Got Four New Toys For My Birthday

[Refractordude]

Was going to have a 8" dob as a gift, but decided against it. I will only want a 10" dob soon afterwards. I really am undecided on what will be my next scope. I know I need more than 120mm of aperture. I am thinking 6" refractor, 10" dob or the 20x100 APM achro binoculars. The APMs have better eye relief than the Oberwerk 25x100. So I decided on some eyepieces for now. I tested them out last.

GSO Superview 30mm 68 degree is a keeper. Good eye relief sharp stars out close to the edge.

Olivon 22mm/Astromania clone 22mm 70 degree excellent eye relief and little wider view than the GSO Superview. A life time eyepiece. Reviews have this eyepiece better that the Vixen 22mm. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/4676 ... shoot-out/

Celestron Luminos 15mm 82 degree was a disappointment. I knew it would be a gamble with this eyepiece. Sometimes you get a good one sometimes you get a bad one. This is a bad one going back. Way to much edge of field brightness. My Svbony 15mm 68 degree stomped all over the Luminos. The EOFB the Luminos showed ruined the 82 degree field of view. I am not certain it is actually has a 82 degree fov.

I also got the Oberwerk 11x70 binoculars. I have them mounted with my very excellent 7x50 binoculars. The two together are a lot of fun. I can go to another size/depth of an object in a second. I may not get the 20x100 binoculars. The cheapo Zhumell 20x80 are really great on the parallelogram mount. Right click the images.

[smeyer8015]

The Luminos 15 was really designed for a long focal length telescope like an SCT.
I have the same eyepiece. The EOF brightness is minor. I really didn't notice it until I saw a review that mentioned it.

The X-Cel LX series are very nice.

[StarBru]

Are you comparing the Superview 30mm or the Superview 20mm to the Olivon/Astromania 22mm? I wasn't clear on that.

You have several eyepieces listed in your signature that could possibly be compared with the 22mm Olivon/Astromania clone: the GSO 20mm Superview, Sboney 20mm, and the aspheric 23mm. Would you be willing to make a comparison of all? I would be very interested in that report!

[Refractordude]

Are you comparing the Superview 30mm or the Superview 20mm to the Olivon/Astromania 22mm? I wasn't clear on that.

You have several eyepieces listed in your signature that could possibly be compared with the 22mm Olivon/Astromania clone: the GSO 20mm Superview, Sboney 20mm, and the aspheric 23mm. Would you be willing to make a comparison of all? I would be very interested in that report!

When compared against the GSO Superview 20mm, the Astromania 22mm had a much more immersive wider view. The GSO Superview and Svbony 20mm are close to the same in view/quality. The Svbony and GSO 20mms are much more better than the Svbony aspheric.

[Refractordude]

The Luminos 15 was really designed for a long focal length telescope like an SCT.
I have the same eyepiece. The EOF brightness is minor. I really didn't notice it until I saw a review that mentioned it.

The X-Cel LX series are very nice.

Yeah I saw some good reviews right here at TSS. It must be a quality control issue. I got a bad one. All I could do is return it.

[Refractordude]

Forgot an image.

[The Happy Parrot]

Wow, nice presents Refractordude!

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on the new glass RD! Playing with EPs is a fun part of the hobby.

Luminos 15mm was one of my favorite EPs. But! EP preferences are very personal. If it doesn't work for you - send it back!

I can't stand Morpheus, but I know and accept that many people like them.

[Ruud]

Awesome, Refractordude! What must a man do to have birthdays as bountiful as yours?

Many happy returns mate!

[pakarinen]

Sidenote - Seems like Celestron QC has really gone down the toilet from what I've seen posted in various places - EPs, binos, goto mounts or at least the software. Sad.

Have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised about the Astromania EP.

[helicon]

Excellent haul of stuff RD.

[AbbN]

Aren't birthday's great.....sometimes

I too have the 15mm Luminos which I picked up locally used quite cheap last summer. I guess I got a good one cause I'm quite happy with it. It's not as good as my ES lenses but I wouldn't expect it to be but it's better than I expected... .

Abb