http://www.telescope-service.com/baader ... ml#genuine
The price of the Baader ortho is 99usd, same as that of a BO/TMB planetary eyepiece.
After doing tonnes of research on the Baader ortho, I finally decided to buy it. Supposedly this eyepiece is made in the same Japanese factory as the UO HD orthos. However, there are differences between them and the Baader ortho supposedly has better coatings. From what I read, it is possible to order eyepieces/telescopes/binos from a factory and specify the QUALITY of it. That means the standard of the polish, accuracy of the optical elements, the coating design etc.
The sky condition is good tonight. It is clear, windless and the seeing is ok. For my 6mm Baader ortho, the magnification used is 264x while for the 5mm Baader ortho, the magnification is 317x.
I did a brief comparison ONLY ON SATURN.
1. 6mm Baader Ortho vs 6mm Circle T ortho
Transmission: Baader > Circle T. I can see a few faint (points) probably moons near to Saturn. The Circle T is not able to do so.
Colour tone: Baader is slightly whiter (cooler) than Circle T
Contrast: Baader > Circle T. On Saturn's globe, the banding is more pronouced in the Baader. It has slightly better contrast especially noticeable on the polar belt. It stands out better. Details *slightly more than Circle T ortho.
Sharpness: Same. Since they are both Abbe orthos so the design (sharpness) wise will be similar.
Hence, I feel the Baader is better in contrast and transmission due to probably better polish, baffling and coatings. The difference is 'not a hair' as what was reported on the UO HD ortho against the UO ortho and hence if there is a comparison with the Baader and UO HD ortho, there may be differences.
2. 5mm Baader ortho vs barlowed 11 Nagler T6 vs 5mm BO/TMB
Contrast on Saturn's globe:
Barlowed 11 Nagler T6> (rather slightly) 5mm Baader >> 5mm BO/TMB
Surprisingly, the 11 Nagler T6 when barlowed gives very good contrast on Jupiter and Saturn's globe. I guess it is probably due to the higher transmission in yellow and the features (belts etc) on Jupiter/Saturn are better seen. The 5mm Baader gave good contrast on Saturn's globe too but it was very slightly less good as the barlowed 11 Nagler T6. The 5mm Baader has quite a lot better contrast on Saturn's globe than the 5mm BO/TMB.
Transmission: 5mm Baader>5mm BO/TMB>barlowed 11 Nagler T6
Sharpness on-axis: 5mm Baader > 5mm BO/TMB> barlowed 11 Nagler T6.
3. Comfort factor:
I find the 6mm Baader more comfortable than the 6mm Circle T because I can rest my face on the eyepiece. There is no need to keep a fix distance away from the eyepiece. The 5mm Baader is quite alright to use too. I like the fact that these eyepieces has wing eyeguard to block off stray light.
4. Built quality:
Very well made. The painting inside the barrel is nicely done. The coatings are nice and under white light, it gives of a red reflection (mostly mean the eyepiece is cooler, less red transmitted).
5. Parfocal?
I did not find the 5mm and 6mm to be parfocal even though it is claimed to be. My 7 and 11 Nagler are parfocal and just need slight adjustment in focus.
Summary,
This is a brief comparison on Saturn. So far, the Baader is good.
I am rather happy with its performance and price (1/3 price of a Nagler). It is also much cheaper than the 5mm Pentax XO but the XO is probably slightly better. I will go cheap and good.. no more spending 300 dollars for a eyepiece. ha.
All these were seen in the Baader. The number of craterlets seen were far more than the 11 I observed months back. Incredible.