Posts Made By: Paul Wehr

April 28, 2003 02:14 AM Forum: Zeiss

Eyepieces and scopes

Posted By Paul Wehr

Hello Group,

I have not seen much action on this forum lately; maybe we can get it going with a few questions and thoughts.

Has anyone done any side-by-side comparison of the Zeiss .965 barrel Ortho’s and the newer Zeiss 1.25 “ Ortho’s? I know they call the newer 1.25” abbes, but I was always under the impression that the .965-barrel oculars were the true abbes.

I also am curious of users thoughts on performance on faster scopes using these oculars.

Lastly, does any body have any thoughts on the value of these Zeiss oculars changing and be coming less desirable as all the new planetary eyepieces being designed by TMB and AP and possibly TV come to market. Same question on the Zeiss scopes, will they become less valuable and desirable as the quality of newer scopes to the market place exceed these designs?

Paul

September 20, 2003 12:23 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

BW/Zeiss 30mm wide-angle

Posted By Paul Wehr

Has anybody used one of these 85-degree oculars? I would like to know others thoughts on how this eyepiece compares to the top of the line wide-angle eyepieces, TV, Leitz.
Does anybody know why it’s called a BW/Zeiss? These are supposed to be excellent and in the $400 range. All thoughts appreciated.

Paul

September 24, 2003 12:20 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

BW/Zeiss 30mm wide angle? Slow and fast scopes.

Posted By Paul Wehr


I had a posted a similar question about a week ago asking if any members had any experience with this eyepiece. It was suggested to repost when Markus would be back from a trip hoping to get more detailed info from APM.

My question revolved around how does this eyepiece compare with the other top end eyepieces in the field, Leitz, Naglers in addition to the wide scan III and all the other contenders in this eyepiece group.

Another astromart member brought this information from the APM site concerning the widescan {thank you Joe}
http://apm-us.com/amateur/apm_ws_eps.htm that pertains to field correction being doubly as good as the Zeiss. If a $200 eyepiece will out perform a $500 with Zeiss coatings, what gives here? I would believe the contrast, light throughput, and edge correction would all be better in a Zeiss. Of course these eyepieces with lesser lens elements would fair better in slower scopes. All thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

Paul

December 18, 2003 09:42 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Fast scopes, Leica zoom & binos

Posted By Paul Wehr

Has anybody had any experience with the 20X to 60X spotting scope Leica Zoom eyepieces in a bino? I have heard mixed reviews about this eyepiece. But these look very interesting, especially when being used in the 10 to 14mm range, good eye relief and a nice generous FOV {see below from advertisement literature}. If these Zooms are good, how good are they in faster scopes say f7 and lower?


The zoom at a 20x barrel marking is a 22mm focal length eyepiece with a 38 degree apparent field and 20mm of usable eye relief.
At a 30x barrel marking, it is a 14.6mm focal length eyepiece with a 51 degree apparent field and 13mm of usable eye relief.
At a 40x barrel marking, it is an 11mm focal length eyepiece with a 59 degree apparent field and 11mm of usable eye relief.
At a 60x barrel marking, it is a 7.3mm focal length eyepiece with a 66 degree apparent field and 11mm of usable eye relief

Paul

December 19, 2003 02:03 AM Forum: Zeiss

ZEISS, ZEISS, ZEISS

Posted By Paul Wehr

Hello group,

It has been over two months since the last Zeiss post. My fascination and attraction to Zeiss scopes borders on addiction. Although that feeling is present with all telescope equipment it seems to be at a higher level with Zeiss. I suppose one of the reasons is they are no longer manufactured and collectible, but that is only a small part.

I have only been into Zeiss equipment for a short time {year and a half or so}, but I have never met a group people so willing to help {in detail} with all kinds of information and even do research to questions that I have asked in order to help inform another with interest in Zeiss equipment as I have found with Zeiss owners, former owners and aficionados. That’s a big thank you to all the guys {Kim, Gary, PaulK, Kevin to name a few} who have helped along the way and still do.

Now I will get to the equipment talk, I have always wondered why so few people in this hobby {passion} are not as much for the Zeiss, considering the perfectionists in this hobby and the quality of Zeiss.

Zeiss has always been the leader in optical quality, including astronomy equipment. To this day ten years since their demise the equipment can still be considered as good if not better than anything on the market.

We hear people all time talking Tak, TV, AP, D&G and others, yet very little is said about Zeiss. Why is it such a small group of followers? I was wondering all your thoughts on this. I have my ideas but I was hoping to here other views. Thank you.

Paul Wehr


December 19, 2003 04:07 PM Forum: Binoviewers

Leica Zooms

Posted By Paul Wehr

Has anybody had any experience with the 20X to 60X spotting scope Leica Zoom eyepieces in a bino? I have heard mixed reviews about this eyepiece. But these look very interesting, especially when being used in the 10 to 14mm range, good eye relief and a nice generous FOV {see below from advertisement literature}. If these Zooms are good, how good are they in faster scopes say f7 and lower?


The zoom at a 20x barrel marking is a 22mm focal length eyepiece with a 38 degree apparent field and 20mm of usable eye relief.
At a 30x barrel marking, it is a 14.6mm focal length eyepiece with a 51 degree apparent field and 13mm of usable eye relief.
At a 40x barrel marking, it is an 11mm focal length eyepiece with a 59 degree apparent field and 11mm of usable eye relief.
At a 60x barrel marking, it is a 7.3mm focal length eyepiece with a 66 degree apparent field and 11mm of usable eye relief

Paul

January 27, 2004 02:10 AM Forum: Zeiss

APQ OIL CHANGE

Posted By Paul Wehr

Hello Group,

I hope everyone had a good new year!

I have heard differing opinions about the APQ triplet lens oil having to be changed as a once in a while semi regular maintenance. I know that Markus touched on this a few posts ago. I was hoping some of you could give their opinions about this or maybe some things that you may have read in Zeiss literature about this topic.

Is this necessary? And how often? Also if this is a necessary maintenance what will be the first signs of deterioration? And what are the costs?

This also brings up a very interesting dilemma for the future preservation of these fine scopes, if and when Baader may no longer provide this service.

Paul

April 3, 2004 01:59 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Leica eyepieces and fast scopes.

Posted By Paul Wehr

Has anybody compared any of the Leica wide angle or Zoom eyepieces against the TV Panoptics or Meade SWA’s. I am speaking of the eyepieces that Leica sells for there spotting scopes. The additional 1.25” adapter is needed.

I have heard a few people say that these are excellent eyepieces and are second to none. That surprises me that not more of us are using them if that is true. I have never heard anything about how they would perform in fast scopes and how they compare with other high quality wide-angle eyepieces. They have 65 degree FOV and very comfortable eye relief. These may make excellent bino oculars. Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Paul

May 10, 2004 03:12 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Megrev 80 apo and TV85

Posted By Paul Wehr

I was hoping some one could tell me the difference in size of these two telescopes. I was under the impression from the pictures on the William optics site that this is a small, {almost spotting scope small} scope. But from the new Cloudynights article, the reviewer mentions that this scope is actually bigger than he believed it would be from pictures. Maybe some could post some pictures of these scopes next to some familiar object. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Paul

June 20, 2004 03:27 PM Forum: Zeiss

APQ focuser

Posted By Paul Wehr

Could anybody tell me if there is any maintenance required for the focusers on the APQ’s with the M86 helical style focuser? Do these need to be greased or oiled and is there any way to make adjustments to the tension or smoothness of these fine focusers.

I notice on the few APQ’s that I had the pleasure to look through, some are tighter and some are smoother than others.

I wonder if this was done by their owners or was there that much of a difference from the factory from scope to scope.

Paul