Which eyepiece to fill the void?

[Wilso]

Hi all,

Looking for an approx 17-18mm eye piece to fill a hole in my eyepiece collection but can't decide which one?
Would like to use it in all my refractors f4.5, f5.3 & f8 and needs to be 70-85 deg field of view and a 31.7mm barrel. (Keeping it small in stature for my Borg scope also)
As you can see in my photo I don't mind mixing and matching from Vixen, Taks and Televue eye pieces.
Would also prefer sharp to the edge in all my scopes if possible ?
Have also been leaning towards the Nikon Nav sw 17.5 but not too sure if this would be a good match or not.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Cheers.

[Wavytone]

31.4mm barrel, the field of view and focal length you suggest do not equate.

You could for example buy a Vixen SSW 14mm, this is suited to refractors and gives the full field of view available with 82 degree AFoV. A longer focal length means narrower field of view - simple physics. The SSW is also a small eyepiece yet has long eye relief.

Alternatively you could have an LVW 17mm, 65 degree FoV or similar from ES.

Then the Televue stuff but they're oriented towards newtonians,not refractors.

[astro744]

Tele Vue 19mm Panoptic with 68 deg. apparent field, 13mm eye relief.
Tele Vue 17.3mm Delos with 72 deg. apparent field, 20mm eye relief.
Tele Vue 16mm Type 5 Nagler with 82 deg. apparent field, 10mm eye relief.

Also Tele Vue 18.2mm DeLite but only 62 deg. apparent field, 20mm eye relief. Discontinued now is the Tele Vue 18mm Radian with 60 deg. apparent field and 20mm eye relief. It is a very nice eyepiece and the 20mm eye relief makes it comfortable even without glasses.

I use 19 Pan, 16 Nagler & 18 Radian in refractors, Newtonians, SCTs & finders and they work well in either type and at different focal length instruments. (Tele Vue make refractors too so you would expect them to work there).

I have not used the Delos or DeLite or other brands in this focal length so cannot comment on them.

Do you prefer longer eye relief or are you Ok with say 10 to 13mm? The 19 Panoptic is one sweet eyepiece as the whole field can be taken in at once and yet still appears wide. The 16 T5 Nagler is also very nice but you have to look around a bit to take in the whole field. Both are very well corrected.

Whatever you choose, enjoy!

[N1]

I'll submit the ES 68°16 to the mix. Meets your criteria on paper (well just in terms of AFOV), great transmission and image quality, decent performance in fast scopes - all in a small form factor. This will definitely not look out of place even on the Borg.

Yeah that Borg...:thumbsup:

[Wilso]

Thanks guys for the input!

You've given me a few extra eyepieces and options to research into before I make my final decision. :thanx:

Cheers.

[castor]

Meade 18mm UWA, 82 degree AFOV, 13mm eyerelief. One of the most cost-effective ultra wides ever made.

Baader Morpheus 17.5mm, 76 degree AFOV, 19mm eyerelief.

[Wavytone]

I'd question whether the Meade 18mm is really 82 degrees AFoV. Several others mentioned also take the full 1.25" barrel with shorter focal lengths.

[Wilso]

I think you're right Wavy and the others suggesting the shorter focal lengths
and the wider afov would be a better fit . I'll keep comparing

:thumbsup:

[MortonH]

I'd go 19mm Panoptic or 13mm Nagler.

The ES68 16mm is also pretty good.