30 replies to this topic

[Jeff Morgan]

I hope we didn't distract from the true topic here with our talk of tiny mm Plossl's, I bet that 48mm Brandon is pretty awesome in Procyon's 11" SCT. And I'd love to hear from those who have compared it to say the 50mm Tak TPL, or one of the 45mm or 50mm MOP's, even the 55mm TV Pl or 56 Meade. Or how about a widefield like the 40XW or 41 Pan?

 

Edit: I see in post #11 Procyon mentioned you had a 55mm TV Plossl and prefer the 48mm Brandon

 

I have owned both. Mostly I used the Plossl in conjunction with an image intensifier, but I did have a chance to use it sans electronics.

 

If I were to buy another scope that required an eyepiece of that focal length it would be the Brandon. Excellent color saturation.

 

The only thing I did not like was lack of an eyecup. With that huge eye relief it would have been a very nice creature comfort.

[helpwanted]

I like the flat top Brandons, and there being a choice of those, or the eyecupped ones with less effective eye relief. I may go for a 24mm f/t next.

remember the ones with the eye cups do unscrew, so you can use them as a flat top. That’s what I did with my 8 mm, it was too tight with the eye cups

[Tyson M]

The 48mm Brandon is my all time favorite eyepiece

[Scott99]

The 48mm Brandon is my all time favorite eyepiece

I agree it's special!  Wish I still had one.  When it was re-done with the latest modern coatings and glass it went into the eyepiece hall of fame for me. 

 

It's somewhat rarified air - the 2" minimum-glass ocular.  It has only a few peers IMO - the TPL 50mm, the current TV Plossl 55mm, the Pic du Midi Claves.  There are some others over the years, but not with the modern glass & coatings.  Most big 2-inchers throw some extra glass in there to widen the field, but not these!     I do think everybody should have one of these types of ep's in their collection, they're magical at a dark-sky site.

[Tyson M]

The eyepiece is part of the appeal for me to use folded designs with long focal length. Like the 48 Brandon with a Q7 and or the 250 mewlon have been some of my best views ever

[Scott99]

The eyepiece is part of the appeal for me to use folded designs with long focal length. Like the 48 Brandon with a Q7 and or the 250 mewlon have been some of my best views ever

I had an interesting experience testing my 48mm Brandon on a Zeiss 8" f/15 AS refractor with near-perfect lens specs.  In my f/8 telescopes my 45mm Clave was always sharper to the edge and has a larger sweet spot. 

 

However, when I tried both in the big Zeiss, I was surprised to see the Brandon 48mm had become completely, 100% sharp to the edge, and the Clave still had that stubborn ring of de-focused stars around the edge - not much different from f/8.  So getting up there to f/10 or f/12 you're in prime Brandon territory