Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm

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Brand and Model:Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
Price ($USD):$69.00
Type:Plossl
Focal Length:5.1 mm
Barrel Size:1.25 in
Apparent FOV:55.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:20 mm
Elements:6
Weight (lbs):
Description:

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Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
I bought the Epic ED-2 5.1mm for my 10" F:5 (XT10) newt for until I can try out some of the higher-price (Radian, Pentax) eyepieces (don't want to spend that much money and not know how it will perform). For the price, it can't beat. The edges are soft, but the rest of the FOV is pretty good. I have so far tried it on the Moon, M13, and M57. It performed well on all. I don't wear glasses, but my parents do, and when I take the telescope to star-parties the 20mm er will be good for people that wear glasses. If you need a good eyepiece with good eye relief at a very good price, I would recommend this. I will update when I can try it on my 4.5" F:8 newt to see how it does.

*Update* 10-30-2002
After 2-3weeks of clouds, it finally cleared up last night. I was able to use the 5.1mm some more. It seems not to be quite as sharp as I previously thought, but it COULD have been since the seeing was not perfect, but it was good enough that it should have been better. As I said, it is a good eyepiece if you need the long eye relief, but for me it is a bit too much, and the lost crispness over my 9mm Plossl is not aceptable for me. Prehaps the longer focal length one would provide a better view. I am thinking about replacing it with a TeleVue 11mm Plossl and 2X barlow, or if I can convince myself to spend that kind of money, a 7mm Type6 Nagler or 6mm Radian.

Noah

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:6 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=139968

Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
I used this ep one more than several occassions, with varied seeing conditions. I'm no expert, but this ep seems very dependent on just the right circumstances.
Most viewing was done under either moderate to heavily light-polluted skies. I found that even the planets were much less sharper and contrasty than my star party plossls (inexpensive). The only times this ep performed well was under very dark skies, and very steady, transparent conditions. I was able to discern individual stars in some very tight globular clusters in Sag. This ep is a disappointment for those looking to comfortably wear glasses while viewing at high powers.

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=413159

Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
If you aren't sure you want to delve into this part of the e.p. spectrum, and just want to check out hi-power eyepieces in general, this is a harmless purchase. If you have a decent refractor, want to do planets with a little more "ooomph" than the factory issue 10mm and 26mm eyepieces, then this is the ticket.
Be forewarned: this is a very addictive area in the e.p. arena. There are a lot of very expensive units out here. If you really want to do planets, invest in quality if you can swing it. Check out the Takahashi 2.8 or 3.6 HiLE eyepieces, or the TeleVue Radians. Both offer excellent image quality at prices well below the Pentax XW and TeleVue Nagler lines.
The Orion Epic 5.1 does not have the optical quality to Barlow in any but the most calm seeing conditions, therefore has, in my opinion, less utility. It's not fair to judge one of these with more expensive units - you do usually get what you pay for - but if you have a refractor in the 60 to 100 mm range, live in an area with moderate to good seeing, and have a very steady mount, this is a good introductory e.p. for beginning planetary observing.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=363569

Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
O.K. It's cheap and it looks flash. the ED2 5.1mm has long eye relief (as long as you can position your eye +/- 0.5mm of FOV centre, otherwise it's blackout city). I do not have enough experience to grade the optics against premium pieces, however it performs no better than a standard Plossl and about the same as the Orion explorer 2 zoom which can't be good. Mine has some internal dirt which means I have discovered a small black hole in Saturn (also in Jupiter and the moon). Unless mine is a one off lemon avoid.

Overall Rating: 6
Optics:5 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=215134

Orion Epic ED-2 5.1mm
this eyepiece would not focus at all in the outer 50% of the field of view at any f/ratio from 4.5 to 10. It is the worst eyepiece I have every bought.

Overall Rating: 0
Optics:0 Value:0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=166740

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