There's a new cloudy nights review on tha antares ultrawides that have been on the market for a few years. I tried the link to discuss the article on CN but it didn't work for me so I thought I would provide comments in this forum.
I found the article to be thorough and unbiased. I also agree with the author that the antares 8.6mm ultrawide is the best of the lot with the 19mm unit being a close runner-up.
I've described the 8.6mm unit as a real "kicker" and the overall performance of it is quite good in my fast 16" f4.5 dob. I have not been bothered by the "kidney bean" effect that the CN author describes in his review. I've also used the 19mm antares ultrawide in a discovery 12.5" f-5 truss dob and while there is image degradation at the edge, the overall performance is quite good.
The author also comments on the purported similarity of these oculars with synta eyepieces but notes the quality control on these is evidently superior. He also notes the apparent addition of a barlow in the 8.6mm unit which I've noted in this forum in my previous posts on these oculars.
If you want a high performance ocular for modest cost that delivers a wide field of view in a dob, consider the 8.6 unit for tracking planets. Again, I have not noticed the kidney bean effect in this ocular and I am curious to know if others have seen it.
At any rate, check out the excellent review on cloudy nights!
I found the article to be thorough and unbiased. I also agree with the author that the antares 8.6mm ultrawide is the best of the lot with the 19mm unit being a close runner-up.
I've described the 8.6mm unit as a real "kicker" and the overall performance of it is quite good in my fast 16" f4.5 dob. I have not been bothered by the "kidney bean" effect that the CN author describes in his review. I've also used the 19mm antares ultrawide in a discovery 12.5" f-5 truss dob and while there is image degradation at the edge, the overall performance is quite good.
The author also comments on the purported similarity of these oculars with synta eyepieces but notes the quality control on these is evidently superior. He also notes the apparent addition of a barlow in the 8.6mm unit which I've noted in this forum in my previous posts on these oculars.
If you want a high performance ocular for modest cost that delivers a wide field of view in a dob, consider the 8.6 unit for tracking planets. Again, I have not noticed the kidney bean effect in this ocular and I am curious to know if others have seen it.
At any rate, check out the excellent review on cloudy nights!
