ES 1.25" 82deg eyepieces which one would you get?

[sopticals (Stephen)]

The Explore Scientific range of eyepieces, seem to be catching the attention of eyepiece fans in amateur astro circles worldwide. I have the ES 30mm 2" 82deg, and am very impressed, and as a consequence have gone on to order one of their shorter focal length, 1.25" 82deg oculars (11mm). If you were in the market for one of the ES 82deg oculars which would you get? If you already have a number of the ES range, which is your favourite, and why?

[qld]

[Go for their 100 deg range on clusters they bring out the colour of individual stars eg red yellow blue very clear in fact better than tv imhoquote=sopticals;879477]The Explore Scientific range of eyepieces, seem to be catching the attention of eyepiece fans in amateur astro circles worldwide. I have the ES 30mm 2" 82deg, and am very impressed, and as a consequence have gone on to order one of their shorter focal length, 1.25" 82deg oculars (11mm). If you were in the market for one of the ES 82deg oculars which would you get? If you already have a number of the ES range, which is your favourite, and why?[/QUOTE]

[Les Kurma]

Hi Stephen,

I opted for the 18mm.
I was thinking of the 17mm Hyperion but instead bought the 18mm ES from VTI Optics after reading about the problems regarding buying from an overseas vendor.
So far, I have used it on my 8" F/10 sct, giving a x125 magnification.
Viewed Saturn the other night and I am delighted with it!
If you are looking for a mid power ep, you cannot go wrong with this beauty and it is just $149.95.

[Gurutronic (Ernie)]

in the ES82 range I have the 4.7, 6.7, 8.8 and 11. Picking a favourite is tough as they are all good, however I would probably pick the 8.8, followed closely by the 6.7. Reasons being mainly due to their performance on the planets, which is generally what I use them on. However they are also really nice to use when splitting doubles and just have an overall nice feel to them.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Any of them but the 14mm 82 degrees and you'll be fine.

[sopticals (Stephen)]

Hi all,

thanks for the input so far. Have gone on to order the ES 24mm 82 as well. Recieved my 11mm a couple of days back. These oculars have a really nice feel to them, and so well built. Thinking of adding the 6.7 as well. With the ES line of eyepieces we seem to have a breakthrough as regards being able to afford high end oculars at a reasonable price.

[Poita (Peter)]

How good is the 4.7mm? I'm looking for something with more mag for Ha viewing of old Sol.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Pete:
I have the 6.7mm 82 that I use with an 80mm f6 and some solar film (ta!)for viewing.
Its the perfect white-light combo (IMHO) though for Ha I would think the 4.7 would be very nice indeed

[GraemeT (Graeme)]

I have the 18mm 2" ES 82deg. which I have only managed to use once, so far, but I am mightily impressed from that first light. I could not detect any peripheral distortion and the wide apparent field was a delight.
Very definitely a thumbs up!

[sopticals (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by Gurutronic

in the ES82 range I have the 4.7, 6.7, 8.8 and 11. Picking a favourite is tough as they are all good, however I would probably pick the 8.8, followed closely by the 6.7.

Thanks Gurutronic,

Aquired my other ES oculars through OPT (Cal. USA) hassle free, so went for one more. Couldnt decide whether to go for the 8.8 or 6.7, but went to the OPT online shop, and found of the two, they only had the ES 82deg 8.8mm in stock, so jumped on it before it to was available only on back order.

The ES 8.8mm will still give me sufficient image scale for luna and planetary work. Giving 205x and 340x in my 14" and 22" dobs and exit pupils of 1.7mm, 1.6mm respectively. If conditions allow, I can use my GSO 2" 2x ED barlow with this, to give 410x/640x, or can barlow my 11mm to give 328x/545x.

The viewing pleasure using these oculars as compared to my old GSO equivalents, has gone to an entirely new level. Now premium performance is reachable, without spending multiples of $1K, to put together a comprehensive set of observing oculars.

[Jeremy Parker (Jeremy)]

Buying from overseas can be highly frustrating and expensive if your purchase turn out to be defective!
US vendors will require you to foot the cost (both ways) of sending the items back to and fro.
have you read ES LLC warranty terms?
This is a portion of it,

Customers living outside of the USA, who have purchased an EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC product in the USA or Canada, your warranty is valid within the USA, however, customers returning a product from outside the USA for warranty repair/maintenance are responsible for shipping fees (customs, fees, duties, etc.) to and from our facility.


So good luck Stephen!

[Cam (Cam)]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Any of them but the 14mm 82 degrees and you'll be fine.

Why do you say that Adrian???

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by Cam

Why do you say that Adrian???

I'm convinced the optical designers or quality control professionals were either high or drunk at the design phase. The field curvature is so apparent that if you have the star at the center of your eyepiece in focus, only the inner 60 degrees is in focus. The outer 22 degrees are soft and progressively get worst.

But, you need to remember that I only paid $99 for it.

Happily the 100 degree 14mm is flat nearly completely to the edge. It did cost over 3 times more though.

[Cam (Cam)]

I have 14mm 82 degree. Its my favourite eyepiece. I havent noticed the things you are mentioning. Maybe I got lucky. I'll pay more attention to the edge of FOV next time I get out.

[Richard Gamble (Richard Gamble)]

Get the 24mm , the 11mm and the 6.7.
They are great eyepieces matching or exceeding the performance of the tv pan optics and the Delos IMHO.

[MattT]

Not needing long eye relief makes selection so much easier. I have gone for ES 4.7 6.7 8.8 11 in the 82* series and 16 20 and 28 in the 68* series. My favourite is the 6.7 followed by the 11mm in the 82* range. Use them in my f8 150mm refractor and sometimes in the 8" f5 reflector.
Matt