XW40 or Panoptic 41 for CGE 1400?

I've recently acquired a CGE 1400 and looking for a low magnification / large field of view eypiece.

I've got very good experience with my Pentax XW10 and XW20 eyepieces, but not with Panoptics.

I do love the views my XWs provide - but is there somebody with experience with XW40 as well as Panoptic 41 in C14? What to do?

Too much money to buy both ...

Well, I've used both in my C14 and they work great. However, let me recommend another choice and that is the 40 Paragon. It works as well in my C14 as any eyepiece I have tried. It provides as flat a field at a the 41 Pan and is slightly, but noticeably flatter than the XW40. It is as contrasty as the XW40 and slightly contrastier than the 41 Pan. It's relatively light weight and a bargain at about $250 new.

Caveats--I've only used my scope at F11, so do not know the relative merits of these eyepieces using a focal reducer. Also, this is based on my experience, though I have been building, buy and using scopes for nearly 50 years. Your experience or the experience of others may differ.

I also think that a 40mm TMB Paragon would be an excellent alternative.

Dave Mitsky

Hi Frank,
Only have experience with the Pentax XW 40, but I like it a lot. It provides great view in the C14. If you have a XW10 and XW20 already then another advantage to get the matching XW40 is that you won't have to parfocus them.