Hi Hemi,
I could find it again on Ebay.com.au but they show up at ebay.com.
They all look like the same eyepiece. I don't for a fact but I am confident there is only one factory and many resellers.
Here is one link:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...e+TMB&_sacat=0
The one I have is the 7mm. I have 2 more I bought at the same time that have not yet arrived. This is my first dealing with Aliexpress. I am more confident in Ebay.
I see there is a 7.5, 8 and 9mm as well. Plus a hood that extends the magnification of each X3. I didn't see those on Aliexpress.
I think I ordered the 3, 5 and 7. On Aliexpress most of the vendors do not have the full range and and don't anything above around 5mm.
As far as ultimate planet/double star eyepiece I have limited experience.
What I have is:
Edmunds RKE 8mm 15mm and 28mm. These rate highly in planetary shootouts, in fact did the best out of some very high end eyepieces and they are cheap. There is an article on Cloudy Nights where RKE's beat out everything else including Zeiss Abbes. Mine seem good, very clear. Small field of view though.
Fujiyama 18mm Ortho. This is brand new so I haven't looked through it yet but comes with a strong recommendation from the supplier.
University Optics 12mm Ortho. This gives pleasing views. Again a bit on the narrow side like all these types eyepieces - something in the low 40 degree area.
University Optics 4.6mm - ouch, mainly see defects in my eyes! These eyepieces also show lousy eye relief so you have to get your eye right up to them and keep it very still. Pinhole view.
The TMB Planetary 11 is very comfortable, very bright, very sharp and very low chromatic aberration and a comfortable 58 degree view. Also very cheap eyepiece.
3.5mm Nagler T6. 82 degree field of view is hard to beat and very addictive. I use this one when the seeing is steady. Very nice but it does requrie steady seeing.
9mm Nagler T1 -lousy eyecup (I have ordered some nice looking wing eyecups off ebay). Great views. I used to have the 9mm T6 Nagler. Not sure the views were any better (many years apart) but the ergonomics were. I see detail through this eyepiece I may not in others. Best view of Jupiter was many years ago through a TakFS152 and 9mm Nagler at 2am and very steady seeing.
9mm Morpheus - lovely view, very easy to see the view, very little blackout (the weak spot of the Naglers) and more forgiving of eye position. Very sharp, clear and detailed view. There is a 6.5 and 4.5 Morpheus but I decided (at this stage) to simply use a barlow on the 9 or the 12.5 I have. But this is a stunning eyepiece.
Pentax 7mm XW its on the way to me and will be tested next clear night. the 7 and 10mm XW Pentax topped the list of 10 all time favourite eyepieces thread on Cloudy Nights. Many responded. So I want to see what all the fuss is about. 10mm and below seems to be the specialty of these eyepieces.
TMB Planetary monocentric. I got one or two of these when they first came out about 12 years ago. Sharp etc but I don't like these tiny pinhole views. The FOV is just too small and feels claustrophobic. No need these days as eyepieces have evolved.
13mm Ethos. This was the first in the Ethos line. A beautiful eyepiece but huge and heavy and expensive. Got an amazing view of M42 in my TEC180FL at my dark site one time. I am sure the short focal length versions would be good but now you are looking through a lot more layers of glass so ultimate performance may be lacking. Others should comment here as I am no expert on Ethos, Delos or Delites but they review really well. Delite and Delos around 6mm or so seem to get a lot of recommendations on Cloudy Nights. 6 and 8m Delos comes up a lot in threads.
10mm 85 degree Masuyama. I got the best views from this compared to 9mm Nagler. The Nagler is better corrected all the way out to the edge but the Masuyama central 60% is just sublime. Its subtle but its a more pleasing view. More natural, easy to see, clear, detailed, no flaring - lovely. Eye relief for me without glasses was fine. I am interested in adding either the 26 or 32mm Masuyama at some point. They only have 5 lenses compared to the modern more complex eyepieces which have 9 or more. Each layer of glass takes something away no matter how slight.
Available now for reasonable prices are Baader Classic Orthos ($139.95) - 52degree, Fujiyama Orthos ($149.95) 42 degree view (supposed to be better than the Baaders but 42 degrees isn't easy to live with), these TMB Planetary 11.
Other high end are Takahashi Abbe, TOE, Pentax XW but now prices are much higher. Pentax XW are around $500, Tak Abbe and TOE not 100% sure but I imagine $300-400.
Nagler 3-6mm zoom often is recommended. I had one for a while years ago and it was nice. I have a cheap SvBony 8-24mm zoom and its good (it goes out of focus when you zoom though). The Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom though gets constant good feedback ($389.95 or so).
That's about all I know. You can google best planetary eyepieces and I am sure there would be many threads on Cloudy Nights eyepieces forum about this.
Greg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi
Hey Greg,
Thanks for starting all these EP threads, I’ve been enjoying them immensely. Lots of great info coming out as well.
I had a couple of questions
1. There seems to be a lot of clones/knock off tmb’s on AliE and eBay, prices range from $30 to $70, is there any way of knowing or supplier that you’re getting the right one? Was after a pair of 9mm for binoviewing. In a small frac.
2. What would be your ultimate planetary/ double star ep?
Cheers
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