Vixen NLV and SLV - any owners?

[MortonH]

There's not a great deal of information on these eyepieces out there. The new SLV version seems to be a minor upgrade of the NLV, with the main difference being an increase in AFOV from 45 to 50 degrees.

Any users out there who can comment on their performance?

[PlanetMan]

The LV, NLV and SLV are all the same optic

Vixen experiments with the housing assembly from rubber eyeguard to two different twist eye-cup designs - both intent on improving eye position.

I believe the SLV use more metal in their build in comparison to the NLV but conversely are made in China and not Japan.

The Fov does actually vary amongst the various fl eyepieces in the LV/NLV range (ie it isn't uniform) - generally the lower ones are 45 and higer are 50:thumbsup:

[MortonH]

So they should be good then :)

[PlanetMan]

Yes - grossly under estimated

Their apparent lack of popularity probably stems from the trend to seek ever large fov's

However, Vixen appear to have focused on providing a high quality optic in a comparatively modest fov

[Wavytone]

Agreed, the LV set I had were lovely eyepieces and IMHO much underestimated. In some respects I regret parting with that set.
Sharp, clear and comfortable to use.

The rubber eyecup on the LV set was useful in one respect in that some digital cameras could be pushed into it and would stay there, good enough for digiscoping without the need for fiddly attachments.

[Tinderboxsky]

I cannot speak highly enough of them.

My set was initially LV - 2.5, 4, 5, 7, 9, 15, 20 and 25. All were obtained second hand from various sources at an average price of $77. They are crisp, clear, sharp to the edge and with 20 mm eye relief, are extremely easy to use over extended observing sessions. The other strength is consistency of performance across the range of eyepiece focal lengths.

I have since bought pairs of NLV - 9, 12, 20 and 40 for use with a binoviewer and singularly when appropriate. I have sold the LV 9, 15, 20 and 25 as they were redundant.

The NLV's are the same optics and so the same comments above apply. Buying new, I feel they are extremely good value for money. I was originally sceptical of the screw up eye cup mechanism on the NLV's but have come to appreciate them and I now prefer viewing through them over the older fixed flexible rubber cap on the LV's. The variable height eye cups on the NLV's provide flexibility for eye positions and the larger diameter cups (over the narrower LV cups) are more comfortable at the eye.

Yes the APOV is 50 degrees except for those 7mm and below at 45 degrees and the outstanding 40 mm at 42 degrees. However, I have almost never found this a limiting factor. The reality is that the vast majority of targets, celestial and deep sky can be viewed with the TFOV provided by these eyepieces in most scopes. If wide field viewing with the immersive effect of a large AFOV then certainly one would need to look for other eyepieces.

Cheers

Steve.

[Wavytone]

Steve those were just the ones in 1.25" barrels.

Vixen also made a huge 2" LV 30mm (not the silver NLVW 30mm) and 2" LV 50mm (which I kept and is one of my favourites).
AFAIK there isn't an NLV or SLV equivalent of these two.

[Tinderboxsky]

Yes, you are right. I had forgotten about the 2" 30mm and 50mm eyepieces when framing my comments. I have also noticed that the new series of SLV eyepieces from 2.5mm through to 25mm are now all 50 degree AFOV.

Steve.

[Don Pensack]

One data point:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Eyepieces&Number=6506607&fpart=1&PHPSESSID=