Explore scientific 20mm 100°

[tuckstar]

So I finally had some half decent skies to have a play with my ES 20mm 100°.

 

I purchased this a good few weeks ago and sat looking at it ever since. 

I had a shock when it was first delivered, couriers knocked it about!!

I was assured it would be could be returned if any problem. It was really well packed when I opened it, both by the vendor and by ES, so I wasn't worried once I'd opened it.

 

The eyepiece is huge, weighing in at about a kilo, but looks an feels like the kind of quality you would expect.

 

Some of the keen eyed may spot the deliberate mistake on this eyepiece. It is printed as a Nitrogen purged eyepiece, but has actually been Argon purged. Apparently Argon is better than nitrogen for light transition, but I doubt I would notice the difference. It did come with a certificate from ES to explain.

 

So first light was disappointing and totally my fault. Jupiter was low, hazy and bright and all over the place.

But as things improved and the sky got a bit darker it came in to its own.

 

In my 250px the ES 20mm 100° give me 1.67° fov at 60x mag. The only eyepiece I had to compare was an Hyperion 21mm 68° which gives 1.19° fov at 57x.

 

The ES has a massive field of view compared to the Hyperion as you would expect but obviously a similar mag.

 

When looking at M51 you could see more light through the es which seems to have better light transition than that of the Baader, and with that field of view finding objects is easy. You get a lovely frame of stars around the objects which lacks with the baader.

 

Again both the blackeyed and then the needle galaxy fell in to the fov brighter and again better framed in the ES than the baader.

 

The leo triplet was again beautifully framed in the ES. The NGC element was very faint with both, but on the edge of the FOV for the baader but not as close to the edge with the ES meaning that it was a clearer image.

I did look at some globs but as I wasn't testing a high power eyepiece I didn't spend much time on them, but again beautifully set in a sea of stars.

 

The double cluster was again beautifully set with both cluster elements fully visible in the fov of the ES, a struggle with the baader to get them in with out losing the edges.

 

Over all I am really pleased with my ES. It wasn't the best conditions but it performed well. A deffinate improvement from the baader both in build and optical quality. As you expect with such a price difference. Obviously I haven't put it against a green one yet but I'd like to compare similar.

 

It only has a short eye relief which may put some off, but I found it quite comfortable to use. I found that i had to rack the focusor right in with the ES and right out with the Baader. The weight didn't cause me any balancing issues that my current counterweight couldn't deal with, although when looking at low objects I did need to lock the focuser to stop it slowly sliding out of focus.

Now at f4.7 I did expect some coma with this eyepiece, and it was something that I did have reservations about. Now, after looking through it properly, I'd have no problem extending my collection to more 100°. Yes there was some coma right at the edge of the fov, but with the whole imersive experience and such wide views you really have to look around to see it. The final thing I noticed was that due to the large fov objects stay in view for a lot longer which is a great plus for us in the Dob Mod.

 

Great eyepiece, glad I decided to go with it.

[Smithysteve]

That is a great eyepiece and a great first light report Andy! You sound ecstatic about it. ?

My mate has one and it is a lovely piece of kit - enjoy!

Thanks for sharing

cheers!

[Daz Type-R]

Fantastic report Andy, enjoyed reading that, glad your happy with it.

 

Im almost there with regards to saving enough cash for a 21mm Ethos, gone are the days of the "cheap" £50 American ep's, I'm now in the realm of the not so cheap £70 American ep's.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by Daz Type-R

[Tweedledee]

Great report Andy.

 

Sounds like you are smitten with the 100 degree spacewalk experience now.

 

You'll love the higher power ones as well as they will obviously maintain the maximum field possible while making it easier to find and keep things in view longer.

[+seven_legs]

Nice report Andy.

Es eyepieces are my favourite. Have 82 fov ones,which are great especially 24mm one.

Looking forward to have a peek through it your eyepiece hopefully next Saturday if "W"  will be kind

[BAZ]

An excellent write up Andy. It seems that these big field eyepieces are really impressive. I am glad you like it. 

[Doc]

ES have a fantastic reputation, I'm so glad you are enjoying them Andy.

[+Bino-viewer]

Nice report Andy.

Pleased to hear the 20/100 is performing well.

[+Streetbob]

Very interesting.  I was thinking of the 82 fov, but now?  Will need to check out the er perhaps.

 

Thanks

[andyboy1970]

Nice report.

I have one ES 14mm 82 degree eyepiece and have been very impressed with it so far.

Haven't had it in either of my Newts yet just used it with my Megrez 72fd.

Will be purchasing more ES eyepieces when funds are available.