Superview 42mm

[koputai (Jason)]

I bought one of these yesterday, wanting something in the 2.2 degree RFOV range, and as it is meant to be 65 AFOV, it was right in the ballpark.
I wanted something appreciably wider than my 68 degree 26mm, which gives 91 minutes RFOV.
I tested it out last night, but the RFOV measured at 108 minutes RFOV, not even 2 degrees. This works out to be 52 degrees AFOV, far short of the advertised 65!!
I've read elsewhere that people have measured it at 65 AFOV, but I can only get 52 out of it!!
Suggestions?

Cheers,
Jason.

[koputai (Jason)]

An update:
I went back to Bintel today, and took the 42mm Superview with me.
They were happy to take the Superview back, and give me credit towards whatever eyepiece I decided to have instead. Big THANKS to Bintel for their courteousness.
They looked up the current spec for the 42mm Superview, and it's now said to be a 60 degree AFOV. So, it started life with the manufacturer claiming it to be a 68, then 65, now 60. I think the truth is further yet down the scale.
I had a look through a cheap 80 degree 30mm, but yuck, all yellowy/orange colour around the edge, and very uncomfortable to the eye.
I then thought I'd go for a 41mm Panoptic, but there were none in stock, so tried the 35mm Panoptic. In the scope, looking across the road, it looked lovely, but was a bit too narrow for my requirements (it was actually the exact same true field as the Superview 42mm, making the Superview about 56 degrees AFOV).
I would have even gone for the Meade 4000 QX 36mm, but there were none of those in stock either, everyone must be buying wide eyepieces because of all the crap seeing we've had lately.
So, there being no suitable wide field available, I got a 9mm Nagler to fill in the other end of my scale.
Once again, thanks to Bintel for their understanding.

Cheers,
Jason.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

If the 35mm Panoptic is not wide enough for you, then there is little out there that will do an acceptable job. Certainly nothing amongst the budget EPs I know of. 42mm LVW is probably your best bet - value for $. Try MyAstroshop. Keep in mind the scope is an f/6, so you are looking at a fairly large 7mm exit pupil. It's okay, but you will need a young and near perfect eye to make the most of it.

[koputai (Jason)]

Hi Steve,
Well, wider than the Panoptic 35 (field 119 minutes) I've got these on my list:

Panoptic 41: Field 139 ~$659
Meade 5000 SWA 40: Field 136 ~$495
Vixen LVW 42: Field 151 ~$???
TMB Paragon 40: Field 136 ~$299
U.O. Mk70 40: Field 140 ~$295
W.O. SWA 40: Field 140 ~$159

The Panoptic is probably the pick of the bunch, but a bit spendy.
I've heard mostly bad reports of the Meade 5000 family, so it'd be worth spending the bit extra on the Panoptic.
The Vixen LVW I don't know much about, but suspect 42mm is getting close to seeing the spider.
I think the W.O. is probably too cheap, unless others can recommend it?
So I think at the moment it's between the TMB Paragon and the U.O. Mk70.

Does anyone have experience with either of these? Or recommendations on the others?

Cheers,
Jason.

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

I have a Pentax XW40 and the view is excellent. AFOV is 70 degrees (Panoptic is 68?). Of course, these cost a little more than a Panoptic.

To an extent, as always, you get what you pay for.