Stratus or Hyperion? (or any other ideas...)

GazzMeister · #1 22-10-2008, 10:15 AM

Hello Everyone

I'm finally looking to upgrade from the trusty bintel plossls that I've had for a while now. I realise that you get what you pay for with most optical gadgetry but unfortunately I'm a bit broke atm and will be starting out at the mid-low end of the eyepiece scale. I've been looking at something under $200 with decent FOV and good eye relief. The Stratus seems to fit all these criteria, but I've read that the Hyperion has a bit better build quality. I know that the Hyperion is a bit over budget, but when have we ever been able to buy astro gear under budget

. I'm also interested if anyone has any experience with the Meade series 5000 plossls. The TeleVue plossls look like very good value but the FOV is a bit ordinary. I'll be using the eyepieces with an f/10 c11.

Thanks in advance for any help

Gareth

gmbfilter (Geoff) · #2 22-10-2008, 01:34 PM

Hard to go past Tele Vue

Used to have a C8. The eyepiece I used the most was TV 32 mm plossl
I also have a 35 Panoptic and a 2x powermate

Tends to ruin you for other eyepieces

qld · #3 22-10-2008, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazzMeister

Hello Everyone

I'm finally looking to upgrade from the trusty bintel plossls that I've had for a while now. I realise that you get what you pay for with most optical gadgetry but unfortunately I'm a bit broke atm and will be starting out at the mid-low end of the eyepiece scale. I've been looking at something under $200 with decent FOV and good eye relief. The Stratus seems to fit all these criteria, but I've read that the Hyperion has a bit better build quality. I know that the Hyperion is a bit over budget, but when have we ever been able to buy astro gear under budget

. I'm also interested if anyone has any experience with the Meade series 5000 plossls. The TeleVue plossls look like very good value but the FOV is a bit ordinary. I'll be using the eyepieces with an f/10 c11.

Thanks in advance for any help

Gareth

well owning all of the type of eps you have listed and having used them in a variety of scopes rangeing from 16 dob12 dob 10 dob to c8, etx,125 ,etx105, 8 mak ed80 and others i would put the hyperion ahead of the other two,however other eps i own such as tv pentax wiliams etc perform better but that is a matter of personal choice and budget.....ice in space is a reasonable place to purchase these eps from time to time but you must allways remember second hand goods are worth lower prices than new prices no matter if they were just aquired from a shop
so be patient and hold out for a good ep otherwise you will end up being a collector of eps.

BerrieK · #4 22-10-2008, 08:13 PM

I have recently upgraded to Hyperions from plossls and I am very happy with them. Quite bulky though. Check Andrews for good price. http://www.andrewscom.com.au 68deg FOV and 20mm eye relief, quite comfy.

Harpspitfire · #5 23-10-2008, 06:12 AM

i was looking for a 13mm myself, i did research all i could on the orion and Baader- i finally assumed the baader had much better QC and design- funny thing is, i bought neither- LOL, i found a stratus/hyperion clone new on Ebay for $69!!- thats the only 'clone' ive ever seen too, its unmarked from one of the factories

glenc (Glen) · #6 23-10-2008, 06:36 AM

I have both and there is not much difference.
21mm Stratus, 13mm Hyperion, 8mm Hyperion.

dannat (Daniel) · #7 23-10-2008, 08:17 AM

I also like the tv plossl, in the bigger sizes 20mm & up, in the 12mm rnage if you're on a budget consider the william optics spl, $120 and pretty sharp. The ER is also very good which is important for me. its big but not too heavy at 200g

acropolite (Phil) · #8 23-10-2008, 08:34 AM

The hyperion, I believe, has an additional thread for accessory attachment and slightly different coatings, otherwise build quality is identical.

GazzMeister · #9 23-10-2008, 09:44 AM

Thanks for all the responses guys. I just saw and ad for another clone under the Saxon brand (68degree FOV, 20mm eye relief, 8 elements, same FL), but can't seem to find any for sale anywhere

. I think i'm leaning towards the Hyperion. I've found a fair few positive reviews and the few negative reviews seem to be from people with much better trained eyes than me.

On another note does anyone know if the LVW, Stratus, and the Hyperion are parfocal? Not a big issue but nice to know if I can mix and match some kind of frankenstein set.

Gareth.

glenc (Glen) · #10 24-10-2008, 01:58 AM

My Stratus 21mm with a UHC filter is parfocal with my two Hyperions. Without a filter it is not.

Starkler (Geoff) · #11 24-10-2008, 11:22 AM

Keep an eye out for any 2nd hand vixen LVW's that pop up for sale from time to time. They are similar in general characteristics to the stratus/hyperions but quality is up a notch.

BerrieK · #12 24-10-2008, 08:36 PM

According to the Baader blurb, The Hyperion Zoom has click-stops at 8, 12, 16, 20, 24mm and remains parfocal (I do not have one). When I was researching the Hyperion range I read on another forum (http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/forums/t/26225.aspx) that the Hyperion range are parfocal but I'm not sure about the mix 'n' match frankenstein.

I believe, however, that you can get a 'parfocalizing ring' which can be used across a frankenstein set.

Don't forget to ask for the bolt that goes in your neck, though! (ha ha )

StarLane · #13 25-10-2008, 12:18 AM

If money is the issue, go the Hyperion.
They have a photo thread under the eye guard to attach a camera (with the help of an adaptor and T ring) for eyepiece projection photography, and if that's not of interest to you, the Hyperions have superior coatings compared with the Stratus, (and from my research and practical experience when I was looking to purchase one of these) better light transmission, contrast, and less flare IMO.
For the price the Hyp is a bargain, but the Vixen LVW is better.

Irish stargazer (John) · #14 25-10-2008, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarLane

If money is the issue, go the Hyperion.
They have a photo thread under the eye guard to attach a camera (with the help of an adaptor and T ring) for eyepiece projection photography, and if that's not of interest to you, the Hyperions have superior coatings compared with the Stratus, (and from my research and practical experience when I was looking to purchase one of these) better light transmission, contrast, and less flare IMO.
For the price the Hyp is a bargain, but the Vixen LVW is better.

I have 8, 13 and 21mm Hyperions and find them quite good. For high power planetary work I tend to use my super plossls which are a bit more contrasty. The only glitch with the Hyperion range is that they are not parfocal (but its only a minor thing). They are great value for money and well made.
I have just bought my first Panoptic eyepiece (27mm) and am interested to see how they compare (once the weather clears).

UniPol · #15 25-10-2008, 05:53 PM

I posted the following links a couple of years ago and which should answer a few questions regarding Baader Hyperion, Orion Stratus and Vixen LVW eyepieces :

http://www.svenwienstein.de/HTML/stratus_english.html

http://www.svenwienstein.de/HTML/hyperion_-_english_version.html

I have a set of Hyperions and found them to be good all round performers depending on the particular telescope you are using. On my long focal length refractors (f15) they are magic, sharp right to the edge of the field yet in faster telescopes say less than f8 they are not quite as sharp at the edge of the fields. The ability to couple the eyepiece directly to my camera using the M43/T-2 adaptor has been a boon for eyepiece projection. One thing I dislike is the fact that if you remove the bottom negative lens to fit a fine tuning ring or just double the focal length, fine paint particles head straight for the field lens which is very difficult to remove owing to its static nature. Unfortunately, the image plane is formed at the field lens and any dust, dirt or specks shows up clearly and this is a real nuisance when observing the planets or the moon. It's not obvious when viewing star fields of course.

BerrieK · #16 25-10-2008, 09:30 PM

A 3.5mm Hyperion was post on Ice Trade this morning for $170

Wavytone · #17 11-11-2008, 10:20 PM

http://www.burgessoptical.com/EPs/Planetary.html

JimmyH155 · #18 12-12-2008, 06:06 PM

I have a Hyperion click zoom. It is parfocal, and you just click from 12 mm through to 24 mm no worries about having to refocus. I must say, most nights it is the only EP I use

- I have got lots of plossals and 2 orthos, but rarely use them now. For wide views of the monster clusters, I use the Meade QX 26 m wide angle which came with the Lightbridge. The fact that stars look a bit fuzzy on the edge does not bother me at all. So, yes, Hyperion cant go wrong, and Meade QX 26 for cluster busting

mrsnipey · #19 18-12-2008, 01:57 PM

I agree with JimmyH155 but I find the first and last stops are not parfocal with the middle three stops. They're just slightly out. It's no biggie though. It's my favourite ep, and quite often the only one I use in a night.

Hagar (Doug) · #20 18-12-2008, 04:54 PM

I have a mixed set of Hyperions and Orion Stratus and find them very much of a muchness. The quality and optics in both are very good. They appear to be both identical ecept the Baader have a couple of threads which allow a camera connection (special Baader adapters) while the Stratus don't have these threads. All up very nice EP's that I am quite happy with and they are reasonably priced for the quality of the optics.