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Old 17-05-2017, 06:28 AM
AEAJR (Ed)
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Last two observation sessions have been focused on Jupiter. Both nights had very good seeing. Both started with a low power wide eyepiece then I went to the Baader Hyperion Zoom and that is what I used all evening.

Orion XT8i Dob- With this one I had the BHZ sitting in my GSO 2X 2" barlow pushing all the way to 300X but really doing best around 240X.

Last night I used my 5" Meade ETX 125 Mak - barlow needed for this one. Best view was around 160-180X
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  #22  
Old 05-06-2017, 07:13 PM
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Anyone else have one of these? I would like to read more user reports.
Howdy
Although new to this field, upon recommendation and a lot of research (between getting fixed length EP or the Baader zoom) I got the zoom and have been using briefly. Already totally loving it, so handy, great views and gee the quality and contrast! I am using it through a fast Dobsonian 12" that admittedly is about 10 years old and not the best but I recommend this zoom!
I am now wondering about either a 2 or 3x Barlow...hehehe!
Peace to all.
Andrew H
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  #23  
Old 05-06-2017, 10:06 PM
AEAJR (Ed)
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Howdy
Although new to this field, upon recommendation and a lot of research (between getting fixed length EP or the Baader zoom) I got the zoom and have been using briefly. Already totally loving it, so handy, great views and gee the quality and contrast! I am using it through a fast Dobsonian 12" that admittedly is about 10 years old and not the best but I recommend this zoom!
I am now wondering about either a 2 or 3x Barlow...hehehe!
Peace to all.
Andrew H
I use mine in an F5.9 8" Dob. A 2X barlow is well matched for my scope.
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  #24  
Old 29-10-2017, 03:52 AM
AEAJR (Ed)
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I love my BHZ and use it more than any other eyepiece, but I do have other eyepieces. Last night I decided to leave the BHZ in the case. I was using my Orion XT8i Intelliscope, but was using it manually, no computer.

I pulled out my 2" Explore Scientific 25 mm 70 degree, no longer available, ES 82 8.8 and 6.7, Meade 5000 SWA 5.5 and HD60 4.5, for a zoomless night with Orion. This is how I used to observe before I had a zoom.

The ES 82s and the Meade 5000 are really nice eyepieces and I always enjoy using them BUT last night I was reminded why I have become a zoom junkie. Swapping is a pain. Selection of eyepieces becomes part of the observation process taking my attention from the target.

Perhaps if I tended to stay with one target a long time I might feel differently, but I tend to observe for 5-15 minutes then move on in most cases. That involves moving between higher and lower mag to find the best view or to help with the hopping for each target.

Before I had the zoom eyepieces this never bothered me, it was just how it worked. Swapping was even fun, trying this and trying that. But not anymore.

Now I have known the convenience of the BHZ and how the eyepiece now disappears in my observing. I don't think about FL or FOV, I don't think about the eyepiece at all. I focus on the targets and move in or out at will with no thought to the eyepiece. My attention is on the target, not the equipment.

It was a fun exercise, and I have no intention of selling my eyepieces, but the BHZ will be back in the focuser most of the time going forward. This might not be your cup of tea but it is certainly mine.

"Hi, my name is Ed and I am addicted to the BHZ. I have no intention of kicking the addiction and intend to addict others."


Edit: I should have noted that I would normally use the BHZ in a 2X barlow to be in the same range as the ES 82s and the Meade eyepieces I mentioned. Also, I tend to use the BHZ mostly in the 18 to 8 mm range/9 to 4 mm barlowed. The 20 to 24 mm tends to be a transition range, moving from target to target but I don't typically spend much time in that range observing.

Last edited by AEAJR; 30-10-2017 at 02:26 AM.
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  #25  
Old 29-10-2017, 11:54 AM
Mamba (David)
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I have a pair of the Baader Mk IV zooms in binos on a TSA120 and my experience is that as eyepieces they are very good indeed. Just a couple of comments though.
The eyepiece is not parfocal through its range from 8 to 24 and indeed requires refocusing between each 4mm stop.
The stops at each 4mm are so subtle that for the most part I cannot detect them and so have to revert to checking that each eyepiece has identical settings on the barrel, this criticism only applies if using two eyepieces. I actually bought my zooms on a trip to the UK but live in Australia so not much chance of returning them for ones with more 'click'
The winged eye guards rotate when changing focal length so are largely unusable.
Having said al that I will not be getting rid of them any time soon.
Hope this helps
Dave Cooke
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  #26  
Old 07-11-2017, 08:23 PM
bytor666
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Being a wide field nut, I found the only good setting was at 8mm. The rest feels too restricted, and correction in a fast dob is less than stellar.

Changing eyepieces is something one does if you own a telescope.
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  #27  
Old 09-12-2017, 06:44 AM
AEAJR (Ed)
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Being a wide field nut, I found the only good setting was at 8mm. The rest feels too restricted, and correction in a fast dob is less than stellar.

Changing eyepieces is something one does if you own a telescope.
Good to get your input.

What scope and what eyepieces are you comparing it to?
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  #28  
Old 21-01-2018, 10:40 AM
Joves (Aaron)
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I recently purchased two of these (MkIV) with two matching Barlow systems from Telscope Express, predominantly for use in my Baader MkV binoviewer. Am yet to use them as a pair, but have had a couple of short sessions with one of them in a Mak127. I know this scope isn’t overly demanding on eyepieces, but I was actually quite surprised at the quality of image it provided and was very surprised to note on both occasions that it seemed to provide marginally higher contrast than my Televue Panoptic 24, an eyepiece I also really like.

I pretty well purchased the Mak as a quick grab and go/travel scope on a Skywatcher AZGti Mount and tripod/pier (as a side note, everything bar the tripod/pier fits in a small airline portable Pelican case, which makes for a great travel companion), so wanted the zoom to minimise eyepieces required on a trip. I effectively only need the zoom with this scope, but intend to travel with a Pan 24, the Baader Zoom and possibly the 3-6 Nagler zoom (overkill on this scope, but takes up literally no space, so can’t hurt to have just in case the rare occasion arises that I feel I need excessive amounts of power).

I can see myself rarely removing the Baader zoom from this scope, it appears to be that good so far!
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  #29  
Old 21-01-2018, 10:56 AM
AEAJR (Ed)
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That has been my experience too.
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  #30  
Old 21-01-2018, 06:33 PM
ab1963 (Andrew)
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That's a huge call against the 24 pan ,I've had a mark 3 Hyperion zoom and a Vixen LV 8-24 zoom obviously with both the fov is tight but contrast wise and sharpness the Vixen wins hands down IMO
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  #31  
Old 21-01-2018, 07:14 PM
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FlashDrive (Poppy)
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That's a huge call against the 24 pan ,I've had a mark 3 Hyperion zoom and a Vixen LV 8-24 zoom obviously with both the fov is tight but contrast wise and sharpness the Vixen wins hands down IMO
I agree ... I had a Hyperion Zoom and sold it not long after and kept my Vixen LV Zoom ... can't go past the Vixen IMHO

Col....
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  #32  
Old 21-01-2018, 08:07 PM
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Merlin66 (Ken)
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I tried a couple of Baader zoom and returned them...sloppy and internal debris.
The Moonfish was similar - as was the TV and Celestron.
Gave up on finding a good quality zoom until - I found the Pentax SMC XW 8-24mm.
Absolutely majic!!!!!
Still with me after ten years.
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  #33  
Old 21-01-2018, 08:55 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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I tried a couple of Baader zoom and returned them...sloppy and internal debris.
The Moonfish was similar - as was the TV and Celestron.
Gave up on finding a good quality zoom until - I found the Pentax SMC XW 8-24mm.
Absolutely majic!!!!!
Still with me after ten years.
Heard about the debris in a lot of zooms Ken..Using the Orion one ATM for testing the seeing , and it is a surprise ... sharp wiith great contrast.... but would say the Pentax.. has pleased everyone I've read that uses it, and by all accounts the best in its price range...even brunonno here on IIS loved his .

bigjoe
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  #34  
Old 21-01-2018, 11:20 PM
AEAJR (Ed)
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Seems we all have different experience. I have the Celestron zoom and the Baader Hyperion zoom and love 'em both but the BHZ is clearly the better of the two.

Haven't tried the Pentax or the Vixen.
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  #35  
Old 22-01-2018, 11:04 AM
Joves (Aaron)
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I was very surprised also. I’m not suggesting the Baader zoom is a better eyepiece than the Pan 24. I would remove the Pan from the equation altogether if that was the case. It just seems, during the very limited time I’ve used them both with the little Mak 127 (which is only twice, for very short periods under far from ideal conditions) that the zoom was showing higher contrast views, particularly on M42 which was the predominant target i was looking at during one of these sessions. I was also surprised that the combination of the little Mak with the zoom immediately put up a good display of the E and F components of the Trapezium.

I have a lot of quality eyepieces, including all Ethos’, all Radian’s, several Naglers (including the zoom), all but one or two Vixen LV’s plus others I can’t think of at the moment, so i’m in no way a zoom fanatic. I was just quite pleasantly surprised by the image quality shown in the Mk4 zoom. I bought it more so out of curiosity and for convenience, so it was a nice surprise to see that it didn’t appear to be showing compromised views when I first looked through it. I must stress though, I’ve only used it in the one scope (which was really the scope I purchased it for anyhow), so the jury is still well and truly out as to whether it stands its own against all other EP’s in differently scopes under differing conditions on differing targets. Either way, I’m certainly not going to be getting rid of my fixed FL EP’s.

Oh, and I’ve never looked through a Pentax zoom. I’m confident, based on every report I’ve read on them, that they would absolutely be superior to the Baader zoom. Must try one some time.
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  #36  
Old 22-01-2018, 01:01 PM
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AG Hybrid (Adrian)
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I adore my Mark III. Its showed me some of my best planetary views of particularly Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon despite owning shorter focal length Pentax XW and Delos eyepieces.

I've used it in my dob, Mak and refractor. It performs well in all 3. Of course I don't use the 24mm setting. That's actually no better then 20-22mm settings.

Naturally I'm curious regarding the Pentax all the same. My question is, does it manage to maintain the 60 degree field through all the magnification settings?
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Old 22-01-2018, 01:19 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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Originally Posted by AG Hybrid View Post
I adore my Mark III. Its showed me some of my best planetary views of particularly Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon despite owning shorter focal length Pentax XW and Delos eyepieces.

I've used it in my dob, Mak and refractor. It performs well in all 3. Of course I don't use the 24mm setting. That's actually no better then 20-22mm settings.

Naturally I'm curious regarding the Pentax all the same. My question is, does it manage to maintain the 60 degree field through all the magnification settings?
I think whats happened here Adrian.... the odd bad one has slipped through QC.

Edggie on Cloudy Nights and many others love theirs despite owning Pentaxes Deloi etc; So good ones must compare favourably in image quality ...they cant all be lying...so most must be very good..only needs a few ordinary samples to destroy an excellent reputation.
Ive got Deloi, Orthos etc,
and my contrasty Orion Zoom is not beneath me to use on planetary..the SEEING is the big thing..trumps all!
bigjoe.
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  #38  
Old 22-01-2018, 01:26 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AG Hybrid View Post
I adore my Mark III. Its showed me some of my best planetary views of particularly Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon despite owning shorter focal length Pentax XW and Delos eyepieces.

I've used it in my dob, Mak and refractor. It performs well in all 3. Of course I don't use the 24mm setting. That's actually no better then 20-22mm settings.

Naturally I'm curious regarding the Pentax all the same. My question is, does it manage to maintain the 60 degree field through all the magnification settings?
I think whats happened here Adrian.... the odd bad one has slipped through QC.

Edggie on Cloudy Nights and many others love theirs despite owning Pentaxes Deloi etc; So good ones must compare favourably in image quality ...they cant all be lying...so most must be very good..only needs a few ordinary samples to destroy an excellent reputation.
Ive got Deloi, Pans, Orthos etc,
and my contrasty Orion Zoom is not beneath me to use on planetary..the SEEING is the big thing..trumps all!
bigjoe.
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  #39  
Old 22-01-2018, 09:27 PM
Wavytone
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I've seen suggestions on other websites that the Pentax zoom was actually the Vixen one, rebadged... Nice product but it always was a niche product and sales were minuscule. So they have pretty much fallen out of favour (lack of sales) and overtaken by the ultra-wide brigade where image quality comes last.
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  #40  
Old 22-01-2018, 09:31 PM
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Merlin66 (Ken)
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They don't look the same to me!!!
https://agenaastro.com/vixen-3777-1-...-eyepiece.html
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