Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Pensack
My field experience with the SSWs are that they are fairly sharp, have good contrast, and are nice and bright (good polish and transmission).
This was in a 12.5" f/5 dob WITH Paracorr.
They all however, and it's worse the longer the focal length, have significant spherical aberration of the exit pupil, on a par with the TeleVue Nagler Type 1s back in the '80s.
What that means is that holding the eye exactly in place is required to prevent kidney bean shadows in the field, and eye placement is significantly more finicky than many other eyepieces.
Adjusting the eyecup perfectly is a requirement to avoid this.
Many people may feel that this is justified by the optical characteristics.
I don't know how they are priced in Oz, but here in the States they are more expensive than the TeleVue Nagler Type 6 eyepieces, which have no SAEP and are not particularly sensitive to eye placement.
|
Hi Don,
I remember reading your impressions of the SSW's a while back. It put me off them a bit (they weren't available in Oz at the time and the US price being higher than the Naglers was a deal-breaker). I almost certainly wouldn't have bought one without trying it first. The interesting thing is that I found no issue whatsoever with eye placement - it was very comfortable and easy to use (I don't wear glasses).
The regular price for the SSW's in Oz is $410, compared to $479 for a Nagler T6. There was a discount on the price at the star party, and I also saved on the shipping cost by picking it up there, so I got a good deal.