First Light 17 Ethos

[barx1963]

I've had a few first light reports recently but this is a really nice one. Have added a 17mm Ethos to my collection recently. Tonight is its first crack, managed about an hour before the moon comes up.

Really nice piece of glass. Had a look at the Jewell Box. Sweet view, pin sharp stars, colours are really nice and that FOV!!!:eyepop:
Over 1 degree with a 17mm at f5, just awesome. Moved over to M42. Could make out E and F stars in the Trapezium while able to fit all of M42 and M43 in the middle half of the field.

Cruised around the Tarantula, Cent A, Omega C and the usual suspects to gasps of astonishment. This may well replace the 24 Pan as my fav EP.

Cannot wait to try it in some Galaxy fileds in Leo and Virgo at Snake Valley in a fortnight.

Anyways, I am a happy man, if you are looking for premium glass and you can afford the $$$, these Ethos beasts are the shizzle!

Malcolm

[mozzie]

these ethos sound wonderful all reports have been so positive !!!!!iv'e a 17 nagler which is several years old and gives fantastic views,just can't justify buying a 17 ethos :(:(
and the wife would kill me :lol::lol:

[GrahamL]

well they are the same colour and a similar size mozzie
and you could always sell that 7 year old worn out nagler mate :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[barx1963]

I would love to do a comparison of a Nagler and Ethos of the same FL. The Ethos line is now fairly affordable with the 17mm at about $770. When the 13mm first came out they were nearly $1k!
With the 17 Nag at about $430, the Ethos is still a substantial bit more but they are both expensive, so my logic was in for a penny!
And if I had got the Nag, I would have looked through the Ethos one of these days at a camp and gone and bought one anyways!! So this way I have saved $430!!:P

Malcolm

[barx1963]

Had my first "Proper" session with the 17mm. Hunting down some of the faint fuzzies in Leo. What a nice experience. Things are just so crisp with a nice wide field, frankly I barely touched my other EPs, the 24mm Pan not at all and just used the 13mm nag if I felt I needed a touch more power, the rest of the time cruised around with the 17mm.

Love it!:D:D

[Rick Petrie]

Yep...they're one nice piece of glass Malcolm. Love mine too, and usable in nearly every type of scope.:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Agreed Rick, never thought the day would come that the old 24mm would be relegated, but there you are. But I would still stand by my opinion that the 24 Pan is the best value EP on the market!

[bytor666]

All you need now is the 21E! :eyepop::D

[barx1963]

Yes I have considered it but the Ethos line is setup in 2 groups with the 6/10/17 mm and the 8/13/21mm groups. Each EP in each groups gives a x3 increase in real FOV against the one below. As I have the 10 and 17 the next logical one is the 6mm. While this EP would give 250x which is pushing it in a 12" dob, its would still get some use.

Malcolm