Meade Super Plossl 15mm

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Brand and Model:Meade Super Plossl 15mm
Price ($USD):$79.95
Type:Plossl
Focal Length:15 mm
Barrel Size:1.25 in
Apparent FOV:52.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:9 mm
Elements:4
Weight (lbs):0.3
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Meade Super Plossl 15mm
I have a japan version of this eyepeiece and love it! The contrast is excellent with very little edge distortion. This eyepiece barlows very well with my celestron ultima 2x. I also have a 12mm Nagler which IS my favorite eyepiece, but I often find myself using this 15mm just to get a more narrow field of view for small globular clusters and also planets. This eyepiece performs equally well in my 13.1 f4.5 Coulter and C8 f/10. Oh, I did purchase this eyepiece for about $50 used but I would also deem it a great buy at full retail. I have looked through the non-japanese versions and was less pleased even though they still good eyepieces....reason was mainly dimmer and less contrast than mine.

Scott

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=179752

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
Good eyepiece. Only good, not very good. Expected more.

Good contrast, but not as good as expected (aka, old japanese S4000). Good sharpness, but have seen better eyepieces. Field correction es very good to the very edge, down to f:5. Very comfortable, perfect eye relief.

I´d go for an Ultima or TV instead of theese new "oriental" S4000....

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=348956

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
One of the newer Chinese versions, I expected better when I bought it. Eye relief seem shorter than spec, contrast and clarity are just average. I had a no-name 16mm plossl that just blew it away, should have kept that one and sold this.

Overall Rating: 5
Optics:6 Value:4
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=345531

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
A fine eyepiece, better than the Plossl 3000 series.
The price is a bit higher than the 3000, but it worth it: no black-out and more comfortable view, because of its better eye relief.
The only thing I don't like is the phantom image viewing bright object (Jupiter, Saturn, ...)

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=64660

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
Good eyepiece, clear views to the edge.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42697

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
very good eyepiece, about the same FOV as my 18mm UO orthoscopic,
clear to the edge, very bright and sharp, used in my 16"f12 Cas
and 6"f10 refractor.
miroslav variable stars observer

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42695

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
The 15 is the perfect Focal lentgh it seems for globulars and planets in my C9.25 when the seeing isn't quite good enough for higher powers. It is sharp to the field stop and has excellent contrast, even when compared to other premium eyepieces like the Televues and the Ultimas. I suspected that the TV's and the Ultima is a tad more contrasty, but it is so close to not make a difference that much. On another scope I found that the Meade was the same in performance as the other 2. Go figure. The first one I bought had a rattling lens in it, which I could not fix because the newer Meade eyepieces have a pressed in, rather than a screw in flange that holds in the lens. I took it back and the second one was near perfect.
A lot of people CAN Meade products for various reasons and I feel there is a lot of bias and loyalty out there for particular product lines. I can only say that when people decide to bad mouth a particular product, they should at least TRY to be subjective, and give constructive critizm rather than have a knee jerk emotional reaction. We are all trying to learn from each other here.
BTW TV's are now made in TAIWAN, were the Meades and Ultimas are still made in Japan. GO FIGURE?

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42694

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
Very disappointing. Least used of all my eyepieces. Can't seem to give it away.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42693

Meade Super Plossl 15mm
I gave the 6 rating at the top of this page. I stand by it and will explain why. I see entirely too many 9 and 10 ratings here that are not "subjective". My EP does not have a loose element in it. If it did, even if replaced, how could I possibly rate it a 9! This series of EP's is in the same price range as TV's and Ultima's, yet performs at a lower level. Contrast and sharpness to the field stop is inferior in the Meade in direct comparison. Light throughput also seems to be lower than it should be given the number of elements. An 18mm UO or Pocono Ortho supplies superior views in regards to a black sky background and brighter stars with a comparable FOV. I know the orthos have 4 elements, but only one more should not account for the level of drop(given identicla optical quality). They sell for less than 1/2 the price. The Meade's eyecup is nice as is it's plastic container. Am I brand loyal? Yes. You've got me pegged there. I didn't used to be. The reason; I have own(ed) or observed through all the EP's that I comment about. A vast majority of the time my comparisons are made in the field with direct EP swaps. I've even found recently that scope-to-scope swaps are an invaluable tool. A friend of mine has a small collection of Meade UWA's and SWA's. I like them. When we put in a similar TV Nagler or Panoptic(blind test, I don't say up front what it is), I hear "Wow, that's a really nice EP!" I try to remain neutral, in fact, I often find myself rooting for the cheaper EP because price is a consideration to be dealt with in evaluating any piece of equipment. The proof's in the pudding! 6.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42696

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