747 replies to this topic

[Dan Williams]

I purchased these 4 eyepieces in October along with my 60mm telescope.

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[Kefka1138]

2x 11mm TV Plossl for BV application. Still on the hunt for a used 3.7E/17E though. 

[DHurst]

26mm Nagler completed my set until my next urge imurges.

[star acres]

Zhumell 12.5.  . It's sexy.

[PKDfan]

My last eyepiece i purchased was actually three.

40XW
17.3Delos
8mm TV Plössl


AND ever since i got them its either -30°C or clouds and snow.


They MUST BE good !!!


Clear Steady Skies
Lance

[Apnee44]

I was missing my TV Radian, therefore as a member proposed me a 8 at a very good price, I said Yes. It should arrive next week 🙂…. Hope to get back a 6, a creasy eyepiece on Jupiter

[Albie]

26mm Nagler completed my set until my next urge imurges.

Was my favourite for sweeping the sky , very nice eyepiece .

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[scotsman328i]

Latest is a Nikon NAV-5SW.

 

[Doug Culbertson]

WO 40mm Swan, since they don’t make a visual focal reducer for the Meade ACFs. I don’t see it getting all that much use, hence the reason for not buying a Panoptic or ES68. 

[rgm40]

The 21mm TV Plossl is one of my all time favorites and it is one of the finest planetary eyepiece used with my long focus Maksutov. I also have 26mm in pairs, another beauty.

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Vahe

I had the 17 and 21.  Sold them both.  Now that I have a f/7 refractor I wish I had them back. Great sharpness and contrast. 

[skyward_eyes]

Latest additions.

 

Nikon NAV-HW 17 and 12.5 102-degree

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[25585]

Latest additions.

 

Nikon NAV-HW 17 and 12.5 102-degree

 

[saemark30]

Two 2" eyepieces:

Celestron 50mm plossl

and Meade 56mm plossl

[Speedy1985]

After getting the 10mm Ethos a few weeks ago, I happened on a 6mm in the classifieds. Needless to say, based on the test results and reviews/opinions here of that one, it's incoming this week.

[skyward_eyes]

After getting the 10mm Ethos a few weeks ago, I happened on a 6mm in the classifieds. Needless to say, based on the test results and reviews/opinions here of that one, it's incoming this week.

The 6 is one of my most used higher power lenses. You’ll love it.

[Speedy1985]

The 6 is one of my most used higher power lenses. You’ll love it.

When I saw how crisp the views were in the 10mm, I knew I had to add the 6mm. I'm building in on my existing eyepieces where I started with the APM/SV XWA's. Eventually, I may add the 8 and 3.7mm's too and if I do add the 8mm, I'll sell my 9mm XWA. 

[The Cloud Gazer]

I broke down and bought the TPL 33 to complete the set of TPLs. 

I also got 30, 24, 15 UFF.

 

I truly believe my gear binge is cured! My goal is to reach 2026 without any new astro purchase, apart from a scope that has been planned since a long time. That's ok right?

edit: 2027 without any eyepiece purchase. 

Edited by The Cloud Gazer, 18 February 2025 - 10:32 AM.

[CollinofAlabama]

Last eyepiece I got was just over 13 months ago, in January of 2024, the Explore Scientific 11mm 82º.  It was on sale for under $120, so I sold a number of other eyepieces I had in my "public" & seldom used "low glass" sets, and got it.  A great eyepiece at a great price and I haven't regretted it, although I still use my Nagler 11mm T6 more.  I've been at this a while, and have a nice set of eyepieces so am not one to purchase all that many, these days.  Took a very long time for me to collect my set, but am very happy with it.  Before that, in the spring of 2022, I bought the AstroTech 28mm UWA from our sponsor, and it is my go-to widefield eyepiece, and one of my absolute favorites.  I sold my very nice APM UFF 30mm & SuperView 42mm to help me fund it, and, again, don't regret this decision.

 

For people who have eye placement issues, or otherwise need long eye relief, the APM UFF 30mm (or SkyRover or whatever the various clones are called now-a-days) is an excellent choice, but since genuinely long eye relief is not an issue for me, and tend to "figure out" finicky placement on eyepieces rather quickly, am not too bothered by the AT28UWA's more picky placement.  The True Field of View more than makes up for it, and all is forgiven once I hold my head right, and that happens pretty quickly for me, usually instantaneously these days.  But I do notice at public star parties people have more difficulty figuring it out.  Maybe I should have kept the 30mm UFF for that purpose?  Doesn't have the TFOV of the AT28UWA, and also has a slightly larger exit pupil.  The larger exit pupil's less important to me, given my scopes are all F/5 or slower, but for people with F/4.5 or faster scopes, I can see how that could be an issue.  But when I want my largest TFoV, well, I want my largest TFoV, and there's no doubt about a 36.3mm field stop eyepiece versus a 40.8mm field stop one when it comes to TFoV.  But if I required long eye relief or was just unhappy with eye placement thru the AT28UWA, the 30mm UFF is one great eyepiece, and a reasonable stand-in for a lightweight, largest TFoV ocular.

 

I own a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, and they're excellent, but to me, TeleVue never figured out how to make a 2" eyepiece I'd want to own.   Don't get me wrong;  TeleVue makes excellent eyepieces, and in terms of optical quality, the 2"-ers are right up there with any of the 1.25" ones.  But as exit pupils get bigger and bigger, the exacting quality of the view becomes less demanding, in my opinion.  So, yeah, the 35mm Panoptic is "better" optically than the 30mm UFF, but it weighs a LOT more, costs a LOT more but only delivers a small amount more TFoV and, in my opinion, optical quality more than the 30mm UFF.  The Pan 35 loses in the "value" and "ownership" departments, important to me.  The "value" is self-explanatory, but the "ownership" comes down to weight.  The Pan 35, while delivering less TFoV than the somewhat portly AT28UWA, still weighs more than the AT28UWA.  Again, the view is top-notch, no doubt about it, and I'm sure in a side-by-side the Pan 35 would win by a hair's breadth over the AT28UWA, but how much is a hair's breadth worth to you?  When you're looking at fine details on a planet in a 5mm eyepiece, yes, it's critical, and worth the money, especially when TeleVue delivers some of the best performing, light-weight eyepieces in the 1.25" market.  But when you're looking through a heavy 28mm-plus 2"-er, where exit pupil is, by definition, rather large, and weights are already getting big, does TeleVue win in genuine "ownership"?  Not to me.  That's my take, but I've never been tempted by Explore Scientific or TeleVue's 30 and 31mm 82º behemoth eyepieces.  Excellent views in both, and yes, the TeleVue's is ever so slightly better, but so what?  Both of these things could be thrown at a burgler to great effect, but how do they balance in your telescope when you move to something else?  Too much hassle, not enough reward.  Sorry, TeleVue (and Explore Scientific), you lose in the 2" market.

 

Before the APM 30mm UFF hit the market, I owned the Meade 28 SWA/ES28mm 68º.  A great eyepiece, and at 16.9 ounces, not too heavy for a widefield 2"-er.  And it cost very reasonably while delivering most of the view of the Pan 27 (I compared).  The Pan 27's not too heavy, but given the larger exit pupils, never felt it beat the ES in terms of value and delivery.  Then the APM 30 UFF hit the market and my ES28mm 68º went to CN Classifieds.  Then the AT28UWA came out right after that and the APM 30mm UFF went to CN Classifieds.  Value is where you find it, and we live in very fortunate days for eyepieces.

Edited by CollinofAlabama, 18 February 2025 - 05:20 PM.

[25585]

The only 2" eyepieces TV made I like are the 35 Panoptic newer version, and 32 and 40 Wide Fields. The APM etc 30mm UFF is a replacement for the two 30-somethings above, my Pentax XW 40 replaced the WF, but I bought the latter last year, and am looking for a 32 WF, which seem rarer.

[Bob4BVM]

Latest additions.

 

Nikon NAV-HW 17 and 12.5 102-degree

Nice !

[Battlestamps]

My Meade 15mm 5000 High Def (UFF) arrived today from High Point's sale arrived today. Appears to be clean, but it will probably be days if not weeks before I can try it given the weather. It's rather small compared to the other focal lengths in the UFF series. Not much bigger than the 10mm. I now have a set of the UFFs across four brands - SvBony, Meade, Celestron and APM.

[therealdmt]

The final two of my small but slow-mo group of Christmas present arrivals are finally rolling in, with this being the last that will be an eyepiece, an ES68° 20mm:

 

I bought it in part to act as a finderscope eyepiece for a li’l 50mm scope I’m getting (which will be the very last directly Christmas 2024-related item) that I intend to try using as a finderscope as well as independent extra small telescope. Some other members including Jon Isaacs have reported being happy with the 20mm ES68 for just such a finderscope/extra-small telescope purpose, and since I already have two ES 68s I like (24mm and 34mm) and have had some itch to keep filling out the non-40mm members of the series, I figured this would be as good an excuse as any to add the 20.

 

First lighted it last night in marginal conditions, mostly on Jupiter, mostly seen through varying thicknesses of blowing cloud. Used the new 68 20 on its own, also a bit with a 2x Focal Extender and, very briefly, with a 3x Focal Extender, all through my SW 100ED. Wasn’t much of a test, but so far so good. Reasonably compact and lightweight, comfortable to use, good view, attractive, reasonably affordable — looks like it’ll fit right in, finderscope or no finderscope. Even arrived before the Christmas tablecloth got put away : )

[Kefka1138]

Wooooot! Secured a 17E, which completes my 17, 10, 6 series. Now I can quit my second job of monitoring the classifieds for a while lol.

[25585]

80mm

[VA3DSO]

80mm

Telescope?