Panoptic or not?

I guess I want a 19mm Panoptic without the price tag. Has anyone made a direct comparison between that and maybe a 19mm Axiom or 18mm Meade Superwide, and how do these compare with the Seibert lines or with the even cheaper 20mm wide angle eyepieces I saw at Apogee? I have read the reviews on Excelsis, but has anyone gotten all these together at the same time for a review? Two of my scopes are f5, but the main scope this would be for is an f9.6. Would I need as premium an eyepiece with the longer focal length? Do I really want to wait around until I can afford the Panoptic? Would I loose anything looking for something with longer eye relief?

Thanks,
Charlie

I have a Gary Russell 19mm Konig ep (1.25", tho he also makes a 2" model). I'm quite pleased with it. I've compared it head-to-head with the 19 Pan. The Russell's not as good, but it's 1/5 the price and delivers 70% of the performance. I use it in an f6 scope. There's some internal reflection and ghosting on bright objects (mag. 0 or better), but it's just fine for DSO, and the ghosting problems vanish if it's barlowed (yielding f12). Hope that helps.


Jeff

Hi Charlie,

Your comment on eye relief triggered my response. I had a 19mm Panoptic and it was(!) probably the best DSO eyepiece I ever owned. However, the eye relief for an eyeglass wearer was just too bothersome. I traded it for an 18mm Radian and gave away very little performance and gained perfect eye relief. Both are still expensive units.

Good Luck, Pete