Vixen SSW 83° eyepieces

[MortonH]

Came across these last night. Seemingly they were displayed at Photokina last year but won't be available until October this year. I hadn't heard of them before.

No specs yet apart from the focal lengths and AFOV. Might be interesting.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixe...eyepieces.html

I also read on CN that the LVW line is being discontinued.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

If these new Vixen EPs can maintain the same performance in fast Neetonians as the LVW line, then it is a step forward!

However, I can already see many people will write them off only because of their colours! won't be the first time an EP line gets the bird only because of their esthetics...

Interesting that Vixen has limited this line to 1.25" barrel size.

[MortonH]

I love the colours!

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Hmmm I just received my 5mm LVW in the post today, which completes my eyepiece collection, until I have to return my 11mm Nagler I borrowed from Matt Wastell at SPSP this year. If the 5mm LVW performs well, when I return the 11mm Nag to Matt next year I may well replace it with the Vixen 10mm SSW

Mike

[Profiler (Profiler)]

Ditto - they certainly look good

Interestingly - and I am not certain whether this is a true trend - but when Japanese manufacturers make widefiled EP they seem to be limit the FL range. Here are these new Vixen eyepieces with the highest FL being 14mm and Takahashi with their widefiled range only extends to 10mm FL

[MortonH]

Originally Posted by Profiler

Ditto - they certainly look good

Interestingly - and I am not certain whether this is a true trend - but when Japanese manufacturers make widefiled EP they seem to be limit the FL range. Here are these new Vixen eyepieces with the highest FL being 14mm and Takahashi with their widefiled range only extends to 10mm FL

Don't the Japanese tend to use 1.25" eps only? That limits the FL to about 16mm.

[Profiler (Profiler)]

I think 24mm if fov expanded to 68' and 14 if expanded to 82'

However, when pushing these limits is when all sorts of other distortions begin to crop up.

Whatever the case I like them and the colours. However, if I had to guess they are essentially naglers by Vixen. What will be interesting to determine is the ER they offer. If they can maintain the traditional 20mm ER then they will be a hit for sure.

[MortonH]

On CN some people found some Japanese info that seems to translate to around 15mm eye relief. Probably can't expect any more than that in such a wide design.

[Wavytone]

Well a 14mm SSW doesn't come close to replacing the 42mm LVW in terms of true field of view so for one, I'm keeping my LVW set.

If they added two more around 22mm and 35 mm then maybe they'll be of interest.

[Wavytone]

Originally Posted by MortonH

Don't the Japanese tend to use 1.25" eps only? That limits the FL to about 16mm.

One of the things I like most about my LVW set - the 42mm is 2" and the rest are dual 2"/1.25", so I can dispense with 1.2" adapters for the whole range.

[GrahamL]

Similarish colour wise to the tmb super mono line ,clever marketing !

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by MortonH

I love the colours!

There is even a (Product)Red one!

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Be interesting to see how they compare to Pentax XW, besides the extra FOV of course

[Profiler (Profiler)]

I would also be interested in their size and weight. The problem with so many of the modern eyepieces is in providing that big field view also comes with a big piece of hardware which, in some instances, make them impractical to use.

[MortonH]

Posted by Don Pensack on CN:

Just heard:
New Vixen SSW 83 degree eyepieces will be available for sale at Vixen Optics USA dealers on July 31
Retail $349ea. Japanese-made.
Focal lengths: 14, 10, 7, 5, 3.5mm
7 element design using tantalum and lanthanum glass
Eye relief all sizes: 13mm
Hexagonal body can't roll if put down sideways.
Weights: 230g for 3.5 and 5mm, 225g for 7mm, 220g for 10mm, 210g for 14mm
There is a barrel undercut, but it is designed to not catch on compression rings.

[Profiler (Profiler)]

Going off the spec's for fl, fov and ER it seems that Vixen are essentially following the design parameters of T6 Naglers

[Wavytone]

Not necessarily. 3.5 and 5mm are same as the shorter LVW focal lengths. From there it makes a lot of sense to step up using a ratio of 1.4x from one to the next as they have done.

What's annoying is that they stopped short - IMHO they need two more at 21 and 30mm to make it an attractive set over Naglers or the ES eyepieces.

The size of the shorter ones and constant eye relief imply they used a Smyth lens design pretty much as they did with the LVWs - do not assume they copied Televue.

[MortonH]

Wonder how much they'll cost here...?

[MortonH]

Originally Posted by Profiler

Going off the spec's for fl, fov and ER it seems that Vixen are essentially following the design parameters of T6 Naglers

That was my first thought. AFOV is 1º more than a Nagler, eye relief is 1mm more than a Nagler, weight around the same as a Nagler, and I believe Naglers also use Lanthanum.

The question is whether they have better transmission or more neutral tone, otherwise why would someone choose them when they are similarly priced, or even more expensive than Naglers?

Will be interesting to see the first reports on their performance, and if the price comes down.

[PlanetMan]

Originally Posted by Wavytone

Not necessarily. 3.5 and 5mm are same as the shorter LVW focal lengths. From there it makes a lot of sense to step up using a ratio of 1.4x from one to the next as they have done.

What's annoying is that they stopped short - IMHO they need two more at 21 and 30mm to make it an attractive set over Naglers or the ES eyepieces.

The size of the shorter ones and constant eye relief imply they used a Smyth lens design pretty much as they did with the LVWs - do not assume they copied Televue.

Not sure I follow this - there are T6 Naglers in 3.5mm and 5mm FL and just like the T6 naglers they only go up to 13mm (Televue) and 14mm for these Vixens