which zoom eyepiece?

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kingkong
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which zoom eyepiece?

Post by kingkong »

i'm thinking of getting of getting a zoom eyepiece but is undecided between:

Baader Planetarium 8-24mm Hyperion Clickstop Zoom - us$215
Vixen 8-24mm Zoom Lanthanum LV - us$150
Televue 8-24mm Click-Stop Zoom - us$210

may be also:
william optics 7.5-22.5mm zoom - us$270
meade 4000 series 8-24mm - us$220

which one would you choose and why?

or should i just save some money and get a celestron 8-24mm zoom instead?

*prices above is ex-usa and for reference/comparison only.
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Meng Lee
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Post by Meng Lee »

If I am not wrong, Vixen zoom, televue zoom, Meade 4000 series zoom, and celestron 8-24 zoom are exactly the same thing.
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kingkong
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Post by kingkong »

Meng Lee wrote:If I am not wrong, Vixen zoom, televue zoom, Meade 4000 series zoom, and celestron 8-24 zoom are exactly the same thing.
but the celestron one is only selling for us$60...!

the vixen LV has no click stop at us$150
the meade 4000 has no click stop at us$220

the baader and televue, both with click stops, might be the same optics as you suggested, at the same price point - US$210

i'm still confuse.
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Post by Airconvent »

Scopetronics also has one. I bought it from Samuel Ng from the now defunct Harlequin Astronomics....
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Canopus Lim
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Post by Canopus Lim »

There seems to be quite a lot of good reviews on the Baader Zoom eyepiece..
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roma_my
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Re: which zoom eyepiece?

Post by roma_my »

Hi King Kong,

I have one for sale. Please refer to the link below:-

http://www.singastro.org/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

PM me if you interested.

cheers
roma_my
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rlow
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Post by rlow »

It seems that the zoom eyepieces from Celestron, Vixen, Televue (with clickstop), Scopetronix, Meade etc are from the same manufacturer with similar specifications, but there are some subtle differences in coatings and quality control. There are others, among them the Pentax XL 8-24mm zoom has quite a few good reviews, on CN etc.
rlow
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kingkong
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Re: which zoom eyepiece?

Post by kingkong »

roma_my wrote: I have one for sale. Please refer to the link below:-
nice ep! thanks for the offer but that one is rather.... out of my league :oops:
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vhuang168
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Post by vhuang168 »

kingkong wrote:
Meng Lee wrote:If I am not wrong, Vixen zoom, televue zoom, Meade 4000 series zoom, and celestron 8-24 zoom are exactly the same thing.
but the celestron one is only selling for us$60...!

the vixen LV has no click stop at us$150
the meade 4000 has no click stop at us$220

the baader and televue, both with click stops, might be the same optics as you suggested, at the same price point - US$210

i'm still confuse.
The Baader and Televue zooms are not the same optics. As far as I know, televue designs are their own and not resold by anyone else. Now I know others have copied or reverse engineered the designs.

From the list, the Baader Hyperion would be my choice. The Televue AFOV changes from 55 - 40 while the Hyperion is 68 - 50. The Hyperion also has very good coatings and gives excellent contrast. Well, at least the normal Hyperions do, I've never tested the zoom but based on the rest, should be pretty good. Too bad its not on sale like the single focal length hyperions.

Vincent
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kingkong
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Post by kingkong »

thanks Vincent. your points are noted.
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