[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Hi Peter
From my experience I think it depends on the eyepiece.:.

Hi Suzy,

I think some of your following comments, which I have quoted, indicate that the individual observers physiology has a lot to do with things as well as the eyepiece itself

Originally Posted by Suzy

With the Nagler type 1, I found eye placement very difficult each time I tried it out. I hear kidney beaning was particularly inherent in this eyepiece tho. Yet for the owner, it's not an issue.

Could not agree more. I have problems with blackouts on a a lot of the type 1 Naglers and the 16mm T2 Nagler. I find the 35mm Panoptic (which others have no issues with) absolutely horrendous.

Originally Posted by Suzy

The Nagler 17mm (type6 I think), I had no problem.

One of the easiest eyepieces to use from a comfort viewpoint that I have used, outside my Pentax XW's. My 17mm Nagler T4 sees a lot of focuser time, as it hits the sweetspot in the 18" for a lot of DSO's. It does need a paracorr to give a good view across the entire FOV in a fast newtonian but works beautifully when combined with a paracorr. As does the 22mm Nagler T4.

Originally Posted by Suzy

The Pentax 10mmXW (a workhorse) I have no problem with eye placement (If I did in the beginning, I can't remember)..

Never had a problem with this one either.

Originally Posted by Suzy

Yet I find the 7mm XW trickier. It doesn't get a whole lot of use so perhaps that's why and I do notice if I use it for a long session I'm fine with it..

Here's where it comes down to the individual user. This is my absolute favourite high power eyepiece for lunar/planetary in both my 18" (300X) and my 14" (230X) and I have never experienced a blackout or kidney bean with it, and I have owned it for 10 years

Originally Posted by Suzy

And here's the weirdest one of the whole lot... The Denkenmeir 14mm was really bad on my first use. Someone else got theirs the same time as me and sent me a pm of how hard the eye placement was on the first use. A message from him the next day told me it wasn't a problem anymore & had now become his favorite ep. Exactly the same thing happened to me- the second night I didn't know what all the fuss was about- eye to eyepiece and off I went straight away, just like him.

I know you spent your very hard earned dollars on the 14mm Denkmeier based on my recommendation, a year or more ago. Me recommending the 14mm Denk was pretty funny in itself on the basis that I own a 12mm UO HD ortho, 12mm Nagler T4, a 13mm ETHOS, a 14mm Pentax XW and don't own a 14mm Denk I also know that you initially had some reservations with the 14mm Denk. Am I correct in assuming that on the basis you still own and use the 14mm Denk, you are happy with it? While I don't own the 14mm Denk I rate it as optically the best eyepiece around this focal length outside the 12.5mm Docter and the 12mm Nikon NAV HW which are a serious amount of coin, and a major waste of $$$$ on my old burned out retinas.

Originally Posted by Suzy

Dare I say, eye placement is just a matter of getting used to I think. .

Of equal importance to eye placement is the ability to keep your head/eye still while you observe. If you move your head around like "Noddy the Clown" you will have a lot of difficulty with a lot of eyepieces. The ability to "find" the exit pupil and then hold your head still is of critical importance.

Cheers,
John B