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Originally Posted by Rodstar
Hi John, thanks for your careful analysis of my EP situation.  I am aware of the various issues you raise, and have contemplated enlarging my Ethoi collection. Alas, I would prefer to spend my money on other things at this stage.
My interest in the Delos is not driven by what other EPs I may have in a similar focal length or TFOV, but rather the more intangible notion of "comfort". Part of this may be eye relief, but there can be other more subjective issues at play.
I adored my 22mm Panoptic and regret selling it. Notwithstanding its slightly inferior performance at edge of field, and narrower field of view (68 degrees) it was, for reasons which are perhaps a little hard to pin down, the most comfortable EP I have ever had. When I had it, it spent more time in the focuser of the Mary Rose than any other EP.
With my current line up, the 20mm Nagler plus Paracorr is my default observing choice. This renders an effective focal length of 17mm. While I love the 20mm Nagler, it does have fairly tight eye relief, which means that it is not optimally comfortable, and when glasses wearers share the views with me through the Mary Rose, it is definitely far from ideal for them.
I confirm that the 13 Ethos is not useful more often than not. The seeing in my area does not support 200x all that often. Having something in the 17mm area is a logical slot for me for times when the seeing is just not quite up to scratch for the 13E.
I am interested to know how the 17.3mm Delos may perform as an alternative. It might just be near dang perfect, for a pretty reasonable price that even SWMBO (aka the Minister for Finance) cannot argue with.
I am particularly interested to know how it performs without a Paracorr. If coma is an issue, then I will not be purchasing one.  |
Hi Rod,
I understand exactly where you are coming from and figured seeing issues was the likely problem with your 13mm ETHOS.
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I am interested to know how the 17.3mm Delos may perform as an alternative. It might just be near dang perfect, for a pretty reasonable price that even SWMBO (aka the Minister for Finance) cannot argue with.
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It might not be also. Read on
I know you had issues using my Pentax XW's with regard to eye placement and blackouts. This is a problem experienced by about 10% of users who don't wear eye glasses with the Pentax XW's, due to the long eye relief of the eyepiece and the fact that the eye guard when adjusted for an eye glass wearer is automatically then not properly adjusted for a non eye glass wearer.
I have read several reports on Cloudy Nights from people who have had both the 10mm Pentax XW and the 10mm Delos. Looking at the opinions which I believe were objective, some people have decided to keep the 10mm Delos while others have gone with the 10mm Pentax based on the fact their performance was equal, but the 10mm Pentax XW was easier to use and hold the exit pupil than the DELOS. Based on your past experience with the Pentax XW's and the user feedback, you
"may" find the DELOS difficult to use compared to other eyepieces having slightly shorter eye relief.
I can only suggest you try before you buy, if at all possible.
Cheers,
John B