GTO Proxima 31mm


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Brand and Model:GTO Proxima 31mm
Price ($USD):$149.00
Type:Ultra Wide Angle
Focal Length:31 mm
Barrel Size:2 in
Apparent FOV:71.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:20 mm
Elements:5
Weight (lbs):2.0
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
GTO Proxima 31mm
I have had this eyepiece for over a year now and found it to be great,with very sharp veiws and great contrast and a great value as well my thanks to Gary&Ken at Hands on optics if anyone wants to know more just drop me a line, Carl

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=164197


GTO Proxima 31mm
I think this eyepiece is going to redefine "FOV", especially for those Deep Space Objects usually described as "best in binoculars" in stargazing books. I've had mine for about a month but due to poor seeing (mostly cloudy, with lots of extra humidity) in the Dallas area since I bought it I haven't been able to use it but the past three nights.

I've used it in my Stellarvue AT1010 f6 refractor (wonderful wide-field star fields) and in my Celestron G8N 8" f5 Newtonian.

Both of these are fast, short focal-length scopes. So you get a moving black smudge of an image of the secondary in the Newt if your eye is not right at the focal plane of the eyepiece, which is rather snug up against the folding rubber eyecup. You can eliminate this by moving in close and holding still. The extra FOV is worth it, since in the 8" I get 33 X with this eyepiece.

In the refractor it's fine.

Even in the 8" you can still fit the entire Pleiades asterism in a single FOV with a little room to spare. I've never seen it as well before, and I have some very nice binoculars. I can't wait to take this on vacation to Colorado and some really dark, dry skies! Gary at Hands On Optics has a real winner here.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=114113


GTO Proxima 31mm
This is a very good eyepiece. I have had mine for 3 months, and could not be happier. For the price it performs as well as those 300+ dollar eyepieces. I am using a f10 scope. This is important, as it does not perform will on fast scopes.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=100431


GTO Proxima 31mm
Hello all! My name is Scott S. and I am extremely pleased with the Proxima 31mm EP performance. I called Hands On Optics and personally thanks Gary and his spouse for providing such a wonderful eyepiece. Don't let the price fool you. I evaluated this eyepiece against a Nagler 32mm T4. This Proxima won against the Nagler hands down. Resolution at the center and outer edges was crisp. Could you believe it! You will. We tested both EP's using M1, M3, M13, M56, M57, M81, M82, M96 and planets. The FOV on this EP is 72º and don't think a Nagler with a 2"&1 1/2 barrel is the same, its not when compared to FOV. We used a Celestron 14" scope on a pier with the Sky program using computer tracking and slewing it was wonderful. A real advantage to this EP are two things. One if you have a Goto or manual slewing then if your off, the object will be in the FOV compared to the Nagler. When we were off the Nagler couldn't get even close to it. But we changed to the Proxima and there the objects were on the inside the outer edge. Thank god for a joystick! Couldn't do that without the Proxima, I'm telling you. So my friend who owns this scope says he is selling his Nagler off and buying a Proxima. He has been a avid astronomer for 55 years. I just want to thank Hands On Optics for bringing in this great EP. Scott S.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=93477

There is no Nagler 32 T4. which eyepiece were you comparing ? If it was the 31 T5, it has a FOV of 82*. maybe 
you were comparing Naglers Teleview plossl 32 with a 52* FOV?
   Ray
>Hello all!  My name is Scott S. and I am extremely pleased with the Proxima 31mm EP performance.  I called Hands On Optics and personally thanks Gary and his spouse for providing such a wonderful eyepiece.  Don't let the price fool you.  I evaluated this eyepiece against a Nagler 32mm T4.  This Proxima won against the Nagler hands down. Resolution at the center and outer edges was crisp.   Could you believe it!  You will.  We tested both EP's using M1, M3, M13, M56, M57, M81, M82, M96 and planets.  The FOV on this EP is 72º and don't think a Nagler with a 2"&1 1/2 barrel is the same, its not when compared to FOV.  We used a Celestron 14" scope on a pier with the Sky program using computer tracking and slewing it was wonderful.  A real advantage to this EP are two things.  One if you have a Goto or manual slewing then if your off, the object will be in the FOV compared to the Nagler.  When we were off the Nagler couldn't get even close to it.  But we changed to the Proxima and there the objects were on the inside the outer edge.  Thank god for a joystick!   Couldn't do that without the Proxima, I'm telling you.  So my friend who owns this scope says he is selling his Nagler off and buying a Proxima.  He has been a avid astronomer for 55 years.  I just want to thank Hands On Optics for bringing in this great EP.    Scott S.

GTO Proxima 31mm
Perhaps I got a poor sample, but I had vignetting in both my 80mm F6 achro as well as my 12.5" F5 dob. This reduced the true FOV to about equal to my 32mm 1.25" plossl with softer stars and more skyglow.

The price is nice, but if at all possible, try before you buy.
Mike

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=445107


GTO Proxima 31mm
This 2 inch eyepiece is an exceptional value. I bought it in mid 2003 for use in a 10 inch f/5 Portaball reflector with a Zambuto mirror and a mid 80s vintage Astrophysics 6 inch f/8.

At f/5, I find the edge performance similar to the old TeleVue Widefield eyepieces. A worthwhile improvement over standard erfles, but a little soft at the edges compared with a TeleVue Panoptic. It gives about a 1.7 deg. true field of view in both scopes. In the f/5 it has reasonably sharp star images to about 75% of the field radius (3/4 of the way from center to edge). At f/8, the well corrected field is somewhat larger. Please keep in mind that peoples' tolerance for edge correction varies; however, it is fair to say that the edge correction is at least midway from a standard erfle to a Panoptic. Eye placement is a little touchy, but I got the feel of it before long. One thing I noted is that edge performance drops dramatically on scopes faster than f/5. It performed far worse in an f/4.5 Meade reflector than in my f/5, which I think is the lowest f/ratio that gives acceptable performance with this eyepiece (again, people have different tolerances for edge aberrations).

Fit and finish are decent. Again, no TeleVue, but it doesn't have the look of an eyepiece slapped together from surplus parts either. The light weight construction of this eyepiece contributes to its somewhat unpolished look in comparison to a TeleVue, however, the light weight of this eyepiece is one of its best qualities. It doesn't upset small Dobs.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=334646


GTO Proxima 31mm
First Proxima arrived with loose elements, and retainer ring was bound up so tight (possibly from paint) that it would not budge. So had to go through hassle of returning it for replacement. Deduct a point for quality control.

Compared with University Optics 40mm Konig Mk-70 in Synta-made 10-inch dob from Oceanside (www.optcorp.com). Lense coating on UO is better; light reflection on Proxima is fairly noticable. If you want that big window on space view, UO is much better -- but much of that is certainly due to 40mm for UO versus 31mm for Proxima.

Tried Proxima in Orion 2-inch barlow on M22. View was very sharp over entire field. Definitely must give Proxima high rating for sharp image.

Proxima accepts Orion filters; UO does not.

I got Proxima primarily to use when I wanted higher power than what UO 40mm provides and to use Orion filters. For my purposes, the Proxima is proven to do exactly what I intended for it to do. It compliments the UO 40mm quite well.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:7 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=125104


GTO Proxima 31mm
If your desparate for low power/wide field, this one is pretty economical and may work well in a slow scope. I used one in my F5 for a year, center of view was pretty good but stars in the outer 3rd turned in to seagulls.

Sold it.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:6 Value:7
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=377671


GTO Proxima 31mm
Use with a 8" f7 Discovery dob.
Large clear view that is great for scanning the sky.
90% is perfectly clear, 10% slightly distorted and on noticable with the moon at the very edge.
Great value and enjoy it!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=212512


GTO Proxima 31mm
This is superb eyepiece. 72 degree field for $149 great deal. This eyepiece is better than other 2" eyepieces i have used costing almost twice as much. Sharp across about 80 percent of the field with only a little softness on the edge. Where it does start to break down it is only slight coma not full blown seagulls. I use it on a 10" f5.6 dob. In a slower scope it would be even better. This is got to be the best deal going on a 2" widefield eyepiece.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=193563

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