Dan Duriscoe Reviews

Bit the bullet and bought 2 for my 12.5 f/6 binocular newtonian. This eyepiece is a serious piece of glass and metal, fairly heavy for its size. Image is very sharp, good eye relief, no kidney bean, no ghosting, very slight lateral color on very bright objects like the moon. I find it reasonbly comfortable in the binocular, just about the biggest eyepiece I can use without the barrels touching, giving the biggest field of view possible in my scopes. The Hasselblad of eyepieces, the construction, design, and workmanship are superb. As with all Panoptics, however, the pincushion distortion is significant. Panning around the sky with them can make one seasick. Once stable, the effect is not noticable unless you are looking at the moon or daytime objects where their shape is known. For the price, it seems that this flaw should be made to go away, but I suppose even Al Nagler cannot change the laws of physics. This is my standard eyepiece for low power. I like it better than the 22 panoptic, I also have the 19 which is an equally fine lens. Very comfortable for me, but others have complained that the top surface is too big in diameter and does not fit their eye very well. If you want sharpness, you cant beat this lens if you can pay for it.

When the air is steady, this is my best all around eyepiece on the 12.5 inch f/6 binocular newtonian (150x). Contrast and sharpness are superb. Globular clusters, galaxies, and planetary nebulae are all revealed perfectly by this glass. Double stars and tight galactic clusters give beautiful colors. The ultra wide field is appreciated in my non-tracking dobsonian, and allows finding objects without switching to lower power. Very comfortable and easy to use. Hard to find a flaw in these. Eye relief adequate but to see to the field stop you have to get close. Nearly flawless and highly recommended.