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Thanks for the comments. Bo, very generous of you too!
Sorry about my delay in replying to these comments. I have in the last few days been able to compare an LVW 8mm, a Celestron Ultima LX 8mm, a Meade series 5000 UWA 8.8mm and my TMB Type II Planetary 9mm. So far I've only been able to try them out briefly in my 8" f/4 Newtonian from home, and only on the Jewel Box as the test DSO. I'm hoping to get more comparisons done shortly with different objects and scopes, so for now just a brief description on this first test session:
Firstly, the scope was at the start collimated using a Hotech 2" laser collimator.
All these eyepieces pleased me with the image they produced. The sharpest star points were given by the LVW, the softest by the Ultima LX, but by a bee's willie. Contrast wise, the LVW had the edge, and again, not by much.
Interesting though, the edge performance of ALL four was the same in this f/4 scope - poor. I am talking about the very edge too, say the last 5 to 10% of the FOV. In practical terms, it is of no consequence to me as I don't use the very edge of the FOV, and move the scope when the object begins to drift there or when inspecting another section.
Eyerelief wise, again not much between them. If I had to nit-pick, the LVW and Ultima LX were as good as each other, the TMB and Meade only a little less, but both still comfortable to use.
While the FOV of the TMB is only some 58, 60degrees, its performance is nearly on par with the LVW! Just AWESOME considering it is 1/5 the price.
I'm keen to further try out these EPs on different scopes, objects and urban/dark sites. Might throw in a filter or two just for good measure.
As a note to the pics below, the LVW weighs 450g, Ultima LX 595g, the Meade 270g and the TMB 150g.
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