32mm Plossl Shootout

[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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[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.

[Gordon]

Thanks Andrey for taking the time to create this!!!

[Bigzmey]

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.

[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...

[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.

[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.

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