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Hi Glenn,
I've owned quite a number of
eyepieces and sold or traded most all of them away. Without a
doubt "the best" single one I ever owned was a 16mm Nagler. I've
heard about all the light loss from extra elements but after comparing that
particular 16mm to even various orthos it always came away the
winner. Better by far than Vernonscope Brandons (never buy
another thing from that guy as long as I live either)
on planetary detail, very nice for some deepsky too. I've no
experience with Radians but have heard only "great" about them.
I had a very nice 7mm Nagler too, but pretty short on eye-relief.
Remember some of these might be difficult for eyepiece projection
photography.
After looking at a few links posted
earlier today and somehow happening to recognize an institution's
name, you appear to not wear glasses <G> and likely
use both eyes extremely well <G> so the 31mm Nagler may not
bother you. I do wear glasses and often observe without them but even
so the 31 Nagler I owned had very little eye-relief. I don't remember what
it's quoted as, but it definitely appeared to have much less.
I really disliked that and found it very bothersome for the
price. I sold it because of this.
A better low power eyepiece is the 40mm Pentax
XL. The first one of these I owned was right after they were introduced,
it was absolutely spectacular and came in as the second best eyepiece I've
ever owned. But I traded it away!!! Unfortunately, I
bought a second one a couple years later and it was not nearly
of the same quality. I returned that one to my
dealer for something else.
I'll mention I have a Meade 24.5mm Super Wide Angle
that I like very well as a great all around performer, very surprisingly
so. The University Optics orthos are a real bargain and I have two of
those. Finally, a Meade #140 2x apo triplet barlow I
have seems to be the best barlow by far that I've ever looked through (I
know, it's a Meade...). The moral of my particular story is if
you get your hands on a real performer never part with it as they seem to
vary within the same make and model
even.
Best of luck, I know you will be sharing some
truly excellent photos,
Jim Vineyard
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