[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi troypiggo,

I believe I see where you are coming from, but I don't see just how relevant the "wide field view" is when if your scope is a 8" f/15 mak and another's is an 8" f/4. Using the same EP will produce very different results.

I love my 17.5" f/4.5 dobbie, and I mainly use a cheapie 68* EP. My favourite wide view scope, though, is my new 8" f/4 newt. coupled with a 30 year old 28mm RKE eyepiece with its modest 50* FOV. I can interchange these two eyepieces, but they work very differently in each scope.

Would a more expensive Wide Field of View eyepiece make a difference to my visual experience? Maybe. But it adds complications to short f/ratio scopes.

That's all I'm getting at- it is a function of EP properties vs. scope and its ratio. I find it hard to make a valid judgement on the value of what would be an actual field size.

To that I also would add that I wouldn't go near an 82* or wider eyepiece. I find them too difficult to use visually. I have human eyes, not those of a falcon, so I'll distinctly limit myself to my physiological limits, not my pocket's.

Should make for even more interesting discussion.

Mental.