Meade 4000 8mm-24mm Zoom Eyepiece?

[EzyStyles]

Was wondering if anyone have used one of these before? how good are they? field of view, eye relief, contrast etc? Might consider to get myself one but before i do, i'll ask :)

Thanks

[Starkler]

It seems that the 8-24 zoom is a generic Chinese product sold under a few different names. I have heard that as the focal length increases, the afov decreases to become quite small at the long end.

[casstony]

I have the Vixen 8-24 zoom and I really like the convenience of this eyepiece. The images look quite respectable to me at f/10 and f/6.3 but I don't know how it would perform at f/4. I use a 32mm plossl to get a wider low power field as the zoom is only 40 degrees at 24mm, 60 degrees at 8mm. The only other eyepiece I use regularly is a 17mm Vixen LVW.

If you search the net you'll find reviews done by qualified reviewers and you can find user reviews at http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/catalog.php?categoryid=3

Hope that helps,
Tony

[acropolite]

I have a 7-21 that I bought from Ebay. It sells for $188 in Oz and seems OK, I haven't had the chance to properly test it yet. I bought it mainly for terrestrail use. The eye relief is good but eye placement is a little sensitive. When I get a chance to test I will report back.

[ving]

there is a good review on cloudy night on zoom EP :)
go check it out.
I have been unsure as to if i should buy one... but i am thinking of staying with my fix FL EPs :)

[Lester]

I am happy with my Meade 4000 8-24mm eyepiece, but also I haven't looked through many other eyepieces to compare image quality.

The convenience of the zoom is its big plus instead of having to change eyepieces repeatedly.

[EzyStyles]

That was one of the reason why I wanted a zoom eyepiece. without changing eyepieces constantly. Now I got myself one, it is good for my purpose. Although at 24mm the FOV becomes 40 degrees and that you have to refocus when changing zoom but still, it does the trick ;)

[janoskiss]

I don't know what the world is coming to! All these lazy astronomers and their zoom eyepieces. :P

You need one of them rotateable microscope head type deals attached to the focuser with room for 4 or 5 eyepieces.