) is the Baader Morpheus, but these are much wider, so watch your IPD, but they have good eye relief, and a great AFOV if you face can handle them. If not go delites.

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what is pincushion distortion?

 

I would love to buy a set of Delites, but I really can't see spending $700 on what is basically casual lunar viewing.

 

As for planetary, the only eyepiece I have dedicated for that use is a Burgess 8mm. I never got the hang of using that one. Maybe one day I'll get a 10-12mm for planetary????

[betacygni]

Thus thread covers pincushion distortion better then I could:

https://www.cloudyni...-amd-look-like/

Yeah I don’t blame you for not wanting to spend that much. Honestly plossls are quite good in binoviewers, if all I ever had was them I’d still be quite content.

[Lookitup]

12 mm AT Paradigm's are excellent in my original DM binoviewer and newer Binotron. I use the 11mm decloaked Delites a bit more though. CS Pete

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[12BH7]

Thus thread covers pincushion distortion better then I could:

https://www.cloudyni...-amd-look-like/

Yeah I don’t blame you for not wanting to spend that much. Honestly plossls are quite good in binoviewers, if all I ever had was them I’d still be quite content.

I think I will look into a set of TV 15mm or 18.2mm Delites

 

Thanks for the heads up on the distortion

Edited by 12BH7, 18 January 2022 - 10:10 AM.

[Moon-Watcher]

Hey,
The 24mm Panoptics are absolute gems in the Denk. I tried using TV plossls but had a hard time getting them to sit perfectly. They lack the flat base that the 24 Pans have which allows the Pans to seat perfectly. Same issue was true for a pair of Delites I tried. So I stayed with the 24 Panoptics.

[George N]

Hey,
The 24mm Panoptics are absolute gems in the Denk. I tried using TV plossls but had a hard time getting them to sit perfectly. They lack the flat base that the 24 Pans have which allows the Pans to seat perfectly. Same issue was true for a pair of Delites I tried. So I stayed with the 24 Panoptics.

I have a friend with 24 Pan's - used in his Denk II and Binotron - lovely views! I own the Denk 21mm pair (plus a Denk II with power switch) -- however, my fav pair for solar/lunar/planetary are a pair of 16mm Brandons (made for me by Don Yeier with lenses selected to perfectly match in focal length - then he added a tiny scratch on the barrels and claimed that they were 'blems' and sold them to me at a ridiculously low price.). The Brandons especially 'shine' for white-light solar observing - but the field is of course 'constricted' vs the D21's (or 24 Pans) - but for planets I don't care -- so -- I would have to recommend a pair of Brandon's to the OP.

Edited by George N, 18 January 2022 - 12:17 PM.

[faackanders2]

I bought this Denkmeier about 20 or so years ago.  There are no markings to indicate what model so I think it may be their original??? Honestly, I didn't use it much back in those days. But now I find myself enjoying more relaxed viewings of the moon and planets. And to be honest the binoviewer blew my socks off when I used it on the moon. There is no world of difference between a single eyepiece and a binoviewer when it comes to lunar observing.

 

The eyepieces I've been using were those Meade 27mm Plossl's that come with all their gear. I seem to have a few of them.

 

I was wondering if it would be worth it to bump up the eyepiece to two 24mm Panoptic's. I already have one, but my concerns are:

 

Is it worth the extra $360 to get the second?

 

Will I get that much "more" out of using a 62 degree field vs a 52 degree field?

 

I do need the two cups pretty close together. Will that be a problem with the larger eyepiece?

 

Thanks

charles

24mm panoptics are the most used binoview eyepieces for widest TFOV in 1.25" eyepiece.  They are my favorite pair (of 3).

[Deep13]

I prefer simple EPs for binoviewing, which I usually use for planets with a Denk 2 and a 5" f/12 refractor. I use 15, 20, & 25 TV Ploessls. Also, 16 Brandons, 16 CZJ orthos, 25 CZJ Huygens, and 18 or 25mm Japanese HD orthos, or 15, 21, or 28 RKEs. For DSOs, I use 30 Celestron Ultimas.