32mm Plossl Shootout

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Bigzmey United States of America
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32mm Plossl Shootout

#1

Post by Bigzmey »


32mm Plossl Shootout
by Bigzmey

1/22/18 First a bit of history. Like many I have started the hobby with cheap stock Plossls, eventually upgraded to TeleVue Plossls and never look back. They are well known for good performance but 32mm and 42mm are extra wide and pretty heavy. So, when I started building EP set to take on travels with...
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Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Interesting. I have the older TV and the current Baader not the Meade. The older TV have an edge in transmittance. The BCO has an edge in internal contrast details and as you noted a smaller FOV. It's likely that coatings were changed and that explains the differences in findings.

To a critical eye, shopping simply by brand name is not the whole story. The history of specification changes is needed too.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

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Post by Gordon »


Thanks Andrey for taking the time to create this!!!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

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Post by Bigzmey »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 6:06 pm Interesting. I have the older TV and the current Baader not the Meade. The older TV have an edge in transmittance. The BCO has an edge in internal contrast details and as you noted a smaller FOV. It's likely that coatings were changed and that explains the differences in findings.

To a critical eye, shopping simply by brand name is not the whole story. The history of specification changes is needed too.
This is correct. At one point I had both older circle NJ TV 32mm smoothie and modern design TV 32mm. The smoothie had better transmittance in side by side tests.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

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Post by Arctic »


Excellent post. It would be easy to have a bias in favor of TV, known for their excellent optics. A non-biased, critical assessment is important for all optics, because one line might excel at some things, but fall short on others. Certainly, some scopes work better with some types/brands of eyepieces than others. I agree that Plossls are generally very good eyepieces--especially for as inexpensive as most are...
Gordon
Scopes: Meade LX10 8" SCT, Explore Scientific AR102 Refractor on ES Twilight 1 Mount, Oberwerks 15X70 Binos, Nikon Action Extreme 10X50 Binos.
Eyepieces: ES 68* 24mm, ES 68* 20mm, ES 82* 11mm, ES 82* 8.8mm
Observing: Messier Objects--110/110, H1 Objects-- 400/400. Hundreds of additional NGC Objects. Significant Comets: Kohoutek, West, Halley, Hyakatake, Hale-Bopp, McNair, Neowise. Transits of Mercury and Venus.
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

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Post by kt4hx »


Excellent comparison and write-up Andrey. We are all aware of the general perception that TV should reign supreme, but in reality that is not always the case. I know some of the results that people get have to do with experience and optical characteristics of the individual, as well as the scope used for the comparison. But your results should give anyone pause from simply assuming that eyepieces with "green lettering" are always going to be the best. There are some very good lower and medium cost eyepieces available.
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: 32mm Plossl Shootout

#7

Post by Bigzmey »


Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Indeed, one should take into account type of telescope used for comparison (although Plossls happen to be one of the most versatile EP designs). Another consideration is that one can't judge performance of EP line just based on a single EP from that line. To address both of these variables I also performed evaluation of several 15mm Plossls, this time in 127mm APO refractor.

app.php/article/15mm-plossls-shootout
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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