Meade 24mm 5000 SWA vs 24mm Panoptic for DSOs

[Dobman]

Quick question. Does anyone have any views on the Meade 24mm 1.25" series 5000 SW for use on dso's in a 12" f5 dob and how does it compare to a 24mm Pan? I want a wide TFOV clear most of the way to the edge

[janoskiss]

The 22mm Vixen LVW has something special. It beats everything else on edge performance in f5 Newtonians, including the Panoptics. It seems to even clean up the coma!

[Dobman]

Thanks Janoskiss 4 the reply. What AFOV does the pentax have?,where do you get them ? and how much?

[janoskiss]

I was referring to Vixen EP not Pentax. ;) MyAstroshop has them for excellent prices. From memory, the LVW will cost a few dollars less than the Meade SWA, but I bet that it is a superior EP. Though I have not tried the SWA.

The Meade is a Chinese made product; the Vixen is Japanese, so I'd expect better QC from them. 65 degree field of view. You cannot tell the diff from the 68 degrees of the Panoptic.

[Dan31415]

Janos, you must have shares in Vixen :poke:;) :P

[iceman]

I haven't used the 24mm Meade SWA, but I have used the 24mm Pano at SPSP the other week.. I compared it to a 22mm Pano and a 22mm Nagler, and in my opinion, the 24mm was streaks ahead of the 22mm pano and I could see no discernible difference to the 22mm Nagler.

So the 24mm Pano is worth the money, and it's nice, small and light (1.25" barrel). I haven't compared it to a 22mm Vixen LVW yet.

In my 10" f/5 dob, stars were sharp to about 90-95%.

[janoskiss]

Don't own any Vixen EPs, Dan. :P I was just very impressed with Danielsun's 22mm LVW at the last Snake Valley camp, that's all.

[Starkler]

I own a 24mm panoptic and its a nice eyepiece, except I do notice the shorter eye relief compared to my Pentax's. It probably wouldnt bother most people.

I was chasing a 2nd hand one for ages, but they are rarely sold and when they pop up on astromart, they go VERY quickly.

[dhumpie]

I have a 24.5mm Meade SWA 4000 series (Japan) from their first run and it is a brilliant ep for the money I spent on it (got it second hand off Astromart). But there is some softening of the field towards the edges in my f/5 scopes....

Darren

[ausastronomer]

Simon,

If you are looking for a 1.25" barrelled 20mm to 25mm focal length eyepieces the two best options IMO are the 21mm Denkmeier WA eyepiece (http://denkmeier.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.displ ay&category_ID=2) available from Daniel at Frontier Optics (www.frontieroptics.com) or direct from Denkmeier in the USA, or the 22mm Vixen LVW available from Steve Massey at My Astro Shop (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-084). Both of these will cost you about $330 to $340, they are premium quality eyepieces in every respect. They both have 20mm of eye-relief and a 65 deg AFOV, with excellent sharpness to the EOF in fast scopes. I had never seen or heard of the 21mm Denkmeier until recently when I used one at Coonabarabran. It impressed me greatly, to the extent I have ordered the 21mm Denkmeier for myself after using it at Coonabarabran. Note that I already own a 20mm Pentax XW. The 22mm Vixen LVW is the same quality optically as the 21mm Denkmeier but is twice the size and weight. The 24mm Panoptic is very nice but a little short on eye-relief IMO. It is over $100 more expensive than the 21mm Denk or 22m Vixen and no better optically, if it's even as good. The Meade SWA series don't row my boat. They are not at their best in F5 scopes and there are many better options for similar money if you own an F5 scope.

CS-John B

[Starkler]

One thing in favour of the 24mm panoptic is that it will give the widest field available in 1.25" format, which the 22LVW or Denk wont quite do.

[ausastronomer]

Geoff,

Using a 10"/F5 scope as the example, the 24mm Pano has a TFOV of 1.3 degrees @ 52X and the 22mm Vixen LVW has a TFOV of 1.15 degrees @ 57X. Offsetting the TFOV advantage of the Pano is the contrast reduction resulting from a slightly lower magnification.

Of the several thousand extended objects in the sky that you might view with an eyepiece of this focal length, their would be about 1/2 a dozen that will fit in the field of view of the 24mm pano and not in the FOV of the other two. If you want a larger TFOV to view extended objects buy a 2" 30mm to 35mm eyepiece. Alternatively move the telescope a TAD.

An immaterial point IMO and certainly not worth $100.

CS-John B

[Starkler]

In the context of the OP's scope you are right. Im buying a travel scope that has a 1.25" focuser only so I wont be selling my 24 panoptic to replace it :shrug:

[Dave47tuc]

Geez my poor old 22 mm Panoptic. :poke: Gets beaten up left and right. :poke:
Yet after more than then a few years under the stars and looked through a few eyepieces I see the 22 mm as one of the best out there. My eyes must be different than most. CN forums show the 22 rated as one of the best also. And most eyepiece ratings have it around 9/10 or better. No doubt the LVW is super and the 24 mm Pano but the 22 pano is not as bad as some may say. IMO.:)

[ausastronomer]

Dave,

No the 22mm Pano is a great eyepiece, simple fact is they have made better ones since it was 1st introduced. Same in many other areas of astronomical equipment.

CS-John B