I am sure this has been discussed before, but I have not seen much on the quality of these eyepieces. If you go to ebay, you see unending adds for these eyepieces in many forms to include wide angle. Most of them appear to be plossls. They are super cheap so I doubt they are much account. Maybe they work OK in long focal length telescopes? Any opinions? Seems like a cheap alternative for binoviewers.
Knight Owl Eyepieces
Started by Charles Geiger, 05/11/2006 12:36AM
Posted 05/11/2006 12:36AM
Opening Post
Posted 05/11/2006 01:45AM
#1
Charles,
Some of their eyepieces are made by GSO and some of the focal lengths are reported to be fairly good while others are not. In general, the longer the focal length of your scope, the better for some of these eyepieces.
I think the best unit they sell is not an eyepiece; it's their 2" barlow. I've got one and I've encouraged others to buy it and they've reported excellent results with it in this forum. The ratings of this barlow are also very high on excelsis.com
Some of their larger 2" units in their ultrawide or very wide offerings appear to be the same as the burgess units and the 36mm and 32mm units may be bargains.
I would expect their plossl units to behave as generic plossls that other companies may brand as their own and probably sell for more.
Some of their eyepieces are made by GSO and some of the focal lengths are reported to be fairly good while others are not. In general, the longer the focal length of your scope, the better for some of these eyepieces.
I think the best unit they sell is not an eyepiece; it's their 2" barlow. I've got one and I've encouraged others to buy it and they've reported excellent results with it in this forum. The ratings of this barlow are also very high on excelsis.com
Some of their larger 2" units in their ultrawide or very wide offerings appear to be the same as the burgess units and the 36mm and 32mm units may be bargains.
I would expect their plossl units to behave as generic plossls that other companies may brand as their own and probably sell for more.
Posted 05/11/2006 01:58AM
#2
Charles:
You're right - there's not a lot of info out there on these eyepieces. Here's my experience:
I bought a pair of the 17mm SWAs for use in my binoviewer. I'm using a C-14 at f/11, so keep that in mind. If you've got a fast Newt, YMMV. The 17mm KOs were absolutely awesome! There is a little bit of sharpness fall off in the outer 10% of the field, but it's not nearly as bad as say a 30mm 1rpd. I have an older Meade 18mm SWA that I used to compare a "mono" view with. The 17mm Knight Owl SWA compares very favorably to the Meade 18mm SWA. There might be a wee bit of better contrast in the Meade, but otherwise I could not discern a great deal of difference. Limiting magnitudes were equal. Sharpness across the field was equal. Omega Centauri in the binoviewer with the 17mm SWAs blew my mind. M27 was just as impressive.
I've been in the hobby for 40 years and have looked through a lot of EPs and scopes. I have 4 Naglers - a 12mm T4, a 16mm T2, a 20mm T5, and a 31mm T5. Is the 17mm KO as good as a Nagler? No way. But I will say that looking though a binoviewer equipped with a pair of the 17mm KOs, is just about as awe-inspiring as the one-eyed view through the 20mm Nagler. It's the effect of the binoviewer no doubt, but I can say that these KOs work well with a C-14.
I'm sure this note will draw the ire of a few fellow Nagler owners. For the price, these KOs are certainly worth a try, especially if you have a longer FL scope. Good luck! - Chuck
You're right - there's not a lot of info out there on these eyepieces. Here's my experience:
I bought a pair of the 17mm SWAs for use in my binoviewer. I'm using a C-14 at f/11, so keep that in mind. If you've got a fast Newt, YMMV. The 17mm KOs were absolutely awesome! There is a little bit of sharpness fall off in the outer 10% of the field, but it's not nearly as bad as say a 30mm 1rpd. I have an older Meade 18mm SWA that I used to compare a "mono" view with. The 17mm Knight Owl SWA compares very favorably to the Meade 18mm SWA. There might be a wee bit of better contrast in the Meade, but otherwise I could not discern a great deal of difference. Limiting magnitudes were equal. Sharpness across the field was equal. Omega Centauri in the binoviewer with the 17mm SWAs blew my mind. M27 was just as impressive.
I've been in the hobby for 40 years and have looked through a lot of EPs and scopes. I have 4 Naglers - a 12mm T4, a 16mm T2, a 20mm T5, and a 31mm T5. Is the 17mm KO as good as a Nagler? No way. But I will say that looking though a binoviewer equipped with a pair of the 17mm KOs, is just about as awe-inspiring as the one-eyed view through the 20mm Nagler. It's the effect of the binoviewer no doubt, but I can say that these KOs work well with a C-14.
I'm sure this note will draw the ire of a few fellow Nagler owners. For the price, these KOs are certainly worth a try, especially if you have a longer FL scope. Good luck! - Chuck
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