14mm Pentax XW just arrived !!!!

[bytor666]

Hey everybody how are you all doing???....Looky what just arrived at my door!!!...it's a 14mm Pentax XW in obvious MINT condition !!!...I originally sent a money order to a store for a used 10mm Pentax XW.

The store called a couple of days later to say that they messed up and sold it to someone else!!! :doh:

I was left with two other altrnatives: a Pentax 10.5mm XL or a 9mm Nagler Type 6. I chose the latter, and when the 9 Nag arrived at my door it was in pristine condition. The only thing I couldn't stand about it was the ultra-low eye relief!!! :help: ( I used to have a 9mm Nag Type 1 with the dual barrel , but the eye relief on it was better then these newer type 6 eyepieces).

I then discovered a guy that had a Pentax 14mm XW for sale, I browsed his other ads to see that he was looking for a 9mm Nag type 6...we were in immediate business for a trade !!!!

He sent me his 14mm XW and I sent him my 9 nag T6. I will be giving the 14mm Pentax a thorough testing as soon as I can and let you guys know what I think in my f/5 telescope.

I had a great report about it from John Bambury and know that a FULL REPORT is pending....I LOVE PENTAX !!!!! lol.....
-------------------
Mark
12" Gso Scope
27mm Pan "on the way" :jump:

[RapidEye]

I've got both a 10mm XW and 14mm XW that I use in my 4.5" F/8 Dob and 10" F/5 Dob ---> You'll Love it!!!

Congrats!

[Starkler]

I also love the pentax eye relief, it makes viewing so much more comfortable :)
Once you get used to it, short eye relief eyepieces seem especially annoying. If only my 24mm panoptic had better eye releif :doh:

[ausastronomer]

Geoff,

If it did I would definately own 1. Unfortunately a 5mm exit pupil and no glasses for me works about as good as lead and balloons. In this regard the 27mm Panoptic works nicely as it has about 18mm of eye-relief. The 26mm NT5 would be a lovely replacement for the 27mm Pan but unfortunately I can't justify that extra cost when 95% of my observing is done at higher powers on DSO's.

Mark,

Glad to hear you like the eyepiece, as I mentioned before its "not quite" as good at the EOF as the 5mm, 7mm and 10mm XW's but its very sharp on axis with excellent light transmission and contrast. Importantly its also very comfortable to use and IMO is still a 9.2/10 eyepiece despite the minor field curvature at EOF.

CS-John B

[bytor666]

Well you can bet your sweet booties I really wanna get a 10mm Pentax XW now. I have a chance at the Speers Waler 5-8A zoom , but am undecided on it and the Pentax XW 10mm. I will bet hands down that the 10mm XW has way better edge performance and transmission then the Speers waler Zoom.

Am I correct?...should I just wait and get the 10mm XW??? :confused:
------------------
Mark Gemmell
12" Gso Scope
14mm Pentax XW
2" Gso Barlow
27mm Panoptic "on the way"

[RapidEye]

I've not looked through a Speers, so I can't tell you how they compare; however, I have both the 10mm and 14mm XW. The 10mm is actually BETTER than the 14mm =)

If you like the 14mm, why look anywhere else:confused: Stick with the winner! :thumbsup:

[xrekcor]

Congrats Mark!,

I have the 3.5mm, 10mm& 14mm XW's and love all three. Irrespective if you wear
glasses or not. Pentax XW's are just plain luxury and comfort. The EOF performance in
the 14mm can be minumised by eye placement when you play around with it a lil. Still
I dont find it as bad to be annoying. the 5mm & 7mm are definitely on the list.

Has anyone tried the 30mm & 40mm XW's?


btw, John I have determined the EOF in the 3.5mm to be as good as the 10mm. the
same flat field view.But then again I'm no optrican, have you tried one?

regards,CS

[Lee]

I'm getting excited reading this thread - I'll be trying out my Pentax XW10 this weekend at a dark site.... I love reading good things about this ep! :) :)

[ausastronomer]

Rob,

I haven't used the 3.5mm but I have used all the other 1.25" versions namely (5mm,7mm,10mm,14mm and the 20mm) The 5,7 and 10 have perfectly flat fields. The 14mm has minor field curvature which gets a little worse in the 20mm, however its still a very good eyepiece and I rate it 9/10.

I rate the 5,7 and 10mm's as 9.7/10 eyepieces, the 14mm as a 9.2/10 eyepiece and the 20mm as a 9/10 eyepiece.

Lee,

You will love your new 10mm Pentax XW, its as good as it gets in 10mm focal length. 1st look at a big glob like 47 Tuc, you gonna say "Oh f---". :)

CS-John B

[RapidEye]

John, you didn't rate the 30mm or 40mm have you not tried them???

I'm trying to upgrade my 30mm Ultima to something in the 2" range - the 32mm Astrola that came with my Hardin is utter junk!

I've used a 27mm Pan, briefly, and really liked it. I didn't get a chance to do any critical observing with it, so I can't say anything beyond it was really nice.

I'm considering that Pan, a 30mm Pentax, and a 31mm Nagler. Since all of them are close to or over $500US, I'm NOT going to buy ANYTHING until I get some eyeball time on them.

Funny thing is, if I had to make a blind purchase right now, I'm leaning towards the Pentax - I just love that 20mm ER and the adjustable cup. But since the 30mm Ultima really is nice, albeit narrow FOV, I'm not dying... YET! :rolleyes:

[ausastronomer]

Jim,

Correct, I have not used either of the 2" Pentax eyepieces. All the feedback I have on the 30mm is very positive. Carsten Reese from Astro-okulare in Germany rates it the equal of the 31mm Nagler T6. Its worth noting that the 30mm Pentax XW uses the same 7element/6 group lens configuration as the 10mm and the 14mm XW's.

http://www.astro-okulare.de/English/indexe.htm

Of the 26mm Nagler T5, 27mm Panoptic (which I own) and the 31mm Nagler T5, my preference is for the 26mm NT5 although as you could appreciate they are all outstanding eyepieces.

At these price levels unfortunately you really need to try them before parting with the coin, but my guess is that the 30mm Pentax will be "right up there" and at $AUS 700 it would want to be :)

CS-John B

[Striker]

Congrats on your new eyepiece Mark.....as you know from all the reports...they sound like a great eyepiece.

[RapidEye]

Interesting link John,
I take it Reese doesn't care for Naglers...
They aren't rated, directly, but there are some snipes at them <shrug> doesn't hurt my feelings - I don't own stock in TV =)

Glad to see they really like the Pentaxes and the field curvature is better than the 14mm - so thats good.

I have no doubt I'd like any of the bunch, but at that price point, I don't want that nagging feeling at the back of my head "it looks nice, but would it look better in..."

I'm curious, why you like the 26 Nagler better than the 31 - exit pupil issues?

I know when I'm mostly dark adapted I can barely "cover" the 32mm Astrola and the 30mm isn't a problem at all in my F/5. I'll confirm next time I go to the eye doctor, but I'm guessing my fully adapted pupil is somewhere around 6.5mm.

Now if I can only talk my wife into letting me fly down to Oz to pick up that Telrad from BinTel... I'd be able to take a gander through your setup =)

[Starkler]

I used to own a 27 panoptic which I really liked.
I sold it and got a 31mm nagler and a 24mm panoptic. The 31 doesnt see much use unfortunately due to its size, weight and brightness of sky background in the presence of ANY light pollution.

The 24 panoptic I purchased because of its 'widest field in 1.25 format', so I could use my 1.25 uhc filter and for the convenience factor when swapping eyepieces ( not to be underestimated).The downside is that eye releif is rather tight compared to the pentax's I have.

For us dob owners at f5 , the 27mm panoptic is a real winner.

[mickoking]

I concur.:thumbsup:

[Lee]

I am certainly expecting something special... since my previous experience at this FL is a series 500!..... I would go for first light now if these clouds would clear off!

[Starkler]

For me it went like this.....

1: Unwrap my shiny new pentax and take a look.
2: Its nice, quite nice..... but was it really worth all that moolah ?
3: Observe for a while.
4: Try the old cheapie eyepiece again , yuk !! Im glad I got the pentax :)

[RapidEye]

Heh - Yup!

I've done this with a couple of buddies now.

I'll put a nice glob into the FOV in my Pentax 10mm XW.
Ask them if they want to see the difference between a $50 EP and a $300 EP.
Then I drop the 10mm Plossl into the scope and watch them squish their eyeball down, bump the scope every 5 seconds to keep it in the FOV, then give up after a minute because the EP has fogged up by then.
Then I'll put the Pentax back in and watch them smile :D
My personal epiphany came when I used my 14mm XW to run the Coma-Virgo Galaxy cluster in my 4.5" Dob. It was a challenging night, to say the least and I spent a LOT of time at the EP hunting for very dim fuzzies - but my eyes never got strained or tired and it was one of the most rewarding nights I've spent behind my scope! Had that been something like my 17mm or 25mm Plossl, it would have been a very different story...

[xrekcor]

I've tried a 31mm t5 nagler, and I have to say I didn't like it. It was excellent
locked onto something, but as soon as you start to scan the sky the field
curverture did my head in. Actually it made me quite wooosie. I had actually
intended to buy one, so I'm glad I got to try before I buy. How ever I did like
the 20mm t5 and I'm hoping the 30mm & 40XW are as good. I have heard
though that the 40mm XW has similar field curverture to the 31mm t5, but
dont quote me on that. But in my scope I could almost fit the whole Veil SN
in the FOV :cool: .... going to have to look at 2" filters :scared: especially if you :love: astronimiks :scared2:

So far on the whole, I prefer the XW's over the Naglers I've tried, I find them
just a lil more contrasty and hence more clarity in fine detail, you can list
everything else after that :poke:

regards,