New 17mm Ethos on the way

[coldspace]

I am very excited that my new 17mm Ethos is on the way :).
After some very very good feed back from various people on cloudy nights I took the plunge and ordered this eyepiece to add to my Nagler and Panoptic.
Should be here in 5days can't wait, after borrowing a friends 13mm Ethos there is just no comparison to my 13mm Nagler.
You feel like you are falling into space looking through one of these.

Regards Matt.

[wavelandscott]

Congratulations!

I hope you get lots of good use from that premium eyepiece!

[erick]

I look forward to reading your report. Is a 17mm Ethos really a replacement for a approx 30mm 68 deg or 80 deg eyepiece? Or do we hold out for longer focal lengths in 100 deg? :shrug:

[JethroB76]

They are a beautiful thing the Ethos line..

Would still like to see a 21-24mm Ethos if its not as big as a house brick

[coldspace]

Not sure on the maths Eric, but I know that the 13mm Ethos has the same true field of view as a 26mm plossl but double the magnification giving you alot more contrast and more detail in all objects. We tried this one night on some objects using my friend 13mm Ethos then switching back to his 25mm televue plossl and the difference was astounding.
Same size field but alot more detail and fainter detail was apparant because of the increased contrast.

The 17mm probally similar to 30 mm plossl at 50 degrees or maybe 68 degree piece.

The main advantage for this 100 degree eyepieces is you can run at high magnification without losing field of view.

I hope they release one around 26mm focal length this would make n excellent low power eyepiece.

According to a few guys on cloudy nights the 17mm was better than the 13mm in all scopes they tested it in from 12 to 18inch dobs and 9.25 to 12 inch SCT telescopes.

I will be using it in my f10 12 200R as well as using an Optec f7 reducer to get the scope down to F7 when I am not using the scope for imaging.

A few guys have tested all the Ethos range and found that they perform perfect with the televue 2 X powermates with no loss of field or quality.

They will eventually bring out other focal lengths after they make enough on each new release to stop people just buying a couple and using powermates to double up each usuable focal length.

I will post a report when I get it but should be good.

Regards Matt.

[erick]

I've been able to use a borrowed 13mm Ethos. It is spectacular on NGC 253 in my 12" f5. :thumbsup:

[coldspace]

Well finally got to try out my new Ethos 17mm tonight even though its nearly 3/4 moon and the seeing is bad with haze and gusty winds here in Brisbane.

I compared it with my 13 nagler, 35mm panoptic and various orion widefield pieces between 9mm and 26mm in my 12 LX200R scope.

Let me say, this eyepiece is the best :thumbsup:.
It gave an almost errie feeling of looking out of a bubble window. You can look up, down, left and right at nearly side on into the eyepiece and the view seems to keep going wth pin point clarity.
It made my 13mm Nagler feel like a plossl.
Some people say or won't like this but you don't have to look around if you don't want to but I like it .

I have heard that the ultra wide field takes away some of the contrast on things but I found this to be the opposite but I was only comparing it to my 13mm Nagler, 35mm panoptic and orion eyepieces.

After testing on about 12 different objects the 17mm Ethos stayed in the focuser for the rest of the night.
Buts its not just about the field of view but it made objects just stand out so much better in this 2 out of 10 night based on the conditions. The majesty factor that TV go on about is true, to my eye's at least. I went to Jupiter first and got 5 to 6 bands and compared to my 13mm nagler there was no contest. Slightly less magnification than the Nagler which probally helped considering the conditions but it was still one of the best views I have had of Jupiter in along time.

The moon was a show stopper, way more clarity, better colour and features just stood out alot better with more depth feel to the image what really caught my attention with the ethos on the moon was that the shaddows off the mountains and craters stood out alot better with more depth feel to them and at this mag around 180X you could see half the terminator and when you looked up left or right you could see right out to the edge of the disk .

Omega centaurus was spectacular at this mag and framed nice.
The ring was great well rounded and with good image scale, colour and field of view.
Lots of other globs, open clusters were just spectacular considering the conditions. The jewel box really stood out.

I can't wait to put it through its paces on new moon and to get it out to some dark skies as well.

My other TV eyepieces are real nice but this thing is the next step up.
I can see it getting a flogging now. Pity they are pricey but the R & D that goes into these things has to be paid for somehow.


Regards Matt.

[DavidU]

Most people forget about this cost.If the was no R&D budget there would be no Ethos.