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Originally Posted by Starkler
To expand on what Rajah said, there are two flavours of s4000 plossls, the Japanese and the Chinese made. The Japanese ones are much superior eyepieces whilst the chinese ones are just ordinary rebranded chinese plossls of mediocre quality.
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Just to expand on what Geoff has mentioned regarding the Meade series 4000 plossls. It is somewhat complicated and treacherous ground for the uninitiated or poorly informed
There are actually 6 variants of the Meade S4000 Plossls not 2. Meade liked to call these "super" plossls. The 1st 2 variants being 5 element Masuyama design, could rightfully be called "super" plossls. Everything else was nothing more than a standard 4 element plossl.
The 1st variant is a 5 element masuyama design, made in Japan. The Masuyama design is basically a 4 element plossl with a 5th element added as a field flattener. The Takahashi LE's and Celestron Ultimas also use the same Masuyama design. They are all outstanding eyepieces, including the Meade's. This eyepiece is smoothsided with no eyecup. This is a great eyepiece and equivalent to the top grade orthos and plossls.
The 2nd variant is the same eyepiece except it has a rubber grip and eyecup. It is also of the same outstanding quality as the 1st variant.
The 3rd variant is a 4 element "standard" plossl made in Japan. These have a silver barrrel with "Japan" engraved on the barrel. This is also an excellent eyepiece but not quite as sharp as the original 5 element version.
The 4th variant is a 4 element plossl made in Taiwan. It is stamped "Taiwan". This is a fair eyepiece and in keeping with the best quality Chinese/Taiwanese plossls. (Read a lot better than what comes supplied standard with your Chinese/Taiwanese scope). It is certainly not in the class of the Japanese made eyepieces or eyepieces like the University Optics orthos or Televue plossls.
The 5th variant is a 4 element plossl made in China. A pretty average performer.
The 6th variant is the DS series 4000 also made in China. It has a plastic body. It is also a very average performer.
So there you have the history of the Meade series 4000 plossls. As you can see you need to be careful buying these eyepieces 2nd hand. As invariably they are advertised as "a Meade Series 4000 plossl". You need to clearly identify which version you are buying as the early 5 element version is outstanding, the more recent versions are pretty poor performers.
CS-John B
L.
