Russell 2" eyepieces

Hi guys...

I have not found any review on Russell 2" eyepieces, so how do you think of his budget eyepieces? I am thinking of the 15mm 2" Konig and the 40mm 2" Plossl.

Thinking of going into 2" but not enough $$. Any comments will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Vin

Russell's EP are hit and miss in some ways. He made a few like the 14mm xl that work rather well. He made some that were not very good.
The type and f/l of the scope you use will have a bit to do with how well they perform.
In an f/10 I found that they all worked pretty good. In the f/5 they mostly did not work well.
Floyd

I own a whole slew of Gary's eyepieces. Some are quite good and do compare very well to some higher priced ones, others are "ok" but still quite functional. I have used them in some fast refractors (F/5 and 6)and had no problems that others have found with "Fast" scopes, but admit most of my scopes are between F/8 and F/10.

He has made me over the years some VERY special eyepieces that he does not offer in his regular production run - including exotic glass "APO" 2" Barlow and ones using high end commercial lenses (like Pentax). It's interesting to note that his early eyepieces were in Alum housings and not all "Plastic" (Which BTW is really Delrin, a high quality plastic that has Alum like properties for machining).

I have been toying with the idea of writing a review as I have quite a few (Currently 2" Barlow, 50mm, 26mm, 24mm, 21mm, 19mm 15mm 16mm, 9.5mm, 7mm - all 2" formate) and have compared many to Naglers, Celestron and TV Plossels, and Meade Super Wides.... If I get the time.....

Gary Russell made me two pair of matched 2" SWA Konigs for my 2" binoviewer. There were 22mm and 11mm. I think they are great, especially the 11mm.

Gary matched the eyepieces so well that I could not find any difference in the focus point between either of the 11mm or the 22mm EPs.

I have a C9.25 and I also own a pair of 12mm type 2 Naglers. One of the Naglers is in a little better shape than the other. I used that Nagler in Cyclops mode and compared the views through it with the views through the 11mm SWA Konigs that Gary made for me. The Nagler of course had a wider field of view.

I had M42 in the C9.25. I switched back and forth between the Nagler and the Konigs four or five times. I looked for some fine detail that I could see in the Nagler that I could not see in the Konigs. I could find nothing. Interestingly the size of M42 looked equal between the two Konigs and the Nagler.

I also own a pair of 2" 19mm and a pair of 2" 16.8mm Gary Russell SWA Konigs. I purchased those off astromart from different people at different times. They are not matched but I can equalize them with the diopter adjustments on my binoviewer. They also work very well when adjusted properly.

I think Gary Russell EPs are a great buy. If you have a binoviewer, Gary will even make you a matched pair.

Don Durbin