Although my EP collection is rounding out quite nicely these days, the one focal length that I am sorely missing is a good, sharp, 10mm EP with good light throughput. My current 10mm EP is a simple 4-element plossl which has good throughput, but not the best contrast/sharpness/eye-relief/fov.
I really would like something with a decent fov and better eye-relief, but since my primary deepsky scope is an 8" newtonian, light-throughput is very important to me, so Televues are out of the question.
I recently borrowed another observer's Pentax XL 10mm, which had fantastic light throughput, and a nice fov. The Pentax is a bit more than I wish to spend at the moment. So I am basically looking for something with a similar FOV, that is sharp, and has similar light-throughput. I am certainly willing to sacrifice off-axis sharpness in exchange for better light-throughput.
I have used a 10mm speers-waler in a different scope than mine (15" dob), and remember it as being quite impressive in all areas, but since I was using it in a larger scope, I can't really judge the light throughput. My understanding is that it is a 7-element design.
Does anyone have experience on how the speers-waler compares to the Pentax regarding light-throuput? Are there any other good candidates for a 10mm deepsky eyepiece in the under $200 category?
The other one I am interested in is the new Apogee widescan 9mm - but I know absolutely nothing about the performance of this eyepiece.
-Jake
I really would like something with a decent fov and better eye-relief, but since my primary deepsky scope is an 8" newtonian, light-throughput is very important to me, so Televues are out of the question.
I recently borrowed another observer's Pentax XL 10mm, which had fantastic light throughput, and a nice fov. The Pentax is a bit more than I wish to spend at the moment. So I am basically looking for something with a similar FOV, that is sharp, and has similar light-throughput. I am certainly willing to sacrifice off-axis sharpness in exchange for better light-throughput.
I have used a 10mm speers-waler in a different scope than mine (15" dob), and remember it as being quite impressive in all areas, but since I was using it in a larger scope, I can't really judge the light throughput. My understanding is that it is a 7-element design.
Does anyone have experience on how the speers-waler compares to the Pentax regarding light-throuput? Are there any other good candidates for a 10mm deepsky eyepiece in the under $200 category?
The other one I am interested in is the new Apogee widescan 9mm - but I know absolutely nothing about the performance of this eyepiece.
-Jake
