best wide field

I am looking for the best wide field eyepiece for an 18" f4.5 scope.
I am looking at spending up to $300
Any suggestions?

I would seriously consider a Siebert 34 or 36 mm observatory eyepiece. I find mine to be more usable than the 35 panoptic.

I would suggest picking up used a 32mm Meade SWA series 4000 (about $150) and saving your nickles for one of the premium widefields.

If by "widefield" you mean focal lengths in the 12 to 30mm range it's a different story.
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Another option is the older TeleVue Widefield 32mm. It does a reasonable job in my F/4.06 Paracorred to F/4.7.

I have never compared it to a Meade SWA 32mm but I have seen people say the Meade SWA's are not so great in a fast scope. I did compare my 24mm TV Widefield to a 24.5mm SWA in a fast DOB and both of us, the owner of the SWA and myself thought the TV was sharper...

I would look for more opinions before speending the cash.

Telescope warehouse usually has the SWA's for something over $100.

Just my two cents...

jon

Probably the best $300 eyepiece for that scope, for the widest possible views with a reasonably wide apparent field of view would have to be the undisputed standard to which all other wide angle eyepieces are measured: the 35mm Panoptic.

They're not the brightest eyepieces, nor the most comfortable, nor the lightest, nor the cheapest, nor the best looking, nor the most glamorous, but for three hundred bux, a 35 pan would be my vote for the best possible image presentation for low powers (if your eye can take a 7mm exit pupil). Definately one of the sharpest wide angles out there (especially in a f/4.5 newtonian) in that price / field range IMO.

Vince,
Your best bet for the money and long term satisfaction is to pony up the whole $300 and pick up a used Panoptic 35mm here on Astromart. Nothing else even comes close at f/4.5. It doesn't even require a Paracor to preform wonderfully in my 16". I would never get a 31 Nagler as long as the 35 Pan is around at half the cost.
David Paessler

Hi Vince. I guess to answer that question I would need to know whether by "wide field" you mean true FOV or apparent FOV? Assuming that you mean low power, maximum true FOV, I have a few 2" eyepieces in my kit that serve up plenty of TFOV: University Optics 40mm MK-70, Parks 50mm Plossl, Siebert 34mm Observatory Series, Televue 27mm Panoptic, Meade 32mm Reserach Grade Wide Angle.

At f/4.5 I would avoid the University MK-70 and the Meade Research Grade as they get pretty soft near the edge. The Siebert is nice on DSOs, but has minorly distracting coating/ghosting/reflection issues if there's anything bright in the field. The Panoptic is a very good performer in faster systems. It doesn't have *perfect* edge correction and has some field curvature (worse than the Siebert on both counts in fact), but it has much better edge correction than the University or the old Meade Erfle design and great brightness and contrast (which I chalk up to top quality multi-coatings and superior polish).

In your 18" f/4.5 the 27mm Panoptic might not give you as much TFOV as you want however. I use it in a 12" f/5. In your scope it would give you 76x and less than 1 degree TFOV. The 35mm Panoptic would be a likely equivalent at your longer focal length, but it's well above your $300 price target.

Regards,

Jim