Vixen LVW revisited

[+Bino-viewer]

Back in the early 2000s when i brought my first serious scope (an Orion Optics 10" Newtonian)

my next purchase after that was an eyepiece to go along with the standard supplied 25mm & 10mm Plossls.

The 10mm was pretty poor, so after a discussion with the staff at Widescreen Centre (when they had their Nottingham branch)

i was shown some replacements, and listened to recommendations and quickly set my heart on a Vixen LVW Lanthanum 8mm.

The deal was done. It was a thing of beauty so i thought, and it performed excellently. Best of all it featured 20mm of eye relief,

and had a 65º FOV, which for me, is my preferred view. I think thats why i like my TV Panoptics so much, that 65-70º is 'just right' for me.

 

Within the next couple of years, once funds allowed, i managed to put together the entire set of 7 (if you include the 2" 42mm)

and they became my default eyepiece set for the next 5 - 10 years.

Then binoviewing came along and so did Televue. And a big refractor. I quickly became a 'bino-viewer' 😉 and as i was only using

small pairs of 1.25" eyepieces in the viewer my old Vixen LVWs soon became rather redundant. So, to raise funds for other gear, i sold them all off, one by one.

A bit of regret there, looking back.

 

Fast forward 10 years.

 

The purchase of the noted Docter / Noblex UWA 12.5mm had got me back into one eyed viewing again, and by chance, some while later,

i saw a used Vixen LVW 5mm for sale at a nice price : £125 if i remember.. I quickly snapped it up, and it was a beauty. Thankfully, in this hobby,

we tend to look after our gear, and expensive eyepieces are usually well looked after by their owners.

On the plus side, this means there are some nice bargains to be had if you keep your eye on the second hand astro listings market.

So i decided it would be fun if i could find used examples of the Vixen LVW range again and recreate my old set from nearly 20 years ago.

Looking at the cost of a comparable set - for example Baader Morpheus or Televue Delos etc a used set of Vixen LVWs would be a compelling

and very cost effective choice.

 

The 22mm LVW (and the 13mm) is a much sought after example from the range, and has become a pretty rare find on the used market.

The 3.5mm as it turned out, is even rarer.

As luck would have it, i found an observer in Spain who was selling his 22mm, 17mm and 13mm and 8mm LVWs. I must have spotted them at the right time,

soon after they went on sale, and i quickly snapped them up for a good price. The owner remarked he'd had quite a bit of interest in them after i'd purchased them.

They arrived safe and sound from Spain a few days later. Ok, i had to pay some import tax on them, but considering they were all in lovely condition, I thought

it was a good find and a good buy.

 

Finding the rare 3.5mm was rather difficult. I shopped around everywhere and put 'wanted' ads out. No luck.

I was even directed to the Japenese auction site 'Buyee'.  I actually found one on there and put a bid in, but was unfortunately 'outbid' and missed out.

Then around 3 months later, just as i'd almost given up hope, a chap in Leicestershire contacted me saying he had a 3.5mm LWV and was looking for a trade.

I offered to swap him a 35mm Panoptic i'd purchased used a couple of years before that i rarely used. He accepted and the trade was done.

Again, the 3.5mm was in super condition. Its not the sort of eyepiece you'd perhaps use much with it giving a rather high magnification. Maybe thats why

they are so rare to find, and maybe they didn't sell so many ? I know of a chap on SGL who has been looking for one for years. 

So, after around 6 months of looking my old LVW collection is complete again. This time i won't be selling them off in a hurry.

 

I don't have any plans to chase down the 2" LVW 42mm. These are actually still available to buy new.

But with my current scope, its not a focal length i'd have much need for.

 

And last Friday, i finally got round to sourcing a flight case to put them in which was purchased from Rother Valley.

Take a look.....🙂 Thanks for reading.

 

 

Here they are in the new case. 

Ideally, there was also room in the for my other 2 single eyepieces, the APM 7-15mm zoom and my Docter / Noblex 12.5mm UWA

Do i really need a 12.5mm if i have the 13mm Vixen LWV ? In this case yes, because the Docter is 'the special one' 😉

 

 

 

 

[Nightspore]

Love the case Rob, it does wonders for my OCD. 

 

 

Panoptics rock! The excellent eye positioning is also a factor in their popularity IMO. 

[+Bino-viewer]

Yes, they take some beating. I love doing low power sweeps with my 2x24s in the bino which gives me around 40x mag.

 

Thinking about it, if i could only own 3 eyepieces, one would be the 24 Pan, the second would be the UWA 12.5mm

The jury is still out on the third, but the 5mm Vixen LVW would be a contender.

[+Bino-viewer]

I was also pondering to myself about the 3.5mm that i picked up from the chap near Leicester, that it could actually be the

vary same eyepiece i purchased 15 years or so ago......Maybe its moved about from owner to owner a few times, and its come home again.

Could it be the same one ? Maybe, but i'll never know for sure......

[+Glafnazur]

Well done on managing to complete the set Rob 👍

[Nightspore]

13 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

Yes, they take some beating. I love doing low power sweeps with my 2x24s in the bino which gives me around 40x mag.

 

Thinking about it, if i could only own 3 eyepieces, one would be the 24 Pan, the second would be the UWA 12.5mm

The jury is still out on the third, but the 5mm Vixen LVW would be a contender.

 

Yeah, the 24mm Pan' would be one of the three, as for the other two, I'd be tempted to claim the Nagler zoom and the BHZ.

 

 

If that isn't cheating lol.

 

Oh, I totally forgot I had the 27mm.

 

 

Must be the brain damage lol.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Nightspore
Brain damage

[Nightspore]

12 hours ago, Glafnazur said:

Well done on managing to complete the set Rob 👍

 

Completing sets can be satisfying ... but pricey!

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Nightspore

[+Glafnazur]

You are without a doubt the king of the eyepiece collectors 👑

[+Bino-viewer]

2 hours ago, Glafnazur said:

You are without a doubt the king of the eyepiece collectors 👑

No doubt....he puts us all to shame !!

 

 

[+Streetbob]

That is a great set Rob.  A good read. Thanks 

[+Streetbob]

23 hours ago, Nightspore said:

Completing sets can be satisfying ... but pricey!

I knew you into eyepieces but didn’t realise you had so many.  Have you ever dared tot up how much you spent?

[philjay]

Love my lvw,s.

 

My faves are the 22 and 13.

[Nightspore]

On 31/10/2023 at 09:01, Streetbob said:

I knew you into eyepieces but didn’t realise you had so many.  Have you ever dared tot up how much you spent?

 

I shudder to think what I've spent. You haven't seen half of my EP's!

 

I do genuinely regret buying some:

 

 

 

These 'Starbase Orthoscopic Plossls' particularly. I tend to call them 'Starbucks Orthodontic Pebbles' as they're: (a) overpriced, (b) a smack in the mouth, and (c) need to be buried. They get praised because they're made in Japan, as opposed to somewhere more capable, like the PRC (who actually have standards). You name the defect and these have them. I wouldn't mind if they were a fiver apiece. 'Starbase' try to use the Takahashi name to sell these overpriced baubles. They don't even make good Xmas/Yule/Solstice decorations! Takahashi aren't doing their reputation any good by being associated with these (insert derogatory expletives of your choice).

 

 

You'd be much better off with a set of Chinese manufactured Meade Plossls.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Nightspore
Cofveve

[Clive]

Wow, how many of them do actually you use?  In my whole astronomical lifetime since my first scope I've had the grand total of just 6 eyepieces, a Charles Frank 1" Ramsdem with the RAS thread for used my 4" Newt and a set of 5 Clavé Plossls for use with my 10" Newt, and I tended to use only 3 of those with any regularity!

[tuckstar]

14 hours ago, Clive said:

Wow, how many of them do actually you use?  In my whole astronomical lifetime since my first scope I've had the grand total of just 6 eyepieces, a Charles Frank 1" Ramsdem with the RAS thread for used my 4" Newt and a set of 5 Clavé Plossls for use with my 10" Newt, and I tended to use only 3 of those with any regularity!

What Clavè do you have Clive?

I have the 25, 16 side marked 10, 6, and 4mm and the negative (barlow), never used but had to have it. Really nice to look through although I tend to keep them for my little zeiss.

 

[Clive]

2 hours ago, tuckstar said:

... I have the 25, 16 side marked 10, 6, and 4mm ...

 

 

I had the exact same set!  I've no longer have them, I sold them in 2012 when I gave away my telescope and mount and demolished the observatory.

 

[Nightspore]

20 hours ago, Clive said:

Wow, how many of them do actually you use?  In my whole astronomical lifetime since my first scope I've had the grand total of just 6 eyepieces, a Charles Frank 1" Ramsdem with the RAS thread for used my 4" Newt and a set of 5 Clavé Plossls for use with my 10" Newt, and I tended to use only 3 of those with any regularity!

 

I have phases (like the Moon) lol. I have a few different telescopes, many are small grab'n'go scopes (due to physical disability). I tend to keep them in bags with all their respective equipment. So, if it's looking good outside, at a moment's notice, I can literally choose a complete rig, grab it and go. I have some rigs for widefield sessions where I'm concentrating on rich field observing only (predominantly fast achromats). Some are mainly for lunar/planetary (Mak's). Two scopes at least are multi purpose (apochromatic doublets of 60mm & 72mm). I have larger scopes that can take longer to prepare and set-up, they need their own EP's. I have several scopes ranging between 60mm and 235mm. Although I'm a great fan of wide angle eyepieces, like my Naglers and Panoptics, I also use smaller EP's for lunar/planetary. One of my rarer is this 9mm Circle T:

 

 

Not forgetting this 'Antares Plossl' almost certainly built by Ohi, and possibly a Masuyama design with five elements. It has outstanding contrast, although I think the field is less than 50°.

 

 

I actually haven't purchased an EP for over a year. I'm guessing insanity has finally kicked in. Or I'm cured!

 

 

[tuckstar]

9 hours ago, Clive said:

 

I had the exact same set!  I've no longer have them, I sold them in 2012 when I gave away my telescope and mount and demolished the observatory.

 

Thats a shame, do you miss them? I picked mine up via my society and the previous owner had put them together to be used with a Barlow to fill the gaps, ie 25 -12 16-8 etc. Thats why when  I saw the "negatif" I had to get it, paid to much in the end due to tax because it came from America. But it kind of completes the set. Of course its nothing compared to Doc's Clavè collection and scope.