Posts Made By: Vern Eastley

Forgive me if this has been addressed before...

I've been debating between the 13mm T6 and the 12mm T4 for some time. I haven't had a chance to do any side-by-side comparisons. My 22mm T4 is my favorite eyepiece (I have a TV-101), so if the 12mm is anything like it I know I'd be pleased. But my 9mm T6 is also truly incredible. If Televue wouldn't make so much great stuff then these decisions would be easier... ;-)

Would anyone else like to weigh in on their impressions between these two eyepieces? BTW the obvious distinction of eye relief between the two doesn't matter much to me, as I don't wear my glasses at the eyepiece.

I have bad news for you, Richard. I sold an eyepiece to someone in Memphis, and it won't arrive until Tuesday. So the curse in your area will unfortunately continue throughout the week.

I myself received my new Denk II on Thursday, along with the biggest snowstorm of the year. But wait—the forecast is “mostly sunny” for Wednesday.... along with a low of –13F. I think I'm crazy enough to go for it. I hear frostbite enhances image perception. ;-) No pain no gain, right?

PS - Does a binoviewer multiply the expected days of cloud cover by two?

This may not be quite what you had in mind, but I’ve been extremely pleased with my Canon 10x30 image stabilized binocs. I picked them up here on astromart a couple of years ago for $250. I do more observing with them than anything else. I always keep them handy for looking at birds and wildlife, and they’re pretty respectable for astronomy too.

I know 10x30 sounds really pitiful, but the image stabilization seems to make up for the small aperture and provides very pleasing views. After using these a bit I found a new home for my old celestron 10x50's. I liked the steady views a lot better, even through the smaller binocs. Sure I’d like to have the canon 15x50 but even if I did I still think these would get used more. They’re so much lighter, which means I take them with me on every hike, but the light weight is most important after I’ve been holding them up for a while looking at the sky.

The only thing is, I sure wouldn’t want to drop these… I don’t think the stabilization would help at that point. :-)