A Very Much Rebranded Eyepiece

[Refractordude]

Has anyone tried these eyepieces? Donald Pensack rated the APM UFF 30mm as a great stand out eyepiece. Are the others just as good as the APM UFF eyepieces?

https://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/optica ... 0-fov.html

https://www.meade.com/eyepieces.html?series=166

https://www.celestron.com/search?type=p ... ltima+edge

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32950896883.html

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-SKY-ROVER- ... 3657733300

https://www.landseaskyco.com/altair-ult ... gKtu_D_BwE

[MistrBadgr]

I have no direct experience any of these. I just looked at the specs, which vary not so much with the numbers themselves, but with parameters shown. The only specific number difference I noticed was that the APM 30mm eyepiece said it had an AFOV of 75 degrees, while the rest stated 70.

For the most part, you could consider each focal length you want separately, they seem to have different pricing schemes, so pick the brand that has the lowest price for each focal length. It might be an odd looking collection, and they may not be parfocal from one brand to the next with their slightly different body designs, but you would probably end up with a good over all set for the lowest price.

[kt4hx]

Ultimately if you want to know the answer to your question, buy one of each and do a comparison. That is always the best way. Anything else is a bit of a crap shoot.

[Bigzmey]

The specs are similar for 30mm, but the weight variations imply some design differences. Also, the coating quality could vary.

I did not have any experiences with any of these EPs, but if I decide to try one I would go with Meade. Over the years I had quite few Meade EPs and the all were good performers. I know Meade outsources it's EP production, but it seems that their product selection team knows what they are doing (at least EP wise).

[helicon]

I have some Meades as well. Probably good ones to start out with as @Bigzmey says.

[Refractordude]

Orion has them rebranded also.

https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-U ... Descending

[Lady Fraktor]

These have very similar specifications to the older Orion Stratus Line, I would not be surprised if they were a tweaked version of them.
These are some comments from Don Pensack (Eyepieces Etc)





I would presume the re-branded ones (Meade, Altair, Celestron) perform identically.

I compared the 30mm APM UFF, the 30mm Pentax XW, the 31mm Baader Hyperion, and the 31mm TeleVue Nagler over a night in a 12.5" f/5 scope (coma-corrected to f/5.75), magnification 61x, exit pupil 5.2mm



here are my notes:
spherical aberration--none
inherent coma--none
astigmatism induced by the f/ratio--none
field curvature noted--none. Flattest field of all of them.
distortion type (daytime)--typical pincushion like most astronomical eyepieces--no noticeable angular magnification distortion. Excellent.
chromatic aberration--none on axis, and none lateral
eye relief--long enough for glasses when the eyecup is folded down.
light scatter control--excellent. Very slight flare from Rigel just outside the field stop. No eyepiece completely passes this test.
spherical aberration of exit pupil--none
chromatic aberration of exit pupil--none
tint (daylight use)--none
vignetting--none
thermal issues--none
field stop focus--sharp (excellent)
edge of field brightening--none
sharpness on axis--excellent
sharpness at 50% field--excellent
sharpness at the edge--excellent
apparent contrast--excellent

It was better in most parameters than the Pentax XW 30mm.
It was significantly better than the Baader 31mm Hyperion Aspheric in all parameters.



Field stop diameters:

APM 30---38.0mm

Pentax XW 30---36.2mm

TeleVue Nagler 31---42.0mm

Baader Hyperion 31---38.0mm



Compared to the ones you mention:

The Superview suffers from a lot of astigmatism in the outer field, even at f/10.

The 28mm ES suffers from astigmatism and scattered light in the eyepiece

The 27mm Panoptic is excellent, though has a trace of field curvature which can be focused out by focusing about halfway from center to edge. This is scope-dependent, however. In f/7+, it appears flat.

[MistrBadgr]

From what Don Pensack said, I can understand why different companies would jump on this "band wagon." I can concur with @Bigzmey about purchasing the Meade version as a trial. Though I am not sure with the plastic aspherics they picked up, I have had good experiences with the higher priced lines I have bought. I was fortunate at catching ridiculously low prices on the UWA eyepieces after they recalled the LX800 mounts and (I assume) needed cash flow. The 5000 series Plossels, HD60s, and 4000 series Plossels have been good value for the money.

I visited the Land Sea and Sky store when I had the time in Houston. It was a slow day and I got the opportunity to have a nice conversation with the owner about his business. He was selective about what was kept in inventory, with what particular lines of equipment, offering good value at the different levels. The fact that he is carrying a version of this series speaks to me that these are solid performing eyepieces for the money spent.