| review: wide angle eye pieces Pentax SMC XL (appr. € 380,- each) |
These are wide angle eye pieces from Japan.
They are manufactured with very high quality and they are very well designed.
For sure you have to pay for that.
huge, adjustable rubber caps
They are 5- to 6-elements in four groups, parfocal, multi-coated eyepieces.
The 7 mm and 5.2 mm have even 7 lenses (too much IMHO).
They have an apparent field of amazing 65° (the 28 mm has only 55°).
I tested the focal lenghts of
- 40 mm - 2 inch barrel
- 21 mm - 1 1/4 inch
- 14 mm - 1 1/4 inch
The eye relief is constant and about 20 mm.
You can adjust the rubber coated cap so that you have the most comfortable view.
And even with eye glasses you can screw it so much down that you will still have a comfortable view.
Well, their weight forced me to re-balance my Dobson before I could have a look.
But that was worth the work...
The first look through the 40 mm was just *amazing*.
The apparent field of view of 65° is another dimension compared to good plossls.
The field is just huge enough that you cannot see the borders giving the special feeling * to be in space *.
I will not need more, because you would pay it with more lenses (meaning more loss of light).
When I checked the other ones just the same was true.
I never noticed any ghost lights or arberrations even on my f/4 Dobson.
In the 40 mm there is a slight coma near the edges coming from the parabolic mirror - not the eye piece.
But with my f/6 Dobson which I use for visual work most of the time there is nothing to complain about.
Even on the planets - then combined with a TeleVue 5x powermate - the only limit is the seeing.
Conclusion
For my needs they are almost perfect.
They are worth every single cent I had to pay and it's plain fun to work with them.
Never forget: The eye piece ist exactly the half of your telescope optics.
I slowly sell most of my Plossls now because I do not want to look through them anymore ;)
...and take the money to buy the 10.5 mm one of Pentax...
|
|
|