Post by katodog on Nov 10, 2007 9:55:25 GMT -6
I just got a new eyepiece, an OWL 20mm, 2", 80°. I thought I read somewhere that it was basically a 30mm with a 2x Barlow cell attached, and it is. It's a nicely built eyepiece, and is big. I tested it out last night both in 20mm mode, and 30mm mode, and it seems to perform pretty good. I had the thought that if it performed as good as the 30mm Paragon, I'd sell the Paragon. The Paragon being $250, and the OWL being $90 kinda makes that part of the decision easy. The OWL has a wider field, and would suit me better than the true 68° of the Paragon. But, first impressions make the OWL seems to be of a tad less quality. But, it seems to work well with the camera, and the wider field will be better with the camera. Visually, I need another night or two to see just how good it is.
But, on to the pics.
I was trying to test out the new ep, so I didn't stay on the comet. A little visual, and then off to a few other targets. Wanting to check for optical issues, I figured on using Polaris and Albireo. Getting Polaris and it's companion isn't that hard, but a clean split with round stars it what I wanted to see. I wasn't disappointed, but it did seem to show a bit oblong. Albireo looked good, nice color, but again, a bit oblong in the zoomed in shots.
Not too shabby, and the oblong issue may have been from seeing conditions, or other things, and not the eyepiece itself.
A few of M45, or as Joe calls it, the Subaru. I prefer to call it "That little Big Dipper looking thing over there" or M45. But, hey, you can't fault Joe for teaching us something we didn't know.
ISO100
ISO400
ISO800
I like the points of light that come off the stars. It's really cool. It seems to me that the stars looked pretty good in these shots, so the eyepiece may only have opticla issues in shots that I use the camera zoom in. Which isn't too big of a deal. I can always use a different eyepiece for higher mags, instead of zooming the camera.
Details for Joe. All shots were 30 second exposures. Camera set at f/5. 20mm OWL 80° eyepiece (at 20mm - Barlow cell attached). Orion 100mm achro. The comet shots were brightened in PSP. Polaris and Albireo shots zoomed out were brightened, but the zoomed in ones were not. The Pleiades shots were untouched. All single jpg frames.
Seems like the eyepiece works out pretty good, but a few more nights are needed to tell for sure if it's a keeper or not.
Here is a shot of the eyepiece next to the 40mm Paragon, and a 14mm UWA.
And a shot of the pretty glass.
Well, that should be enough for now. I did shoot a few quick shots of M42, but I'll wait for a better night with a longer session on M42 to put up pics. At that point, I was ready to call it quits and go in for the night.
But, on to the pics.
I was trying to test out the new ep, so I didn't stay on the comet. A little visual, and then off to a few other targets. Wanting to check for optical issues, I figured on using Polaris and Albireo. Getting Polaris and it's companion isn't that hard, but a clean split with round stars it what I wanted to see. I wasn't disappointed, but it did seem to show a bit oblong. Albireo looked good, nice color, but again, a bit oblong in the zoomed in shots.
Not too shabby, and the oblong issue may have been from seeing conditions, or other things, and not the eyepiece itself.
A few of M45, or as Joe calls it, the Subaru. I prefer to call it "That little Big Dipper looking thing over there" or M45. But, hey, you can't fault Joe for teaching us something we didn't know.
ISO100
ISO400
ISO800
I like the points of light that come off the stars. It's really cool. It seems to me that the stars looked pretty good in these shots, so the eyepiece may only have opticla issues in shots that I use the camera zoom in. Which isn't too big of a deal. I can always use a different eyepiece for higher mags, instead of zooming the camera.
Details for Joe. All shots were 30 second exposures. Camera set at f/5. 20mm OWL 80° eyepiece (at 20mm - Barlow cell attached). Orion 100mm achro. The comet shots were brightened in PSP. Polaris and Albireo shots zoomed out were brightened, but the zoomed in ones were not. The Pleiades shots were untouched. All single jpg frames.
Seems like the eyepiece works out pretty good, but a few more nights are needed to tell for sure if it's a keeper or not.
Here is a shot of the eyepiece next to the 40mm Paragon, and a 14mm UWA.
And a shot of the pretty glass.
Well, that should be enough for now. I did shoot a few quick shots of M42, but I'll wait for a better night with a longer session on M42 to put up pics. At that point, I was ready to call it quits and go in for the night.
