Quote:
Originally Posted by Stonius
But doesn't it seem strange that Pentax had the luxury of designing *any eyepiece they liked* to match their scopes, but settled on an 'inferior design'?
It implies they either didn't know, (the eyepieces are not cheap - they could have used a different design) or that the design is not actually as problematic as people say it is.
I have to say, I'm not as experienced as some, but I bought my set based on A/B Nagler comparisons and I found the Pentax to be a shade more contrasty, though it was splitting hairs.
But field curvature has never been an issue for me. Perhaps because the eye is an imperfect instrument. Curvature in a photographic setting is terrible, but in a visual observing scenario where you're trying to keep your eye centred on a <5mm exit pupil... field curvature has to be quite extreme before it's even noticable. It's far less noticable than other abberations, IMO.
All I know is that I don't go from a 20mm to a 5mm and suddenly go 'yuck!'.
-Markus
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Markus,
The ability to accommodate field curvature diminishes with age. Older observers may not be able to accommodate the FC of certain focal lengths of the XW.