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Old 21-10-2017, 07:45 PM
ab1963 (Andrew)
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LVW's Differences between old and new

Just wanting if possible some info on differences in performance between the old and new LVW's ,The newer versions seem a little brighter and the barrel of the older type is slightly longer plus the differences in colour in the coatings ,would be great to hear from people with time at the eyepiece of both and any other differences in specs

Thanks in advance
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Old 21-10-2017, 11:42 PM
Wavytone
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Hmm. I bought a set about 2008 and sold them roughly 2 years ago. I bought them one by one new mostly from the US though it was evident the supplies were drying up, so I can only assume the ones I had were the new ones. 5, 8, 13 , 22 and 42 mm. Of these the 8 and 13 were my favourites. The 22 was never used... the 42 was OK but not as good as the LV50 mm (I had one and stupidly sold it which I since regret).

But others views may differ as a lot depends on your scope - mine being an f/15 maksutov.

While they were good in the scopes I had at the time I also realised they weren’t the sharpest particularly when it came to stars off axis near the edge - they displayed some lateral colour whereas other more modern types didn’t. There are better eyepieces IMHO starting with the Vixen SSW series, though you will need to find something else for the low power end as the SSW stop at 14mm, and the SLV 25 does not deliver the full field of view possible in a 1.25” barrel.

Bear in mind the LVW designs go back to the 1980s so they aren’t really a modern design anymore.

The LVW remain unique in that they span a huge range of 3.5 to 42mm and their weights are so similar that you won’t need to rebalance the scope. And dual 2”/1.25” barrels for 22nm and under is a huge help.

Even now I’m finding there are very few choices around the 20-25mm focal length in 1.25” barrels.
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Old 22-10-2017, 06:46 AM
rrussell1962
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I bought a couple of LVW's round about 2001 or so and gradually build up a complete set with a few coming and going over the years. My impression is that the new coatings have slightly better light transmission, although I admit that I have not done a side by side comparison of the same focal lengths. As you say the older version has slightly longer barrels. An interesting point is that my early version 42mm has FOV 72 degrees printed on it, the newer ones have 68 degrees. I recall seeing a post somewhere where the poster had an email from Vixen stating that the 72 degrees was a mistake and all the LVW's were 68 degrees. I have an old Vixen catalogue showing the 42mm as having 72 degrees. One of these nights I may do a drift timing to satisfy my curiosity. Older versions have slightly different lettering which flakes off over time. Eye relief and weight are fairly consistent across the range. Eye relief is 20mm or so, but seems less because of the inflexible eye guards - I have a replacement set of lower flexible ones that make the LVW's comfortable to use with glasses. I think of the LVW's as being the Toyota of the eyepiece world, they don't lead the field in any one area, but as a package work nicely without any big compromises or glaring faults. Certainly overpriced new compared to what else you can get these days, but second hand can still be good value. The only real quibble I have is that a focal length between the 13mm and 8mm would be useful. I've often thought about selling mine but will probably hang onto them.
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Old 22-10-2017, 11:45 AM
ab1963 (Andrew)
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Thank you both for your input ,i will never forget the view with the 22mm through a TOA 130 it was perfect for me and such a comfortable eyepiece to view through and found it hard to pull away from the view so i have bought the 8,13,17 used and had to buy the 22mm new from Myastroshop and he only had 1 left,seems they have nearly sold out all over the world new ,i do not think it will be long before they are very hard to get ,the 17 is of the older build and it is said that the older coatings are slightly better at splitting double stars but don't have the light transmission the newer ones have .
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Old 23-10-2017, 10:03 AM
Wavytone
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Ah you just mentioned the magic word - comfortable. In this respect the LVWs were excellent - as are the SSW. I’ve known other eyepieces that were technically excellent but not comfortable to use.

Another thing about the LVWs is that they work surprisingly well in fast Newtonians.
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