14mm/12mm Delos in fast Newt's anyone?

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

As the title goes, has anyone used a 14mm or 12mm Delos in a fast Newtonian? Particularly, f/4 & f/4.5? I don't use a coma corrector, so I much prefer an opinion of the EP neat through the scope.

Fast Newt's are murder on EPs, & I'm struggling to find something in this focal length & AFOV range at a reasonable price, so to my horror I'm having to consider the top end of the market, :scared:

XW's, too pricey. LVWs new are in the same price range of the Delos, & the 13mm LVW is sooo good!

Mental.

[Kunama]

Hi Mental,
Can't help you with the Televues but I can surely vouch for the LVW13 and LVW 17 in a fast newt. These are my favourite EPs in my Vixen 8" F4, spectacular views !!! I do have a coma corrector but even without it the result is excellent.

I tried for a while to buy them secondhand but in the end had to go for new ones. (They are also fantastic in the 6" F10 IStar refractor)

[MortonH]

My 14mm Delos is very good in my 200mm f/5 Newt. If we ever get to Katoomba you can try it!

[MortonH]

Of course, you're thinking of buying today before the TV sale ends!!!

[Profiler]

Mental

If you go to either Adorama or B&H Photo on the www both sell Pentax XW's around USD$279 add roughly another $15 for shipping via 'courier'. So you can bank on around USD$300 including P&H - there is no tax etc on anything under $1000. After conversion to AUD you are actually looking at about AUD$290. Last time I looked at LVW or Delos prices locally they were around AUD$330. If you are absolutely wedded to a LVW then check these two stores as well for their Vixen prices.

[MortonH]

I got my 10mm XW from the US for around $310 delivered a few weeks ago. Think the exchange rate moved against me just as I ordered or it would have been a bit less.

Of course, the 14mm XW has a reputation for field curvature...

[Profiler]

Hi Morton

Agreed - the exchange rate is an important variable on what the exact price will ultimately prove to be

[AG Hybrid]

NO!!! He can try MY 14mm Delos in MY F/5 Scope!!!! :rofl::rofl:.

No seriously. If we Sydney-siders don't stop buying sh*t we will get another 12 months clouds.

For the record I blame all of you for the clouds. That's right I blame all of you!


Ignoring the fact I bought a 8mm,14mm Delos and 10XW Pentax in Nov/Dec.

[mental4astro]

Thanks Adrian & Morton. I'll need to get my hands on a binoviewer by the looks of things :)

Having a squizz through one I suppose is the best solution.

My greatest fear with such large assemblies of glass is the loss of precious light. I compared an 8mm LVW with my 9mm TMB Planetary II, & I saw fainter stars through my cheap TMB, AND the field was just as good. Slightly smaller AFOV, but nett same AFOV. If there was a 13mm TMB, I may not be having this problem

[MortonH]

I also have an Explore Scientific 14mm 82-degrees on order that I'm going to use with my 80ED. I'll compare with the Delos when I get it. The ES is half the price of the Televue.

[Suzy]

Read the thread below Alexander, it's very helpful. :thumbsup:
Help On Choosing A Premium 14mm Eye Piece (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=71653) by moir.

[MattT]

Suzy's thread is a ripper....it's a good read and I hope your on holidays it's long. After I read it I ended up buying a Denk 14 cost then about $380 to get it here. Bino's???? Where did that come from? Great for planets and Moon but DSO's are a bit so so. Badder Maxbrights are the best place to start but you could spend a small fortune that'll make a 14 Delos seem cheap.
Happy thread reading.
Matt

[mental4astro]

Thanks for the link, Suzy. I sat down and went through it. I had the 14mm Denkmeier recommended to me by MattT (;)) in some PM's we shared. Denk's are the RAREST EPs to come across in the second hand market!!! You've got more chance in finding an Ethos for $59 than just one Denk. And bugger all retailers sell them too, so bargain pricing for them is zero.

LVW's ain't easy to find second hand either! And the Delos are just too new to find 2'nd hand.

Looks like I'm looking for a brand new EP.

Funny, I posted the same question about the Delos EPs on Cloudy Nights and no one wants to reply to it! So much B.S. about Delos on another CN thread by TV groupies. But when it comes to the crunch, they all scatter! Why is every TV groupie scared about using their EPs WITHOUT a coma corrector? I've used coma correctors, but for me, the amount of light I loose with one ain't worth the little bit of edge modification. I'm happy to put up with coma if it means I get more precious photons.

Thanks to all of you who did reply, and the few who did give the thumbs up to the Delos.

MattT, the binoviewer came from Morton and Adrian both happy to lend me their 14mm Delos!

[MortonH]

There's a 10mm XW and a 10mm Delos for sale in the IIS classifieds right now.

[mental4astro]

Ta, I've picked up the XW! :)

[MortonH]

Nice one. I like mine a lot.

[mental4astro]

I'll still keep an eye open for a Denk or a 13mm LVW. You never know...

[mercedes_sl1970]

Hi Alex - I was going to recommend a Denkmeier the other day but discovered I hadn't actually submitted the post - excellent eyepieces. I also think you will thoroughly enjoy the Pentax.

As anothet option for you to consider at 14mm - I've never been an appreciator of super wide eyepieces but I was given an ES 14mm 100 early last year and find it such a delight to use. Just a thought...

Andrew

[AG Hybrid]

What the hell !:rofl: . Our Katoomba group goes from having no truly premium eyepieces to Pentax's and Televue's everywhere!!! Wait Morton have you been to one of our Katoomba get togethers?

[MortonH]

Not yet but I'm trying!

[Steffen]

If you don't need a huge AFOV you could always use sub-$100 Orthos. Apart from their relatively narrow AFOV and short eye relief (in the short focal lengths) they're pretty much perfect.

If we ever get a clear night at the air field again you can try my 12.5mm KK ortho, to see what it's like in a fast scope.

Cheers
Steffen.

[bytor666]

Alex,

You're gonna love that XW !!! Once you hit GOLD like that with the XW's you'll want more of them !!! I have the 10mm and 7mm XW and I barlow both for mags of 210x for Jupiter and some DSO's and I get 300x with the 7mm XW barlowed for Saturn, Mars and some small planetary nebs or globs.

I had the 13mm Vixen LVW and loved that EP too, but a friend of mine had a 14mm Denk and it sat for about a week or two not selling on the used market so I was being taunted by it and the reviews were glowing, so I sold the 13mm Vixen LVW and jumped all over that 14mm Denk !!!

So, now I have a 34mm ES 68 on the way after selling an Orion 38mm Q70, I have a 22mm Vixen LVW after selling a 20mm ES 68, I have the 14mm Denk :) and the 10mm and 7mm XW's. Now every one of my eyepieces work perfectly in my fast Newtonian w/o needing a Paracorr.

I have never had 5 Premium eyepieces at once in my entire life !!!

Enjoy that XW Alex....you're going to get addicted now, :D;)



Cheers,

[MattT]

I had a Denk 14 for a bit but found the LER and the bat wing guard really annoying so I sold it (sorry Suzy after all that) Many CNers refer to the Denk as a TMB Planetery 14mm :shrug: which I didn't agree with as the contrast and all was :thumbsup: if only it came with a better eyeguard I would have kept it.

[bytor666]

MattT,

Many CN'ers are incredibly awesome people, as I have bought and sold a boatload of eyepieces and other gear from the nice people on there! Then you have others on there who really have no clue as to what the deal is, :eyepop:

As far as the 14mm Denk goes against the TMB planetary, like you said, is EONS ahead of the TMB Planetary in every aspect. A good friend of mine sold every TMB Planetary he had and when I had asked about them, he told me to steer clear of them because they have bad ghosting, lame baffling etc.....so I took his word for it as he is an experienced observer.

Some over on CN seem to think that the TMB Planetaries are really good eyepieces. LOL!

As far as the eye guard goes on the 14mm Denkmeier, I removed the bat wing altogether and I just view without it ~ No problems at all with blackouts, etc and I can get in just right with my glasses on. When looking down into the 14mm Denk, all you see is PITCH BLACK. Try doing that with a TMB Planetary and you'll see GREY or some other cheap baffling.

I also tried viewing through the 14mm Denkmeier with the eyecup from my 22mm Vixen LVW and it fits on there nicely and the eye relief is perfect if you don't need glasses.

See attachments. The first pic shows the 14mm Denkmeier without any eye guard on it and the second pic shows the 14mm Denk with the eyecup from my 22mm Vixen LVW.

Cheers,

[Suzy]

Matt, you sold it *gasp*!:eyepop:
The bat wing on the ep is for bino viewing. I leave in the down position and it doesn't get in my way at all. Oh that's a shame it annoyed you Matt.

Alexander, well done on the XW10! :D There's no turning back now, you'll get addicted to them (I have 3 so far, 10,7&5). I can't wait to hear what you think, let us know.

TMBs & Denks the same? Whaaaat? Nooooo waaaaaaaaaaaay.
Tho having owned a TMB briefly- it wouldn't come into focus on my f/5 dob :shrug: I was impressed with the colour of Saturn, some nice contrast I saw. Well, of what I could see. :rolleyes:

The TMB monos (monocentrics) I believe are the hard to come by ones that are regarded highly and only available on the second hand market if you can get them.

[mental4astro]

Thought I'd update the story so far.

I've been able to give the 10mm XW a bit of a whirl. First light was in my 8" f/4 dobbie - by far the sharpest EP in my collection across the whole field. Very sweet to use.

Last night I was able to use it in my 17.5" dobbie. Seeing was the most stable I've seen for a very long time, AND it being summer too. Now, get this, the Trapezium in M42, A, B, C, D, E & F - well, yeah, BUT also G, H & I!!! Pin sharp a ney a shimmer in the EP due to thermals. The number of stars that extended beyond these was sensational. Testament to the conditions, but the quality of the EP too. I had seen Trap. E & F before in the 17.5", but never this level of detail.

I did a sketch of M42 last night using the 17.5" scope which I've posted in the DSO sketching sticky (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=935572#post935572) . It includes a close up of the Trapezium.

As for a 13mm or 14mm EP, I think I've found my silver lining in a sow's ear - my modified 13mm Hyperion! Last night it performed nearly on par with the Pentax! Not as sharp along the very edge, but it too was showing a flat field and pin point stars. It too was showing Trap. G & H, though I was more of a hint than definite - it really is faint- I used this modified 13mm to do M42 sketch. I think I'll give my hunt for a new 13mm/14mm a miss now. I'm very happy with this freakish mutilation of my sow's ear 13mm Hyperion, :D

Mental.

[bytor666]

My gosh Alex,

Those drawings of M-42 are gorgeous !!! Very nice work of art Sir. :thumbsup::D

Cheers,

[Kunama]

Great sketches Alex. I wish I could draw ............