Zoooom!!!

A word in defense of the oft maligned zoom eyepiece. I was looking for one to use with my ST-80, wanting to keep the entire kit as grab'n'go as possible. Tried one of the less expensive brands first, and it wasn't too bad. Then I picked up one of the Vixen LV zooms, having been very satisfied with the performance of their LV line of eyepieces. I must say that I have been very impressed with the performance of this zoom! I compared it with some Elite plossls I use in my binoviewers, barlowing them to achieve the higher magnifications the zoom would provide. Very nice, indeed! To my eye, I can't really discern any difference in on axis sharpness, brightness, or contrast between the Elites and the zoom. Off axis is always a little soft on an f/5, but in the sweet spot this zoom really performs. I've heard that there may be some variations in these units, but the sample I have has very sharply revealed faint stars in the Pleiades, the Double Cluster, and the Trapezium in Orion. the Orion nebula itself looks just as bright and detailed through the zoom as through the plossls, and it performs side-by-side with them on the moon. Ergonomically I'm very satisfied with it. The field is listed as being the same as in the less expensive units, but to my eye it just looks larger at the short end of the zoom's focal length. The eye relief is just about perfect for me, and the zoom action has been very nice, not stiff at all, even when the temperature dips down into the twentys and the teens. All in all, I find it very eay to recommend this zoom to anyone who has been thinking about one, but been put off by some of the reviews they may have read. Out of the branded units it's supposed to be identical with, it is the least expensive option of them all. I'll be keeping mine for certain!
One very happy camper!

Hi Larry, sound like a winner!

In my opinion, 25 and 10-12mm Plössls plus a shorter Ortho are a better company for ST80. They combined are lighter, take less space and perform better than the zoom - I have sold mine.

Dmitri

Larry, I had the exact same reaction to the Vixen LVW 8-24mm zoom I own. It's truly wonderful.

It rapidly became my favorite planetary eyepiece, combined with, of all things, a long, cheap Orion 2x deluxe baffled barlow! My best views of Jupiter and Saturn have come with that! (Well, slight fib there, an 8mm RKE barlowed with a 3x Televue turned in a better Saturn view one evening.)

The zoom is so good that is displaced all sorts of eyepieces for planetary viewing, including Pentaxes, U.O. orthos, Konigs, etc.

One great feature is being able to dial in the magnification for the seeing conditions.

The other, unheralded, and truly impressive feature of the zoom is its ability to ZOOM in on DSOs. Go out on some transparent night, in a mid-sized dob, and start at the low power end and zoom in on anything. The effect is Star Trek like and unlike anything else one experiences in observing! The Ring Nebula expands as if you were flying into it; M13's or M22's stars come at you as if you were entering the globular for real. And the Moon? Well, you're in the LEM and you'll feel like saying "Houston, we've begun our descent to the surface!"

I'll never sell mine!

Great first name by the way! 8)