ED2 EPs aoe Quality lacking

[Davekyn]

Broken Eye Piece?/flashes of white-white wash?

Hi,
I am having trouble with one particular eye piece amongst my set. Unfortunately it is one of my more expensive ED2 EPs.

The problem goes a little like this. You know how sometimes if you get your eye to close or to far away, how a white flash of light washes out the object in field of view. I thought this was due to the way I was looking in the eye piece, and so have tried finding the perfect distance to match the exit pupil and so forth.

The EP is an ED2 3.8mm with a rather larger glass area to look through as opposed to my standard 4mm plossel that has more like a pin point sized hole to look through. Mind you though, the cheaper 4mm plossel gives a much better view over the ED2 without the flashing/white wash image.

I have taken the 5 element ep apart/cleaned and checked spacing ext...but still have the same exact problem...I also get the same problem on different scopes. The ED2 12.5mm does not do this???

I am at a complete loss...any ideas would be good,
Thanks,
Dave

[dannat]

is it internal reflections off the object that are bouncing around te inside of the ocular? when you took it apart were all the internal pieces blackened, in matt black. what is the stated ER of te ep

[Davekyn]

I will check that out Daniel...Thanks. I just pulled it all apart yesterday and tried it out during the day with better results, however untill I try it on bright objects in the night sky, I will not know. Everytime I need a clear night, it's been clouding over.

I'll get back to you on this...THANKS!
Dave

[Davekyn]

Just an update I posted at cloudynights Dan, (all the areas seems to be well blackened inside...could of been a loose ellement...I was dispointed with the EPs as soon as I got them Dan..

Yea Stefanj...I checked that, and think it was alright first time around, however it was loose after I pulled it apart then put it back together again...fixed that now.
I just did a Daylight test up against some other EPs and I think it’s better..or as can be. Won’t know for sure until I test an a cloud free night on bright objects and the like. I have to agree agree with Darren...I was pretty disappointed with the ED2 Eps as soon as I started suing them. Especially this 3.8mm version. I don’t mind looking through a pinhole if I can get a clear crisp image with decent contrast, but with the ED2 there seems to be way too much sacrifice with the contrast being greyed out somewhat & I do find having to move my eyeball around due to the large amount of glass seem to play a bit of havoc, when compared to using a 2inch EP.
These are the ED2 EPs I am talking about:
Scroll down the page
http://www.aoe.com.au/eyepieces.html (http://www.aoe.com.au/eyepieces.html)

The 12.5mm is not so bad, but honestly, when compared to a 15mm standard plossel, I cannot justify the price!

Can anyone recommend a good brand of eye piece that I can “see” why it’s worth paying more?
I know I need to consider the variables such as scope used/object viewed/ect... But when comparing the two ED2 EP’s with similar sized standard plossels on the same scope with the same object...I won’t be wasting my money on those particular EPs again.

Dave

[casstony]

For higher powers, you could consider an 8.5mm Pentax xf and a good quality barlow. Search the forum for comments on the 8.5xf. There are not many eyepieces that are universally liked but this is one of them.

[monoxide]

another vote for Pentax.
i havent seen the XF series but the 10XW is just excellent

[Davekyn]

roger that,
thanks for the tip!
Dave

[Davekyn]

I have been so disapointed with this EP, that I have sent it back, and could not care less, if I don't hear from them again!
USELESS!

[Solanum]

I have an ED2 14 mm EP which I bought from MyAstroShop, and it hasn't suffered from your problem. I bought it because the coatings were faulty on the GSO 15 mm Plossl I had at the time (like looking through a murky fishtank) and I wanted decent eye relief and a good sized eye lens. On the other hand the ED2 eyepieces are very average.

I have recently bought a Pentax XF 8.5 mm andI finally got to use last night; it is superb. Obviously I've not had much time with it, but the 60 deg AFOV is noticeably better than the Vixen LVs that I have (which seem similar optically - in fact the XF and the LVs are close to parfocal), edge of field is good, as is the contrast. Oh and the build quality of the XF is the best of any eyepiece I own.