80 replies to this topic

[zjc26138]

I feel like the Baader Morpheus 6.5 would be a sweet spot . 184x magnifciation. A little less than the 5mm Hyperion, and probably would get more use with my rubbish Ohio skies. I wish Astronomics sold them.

[SeattleScott]

If I sell the Ethos and the binos and with the gift card my budget is around 1K.

I'm fine with a delos and a delite/pentax.

The Delite will be parfocal with a Delos. Or you can add a parfocal ring to the Delos to make it parfocal with XW.

[Phillip Creed]

I feel like the Baader Morpheus 6.5 would be a sweet spot . 184x magnifciation. A little less than the 5mm Hyperion, and probably would get more use with my rubbish Ohio skies. I wish Astronomics sold them.

The Morphs are a fabulous line, particularly if bought used.  I have the 17.5mm and used to have the 6.5mm.  Both are excellent eyepieces.  If you can't spring for a 6mm Delos a used 6.5mm Morpheus or 7XW is the next best thing.

Clear Skies,

Phil

Edited by Phillip Creed, 11 April 2025 - 09:45 AM.

[Jon Isaacs]

The 10mm Ethos is definetly my most used eyepiece and I can understand folks saying you should match a premium scope with premium eyepieces. I guess I've always been "happy with what I got: type of person when it comes to eyepieces.

 

If it were in my budget I would probably have another Ethos and several delites/delos eyepieces.

 

Optimistically I could net about 550 when my Oberwerks sell. Plus 150 in gift cards that gives me 700ish to spend.

 

If that's the case I could buy a Ethos 8 or 6mm  or  Delites 7mm & 4mm or Delos 12mm &  Delite 4mm. I think those are my final groups if I stick with televue and sell my binos.

 

In your situation, I would probably be looking at the Morpheus eyepieces as well as the Astro-Tech/KUO XWAs,  The XWAs are of near Ethos quality but at less than half the price.  

 

Jon

Edited by Jon Isaacs, 11 April 2025 - 10:12 AM.

[zjc26138]

In your situation, I would probably be looking at the Morpheus eyepieces as well as the Astro-Tech/KUO XWAs,  The XWAs are of near Ethos quality but at less than half the price.  

 

Jon

 

I thought about the Astro-tech XWAs, but it seems most folks recommend televue's/pentax's over them.

 

I really wonder how close their performance is compared to top tier eyepieces?

[RichD]

They are very close.

[Jon Isaacs]

I thought about the Astro-tech XWAs, but it seems most folks recommend televue's/pentax's over them.

 

I really wonder how close their performance is compared to top tier eyepieces?

 

I have a full set of Morpheus's, a nearly full set of Paradigms, a full set of the XWAs, the 31mm Nagler plus all the 1.25 inch Type 5 and Type 6 Naglers except the 2.5.. Some Panoptics, the 13mm, 10mm, 8mm Ethos, had the 21mm.. 

 

If you like the 12mm Paradigm, (i like it), I think you would be happy with the XWAs.

 

Jon

[zjc26138]

I have a full set of Morpheus's, a nearly full set of Paradigms, a full set of the XWAs, the 31mm Nagler plus all the 1.25 inch Type 5 and Type 6 Naglers except the 2.5.. Some Panoptics, the 13mm, 10mm, 8mm Ethos, had the 21mm.. 

 

If you like the 12mm Paradigm, (i like it), I think you would be happy with the XWAs.

 

Jon

 

I think the 15 Paradigm is my second most used eyepiece after the Ethos.

 

Sounds like I can't go wrong with the AT XWA's

[SeattleScott]

I think the 15 Paradigm is my second most used eyepiece after the Ethos.

Sounds like I can't go wrong with the AT XWA's

The basic point of the XWA series is getting maximum AFOV with a well corrected field for a very reasonable price. So you get 100 AFOV, and good edge correction (not that you need to worry too much about that at F8).

The one knock I hear about the XWAs (other than the 3.5 which seems to be the weak link) is some focal lengths struggle with glare on bright objects. So you get Ethos AFOV, and near Ethos edge correction for a fraction of the price. But let’s face it, something has to give. It sounds like the baffling/blackening isn’t quite up to TV standards. So they do great on DSO, but might lag behind premium brands in terms of planetary contrast when viewing bright objects.

[demetry]

What about a high quality barlow, like the old Barcon, or Televue barlow or powermate to go with the Ethos 10?  These would be cost effective and give you high quality to go with your high quality telescope.

[zjc26138]

What about a high quality barlow, like the old Barcon, or Televue barlow or powermate to go with the Ethos 10? These would be cost effective and give you high quality to go with your high quality telescope.

Good point. I do like the 2.5x power mate.

[Tom Masterson]

I have a saying when it comes to asking a question like: What's the best X for Y? That is, to understand it's like asking which is the best pizza. "Best" is a very personal taste question.

 

That said, having owned a AP 6" f/8 since new, it's a very eyepiece friendly scope. I have $20 plossls that work great, and expensive premium eyepieces that work well too. My eyepiece case is full of a variety of eyepieces types and ages. What usually guides my eyepiece purchases are what I want out of an eyepiece - eye relief, apparent field of view, magnification, or combinations of the above.

 

My highest power eyepiece is a 4mm Stellarview 82 degree eyepiece. It works very well when the seeing allows. My most used low power eyepiece is a University Optics Widescan that's almost as old as the scope. Interestingly for me, one of my favorite high power eyepieces is a much miligned 5 MWA. Yeah, it's just shy of 90AF degrees vs the advertised 100, but it's light compact and quite sharp with great contrast. It's one of my favorite pizzas. ;^)

 

I also have another saying based on decades of experience in the hobby. Look at your eyepiece case like an apartment building. Some tennants may remain there for years, even decades, while others come and go, sometimes often. If there's an eyepiece that seems attractive to you for whatever reason, it's ok to try it out to see if you like it. The used market is pretty robust, so take care of it, and you'll do fine if it comes to the point an eyepiece tennant needs to move to make room for a new one.

 

Congratulations on owning a classic scope. While newer and "better" scopes exists, my old AP continues to give me wonderful views. I've thought about upgrading a few times in the past, but I have decided for me, the extra expense wouldn't be worth the gain in performance. 40 years have passed, and I still find the scope is wonderful.

[zjc26138]

I have a saying when it comes to asking a question like: What's the best X for Y? That is, to understand it's like asking which is the best pizza. "Best" is a very personal taste question.

 

That said, having owned a AP 6" f/8 since new, it's a very eyepiece friendly scope. I have $20 plossls that work great, and expensive premium eyepieces that work well too. My eyepiece case is full of a variety of eyepieces types and ages. What usually guides my eyepiece purchases are what I want out of an eyepiece - eye relief, apparent field of view, magnification, or combinations of the above.

 

My highest power eyepiece is a 4mm Stellarview 82 degree eyepiece. It works very well when the seeing allows. My most used low power eyepiece is a University Optics Widescan that's almost as old as the scope. Interestingly for me, one of my favorite high power eyepieces is a much miligned 5 MWA. Yeah, it's just shy of 90AF degrees vs the advertised 100, but it's light compact and quite sharp with great contrast. It's one of my favorite pizzas. ;^)

 

I also have another saying based on decades of experience in the hobby. Look at your eyepiece case like an apartment building. Some tennants may remain there for years, even decades, while others come and go, sometimes often. If there's an eyepiece that seems attractive to you for whatever reason, it's ok to try it out to see if you like it. The used market is pretty robust, so take care of it, and you'll do fine if it comes to the point an eyepiece tennant needs to move to make room for a new one.

 

Congratulations on owning a classic scope. While newer and "better" scopes exists, my old AP continues to give me wonderful views. I've thought about upgrading a few times in the past, but I have decided for me, the extra expense wouldn't be worth the gain in performance. 40 years have passed, and I still find the scope is wonderful.

 

Thanks! I hope to keep it for a long time.

[John O'Hara]

I also own and use a 6 inch f/8 "standard glass" triplet purchased new in 1986. In fact, it's my most used scope. These instruments could be purchased with color correction optimized for visual or photographic use, but I believe most are optimized for visual. For visual use, these are wonderful scopes and the CA is way better than in an f/15 achromat.

These scopes are worthy of the best eyepieces you can afford, but the f/8 focal ratio is tolerant of less sophisticated optical designs. Like Phil Creed, I strongly recommend a good 2" barreled 40mm eyepiece for maximim true field. The 5mm exit pupil plays well with nebula filters. I use the 40 Pentax XL which you might still find on the used market.

John

Edited by John O'Hara, 14 April 2025 - 07:17 PM.

[zjc26138]

I probably owe it to myself to upgrade from the 30mm GSO 82*. Off the top of ny head I think the last 20% of the field is rubbish.

[John O'Hara]

I probably owe it to myself to upgrade from the 30mm GSO 82*. Off the top of ny head I think the last 20% of the field is rubbish.

A good 30mm to 32mm eyepiece with a 2" barrel is a great asset at f/8. In all of my scopes, I've found  that a 4mm exit pupil provides my best views of extended emission nebula (e.g., Veil, North American) when using an OIII filter. 

[Mike W]

I probably owe it to myself to upgrade from the 30mm GSO 82*. Off the top of ny head I think the last 20% of the field is rubbish.

Yes! Get at least the 30mm APM UFF.

[zjc26138]

6.5mm Morpheus vs  6mm Delos vs 7mm Delite

 

From what I gather online between these 3 eyepieces the edge would go to the 6mm Delos?

[Mike W]

If you need/want that extra FOV of course at a higher cost but to ME worth it.

[cbowlsby]

I’ve tried all 3. For planetary I’d give the edge to the Delos, for DSO the Morpheus. Delite is basically the Delos with smaller FoV and lighter weight.

[Refractor6]

  My favorite ep for galaxies, globular clusters and planetaries and such in my 152 F/8 refractor is my TV Nagler 16mm Type 5 ep.

 

Doesn't get any better for a flat to the edge FOV with excellent contrast between the target and the background sky at 75 power in the scope. Only one to match it for higher power is my Speers-Waler Series 1 7.4 for a flat FOV and image contrast....terminator on the crescent moon was insane with this ep the other night...everything in clear focus from edge to edge in this other 82 degree ep. Eye relief no issue for me with both since I don't use my glasses when I observe.

[zjc26138]

Ended up buying a Pentax XW 7mm.  Hopefully I like it so I can buy a couplpe more focal lengths.

[John O'Hara]

Ended up buying a Pentax XW 7mm.  Hopefully I like it so I can buy a couplpe more focal lengths.

Thanks for updating us!  When choosing from premium lines such as TeleVue and Pentax, it's hard to go wrong.  I'll be surprised if you're not well pleased with your choice.

 

John

[zjc26138]

Thanks for updating us!  When choosing from premium lines such as TeleVue and Pentax, it's hard to go wrong.  I'll be surprised if you're not well pleased with your choice.

 

John

I'm excited to try it out! This will be only the 3rd premium eyepeice I've owned, a long gone 11mm  nagler type 6, and a 10mm Ethos.

 

So the long term goal is to add more premium eyepices.   My current lineup is: GSO 30mm 80*, ES 24mm 68*, AT Paradigm 18mm, AT Para 15mm, Ethos 10mm, Orion 8mm Stratus, 7mm Pentax XF and a Hyperion 5.5mm

 

Below are the next eyepeices I'd like to aquire.

 

-Delos 12 vs Morpheus 12.5

-Delos 6 by itself

-Delite 4 vs  XW 3.5

-Delos 17.3 vs Morpheus 17.5 VS XW 16.5

 

Any thoughts on the verus I have listed.

-

[cbowlsby]

As you build out an eyepiece set it would be a good idea to consider whether or not you care if eyepieces are parfocal. If so that should play into your selections.

If you need long eye relief the XW 16.5 isn’t really an option since it is not considered to be glasses compatible.

Edited by cbowlsby, 05 May 2025 - 04:42 PM.