WOW has it really been over two years since I bought this ep and never got back with my review, eeeek!
Well I bought the XW10mm and I love this ep so much that I will never ever part with it. Excellent contrast, pin point gorgeously rounded stars, handles dew well- until it's time to really quit when the mirror has given up! Very comfortable and I can see the entire field stop without pushing my eye into it. This is my most used (and treasured!) ep.
I loved it so much, that I also bought the XW 7mm
(in favour of the 5mm as the thread is titled). Figuring it will get more use on most nights than a 5mm will. To which end is why I ended up getting the 10mm in the first place, so I could barlow down.
My journey began again a couple of months ago into looking for a 5mm. I hate fussing with barlows to barlow down my XW10mm. Yet again, the budget was under $200.
Guess what again.. no luck!
I was prepared to make compromises as I don't see this focal length getting a whole lot of use. My choices were narrowed down to the Baader Hyperion 5mm and the Explore Scientific 4.7mm.
My minimum requirement was nothing under 15mm eye relief as the ES eyepieces are advertised as. However after hearing that the true eye relief is more like 12mm, I decided to give it a wide berth.
Then, Astro Pete kindly loaned me a Baader Hyperion 5mm to try. Three people at my scope (including me) saw horrid vignetting.
That meant that the 68 deg fov was whole lot lot smaller that you could see stuff- more like 55 deg.
On the upside, the middle of the fov was nice and black and sharp. I would have tolerated some poor performance on the edge, but seeing rings was a whole other distracting obstacle.
Possibly, a new user without prior experience to premiums would hold this ep in high regard. Perhaps I'm spoilt...
Astro Pete expected me to return it knowing I'm an XW fan, so I walked back in with tail between my legs
. Note to self, once you get on the premium bandwagon, there's no turning back.
Hmmm... so it came back to opening up my wallet for $360 for another XW5mm plus $40 shipping = $400. Eeeeek! So I'm back to shutting up and putting up with fiddling with barlows & the accompanying 2" adaptor I have to change for it. Grrrrr.