Max bright opinions

[+Bino-viewer]

Clave...?

 

Be careful....Mick will be jealous if its one of the ones he's after !!

 

If you want to try out and of my eyepiece pairs anytime, just shout up.

I'm currently trialing a pair of 15 Delites myself.

 

[tuckstar]

Don't think the guy is selling anything @Doc hasn't already got. But some eyepieces on astromart 

[tuckstar]

Maxbright discontinued ? tbh I thought it had been and was suprised when they said they could get one.

Going to see about the wo, but not sure if it will fit directly on to my t2 prism which could be a problem. Hoping there is an adapter for it. Then I could still use the baader 1.7 gpc.

[+Bino-viewer]

Just heard over on CN that the Maxbright Mk ii will be making its first appearence this September 

at the AME international astronomy fair (in the Fatherland)

I can't wait to see it specs !

[+bryand]

On 16/05/2019 at 21:10, Bino-viewer said:

Glad to hear you've tracked a pair down Andy ! ?

Enjoy the views.

 

The WO is also a very nice system as well of course, the supplied eyepieces are a bonus. Its just missing that T2 connectivity.

 

I have a WO bino to T2 adapter spare if you'd like to experiment.

[tuckstar]

30 minutes ago, bryand said:

I have a WO bino to T2 adapter spare if you'd like to experiment.

Does that screw directly to the binoviewer with out a nose piece, then directly to t2, ie my prism? Do you have a photo and where did you get it from.

Thanks

[+Bino-viewer]

Just read your post on 'latest purchases' Andy.

 

I've realised that you are using the Telementor.....is that where the second quick changer is used ;

to connect the diagonal to the back of the scope ?? I'm also assuming you've removed the 35mm extension tube ?

 

It makes sense now.

 

All i can suggest to try and reduce lightpath (so as not to use the 1.7x) is to either use a 1.25x gpc instead,

or....get a smaller diagonal. Baader do a 31mm prism (non amici) that works well.

 

Have you tried them with your Newtonian with the 1.6x Barlow ? They also do a 2x version of the same thing.

And i have the Baader version (1.8x) if you want to try that out sometime.

 

 

[tuckstar]

Exactly that Rob.

 

I can connect the prism directly to the ota but then I can't rotate it with out unscrewing it. Like wise on the binoviewer, but not with the gpc in the train.

 

The Maxbright rotates without the need for a quick changer so is a little bit nearer to the ota.

 

Haven't had a chance to try it with the newt yet.

Edited June 9, 2019 by tuckstar

[+Bino-viewer]

I see. 

And of course, the Telemetor has its own equatorial mount. Hence the need for you needing to rotate things.

I'm that used to Alt-az mounts, where the eyepieces are always conveniently positioned and no rotation necessary,

i hadn't factored that part in. I can see now why that second quick connector is so useful.

 

All the reviews i've read of the WO viewer point to it being very good ; the one caveat being the eyepiece holders which can cause problems.

But you may be able to upgrade them (the eyepiece holders themselves), later on, if you so desire.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed using them last night ; i wish i'd have been there.

If you want to try my 15s (Delites) in them, or 13s (Naglers) at a future meet, just give me a shout ?

 

 

[tuckstar]

Will do Rob.

 

And actually the zeiss t mount can be eq or alt az. That might be worth a try with just the one changer in the train. Nice one Rob

[+Bino-viewer]

Also this info you may find useful,

 

The 3  GPCs that Baader offer for the 'old' Maxbright and the Mk 5 buy you back this much lightpath :

 

1.25x  =  20mm

1.7x   =  35mm

2.6x  =   65mm

 

If you try using the 2.6x you may find you have the opposite issue and have insufficient 'out focus' and may need to add an extension.

 

I actually measured them (give / take 1mm) and even though this was with the Mk 5 i would imagine they are the same for the Maxbright GPC version.

How they will integrate into the Maxbright Mk 2 remains to be seen.

 

They also do more than provide those extra few mm of lightpath of course.....they also correct for spherochromatism, and one should always be used

when viewing planets for eg at high powers. Irrespective of how good the primary optic is, it is the glass prisms in the binoviewer (primarily) and the diagonal if using a prism (to a lessor extent)

that introduces spherochromatism in to the view. Its not too intrusive at low powers at all, but if you crank up the power (easy with a long focal length scope) and use a pair of high-ish power

eyepieces it really becomes quite objectionable.

The Baader GPCs are actually designed by refractor guru Roland Christian (Astro-Physics), so they have a very fine pedigree.

 

 

 

 

[+Bino-viewer]

On 22/03/2019 at 09:41, Nightspore said:

Speaking of Maxbrights, I doubt Baader will ever distribute them again. Probably as the unit retail price would be prohibitive as there are plenty of competitive smaller binoviewers. 

Resurrecting this thread one year on nearly, the long awaited Baader MaxBright Mk 2 is now available to purchase from FLO.

There may be a slight delay (a few days) but they are now finally on the market !!!  It's certainly taken a while......

But it looks a very nice unit, and is cheaper than i was expecting at £375

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/binoviewers/baader-maxbright-ii-binoviewer-with-case.html

[tuckstar]

Kind of wish I'd of hung on now, but that's just how it goes, especially when there was no release date. And I can't believe it's been nearly a year.

[+Bino-viewer]

Time flies doesn't it....!! 😃

[Nightspore]

8 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

Resurrecting this thread one year on nearly, the long awaited Baader MaxBright Mk 2 is now available to purchase from FLO.

There may be a slight delay (a few days) but they are now finally on the market !!!  It's certainly taken a while......

But it looks a very nice unit, and is cheaper than i was expecting at £375

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/binoviewers/baader-maxbright-ii-binoviewer-with-case.html

 

Yes, it looks good. I'm a bit tempted. It's cheaper than I expected too. Like I said, nearly a year ago, there is quite a bit of competition. Not sure if I'm prepared to swap my WO's quite yet though lol.

[+bryand]

My MaxBright II is supposedly winging its way to me any day now ...

I'm working out a set of tests to compare it with my WO; details to follow.

[+Bino-viewer]

Excellent Bryan.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.....😀

[+bryand]

Here's a teaser as a size comparison: Praktica Sport WA 8x40s; Opticron Oregon 15x70s; William Optics BV; Baader MaxBright II BV

[+bryand]

Comparing  two Binoviewers

The two instruments being considered here are:

William Optics (WO) binoviewer costing £279 with two 20mm/66° eyepieces, a 1.6X Barlow and a 1 ¼” nosepiece

Baader MaxBright II (MB) binoviewer costing £375 with an IP67 case, a T-2 adaptor, a Zeiss micro-bayonet adaptor, and an adaptor key.

So the WO needs a T-2 adaptor and a case, while the MB needs eyepieces, nosepiece and a Glass Path Corrector (aka Barlow)

 

The test configuration used an APM 2” amici prism diagonal for the WO and the Baader T-2 amici prism diagonal for the MB.  The Tele Vue panoptic 19mm eyepieces gave 61X magnification on the William Optics FLT 132 scope used, while the Pentax XF 12 mm eyepieces produced 96X magnification.

 

Both were straightforward to use: the WO has very good fit and finish, with thumbscrew eyepiece fixings and a larger eyepiece focussing adjustment range than the MB.  Eyepiece changing is quicker on the MB using its ClickLock clamps.  Its focussing adjustment is smoother, but has a shorter travel.  The MB is heavier and slightly larger but feels more solid than the WO.

 

Brightness measurement:

To provide a measure of objectivity, I rummaged around in my “May be useful someday” box (come on, we’ve all got one) and found a redundant 10mm Plossl eyepiece.  I removed the optical components and fitted the rest into the holder on a Unihedron Sky Quality Meter.  This allowed me to put the meter into the eyepiece holder of each binoviewer and get a comparative measure of the amount of light coming through the binoviewer.

The first surprise came when testing the WO.  It was set up looking at an illuminated white panel, with and without its 1.6X Barlow.  An average of 10 brightness readings was taken in each case. 

Its left eyepiece indicated an average of 10.84 mag/arcsec² and the right 10.42.  So the right eye is 0.42 mag brighter than the left.  I was a little surprised to find the difference was measurable at all, let alone that great.  It means the beam splitter isn’t being even-handed.  Just goes to show how accommodating your eyes are and maybe explains why there are sometimes problems merging the images from the two eyepieces. 

When the Barlow was fitted the light transmission was less, but the imbalance was still there, and when I checked a pair of 15x70 Opticron Oregon binoculars, the equivalent difference was 0.1 mag/arcsec².

The second surprise was when the test was repeated with a different (bluer) light source after the MB arrived.  There wasn’t much in it, but the MB isn’t as bright as the WO.  However there is much less difference between the sides of the MB and those of the WO.

 

Sharpness measurement:

This is bound to be subjective, and be affected by viewing conditions, but the aim was to test each binoviewer’s ability at splitting some doubles and spotting small craters on the Moon.

My target list covered the constellations I could see from my drive, and gives a gradation of separations to see at which point the doubles are splittable:

Cor Caroli (19.3” separation), Asellus Tertius (14.0”) and Mizar (11.8”) were all successfully split with both binoviewers using the 19 mm Panoptics in a 132mm refractor.  However  Alkurah (8.4”) and Pi Bootis (5.5”) proved too close for the WO to split, and Pi Bootis only produced a peanut split in the MB and no split in the WO.

Clouds rolled in before I could get to targets with < 5” separation, but by then it was clear that the MB could split closer targets than the WO.  Not that you buy a binoviewer just for splitting doubles, of course.

The Moon was nearly full, limiting the high-contrast targets available.  The Pentax XF 12s showed the whole Moon disc with very little border, making a beautiful sight.

Examination of Mare Humorum showed that whilst the WO could reveal 10 craterlets within the sea, the MB showed 14.

 

Conclusion

Early days, but I think the MaxBright II is a useful upgrade from the William Optics.  Indeed, if you were starting out with binoviewing, I would recommend the MaxBright over the William Optics.

[BAZ]

That's a very informative read Bryan, you certainly put them to the sword. Interesting that the WO showed a light path difference between sides and that you would never have known had you not gone into more in depth testing. Thanks for your efforts and sharing.

[tuckstar]

Very interesting, I won't be swapping my WO anytime soon though.