Vixen Eyepieces?

I'm a newbie and just bought a Vixen 103 refractor. The Vixen LVW wide eyepieces are on sale and cost about 1/2 of what a Pentax does. Can anyone tell me about these Vixens? /thanks Rick

I can't comment directly, but here is a link to a detailed review comparing the baader hyperion and orion stratus line to the vixen lvw, in several focal lengths; apparently the baader and orion were modeled on the vixen; overall, the reviewer gives a slight edge to the vixen eyepieces.

--george

http://www.svenwienstein.de/HTML/hyperion_-_english_version.html

Vixen LVW (not to be confused with the lanthanum LV eyepieces) are very, very good eyepieces. Televue Panopics aren't much better and more expensive. I know since I have a wide range of eyepieces - LVWs, Pentax XLs, UO Konigs, Takahashi LEs, Televue Panoptics & Naglers included. In fact, I like my LVW 13mm much more than my Nagler T4 12mm - the LVW has almost none of the backout issues that my 12 Nagler gives me. For me, the LVWs are the most comfortable eyepieces I have ever used.

If you get LVWs, I don't think you'll be dissappointed. The only minus they have is they are, like many 2" eyepieces, somewhat heavy - especially the shorter focal length ones. That may be an issue for a small refractor on some types of mounts.

K. Micheal M.

IIRC, it's been reported that there is somewhat more lateral color than usual in the Vixen wide-field line but overall they are very fine eyepieces and are clearly bargains at the current wholesale prices.

Dave Mitsky