Orion Ultrascopic 5mm

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Brand and Model:Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
Price ($USD):$95.00
Type:Plossl
Focal Length:5 mm
Barrel Size:1.25 in
Apparent FOV:52.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:0 mm
Elements:7
Weight (lbs):0.0
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
I purchased this eyepiece as a longer eye relief alternative to my venerable 5mm ortho (which practically puts my eye out). Eye relief was luxurious compared most 5mm's and I was impressed with its sharp and contrasty views of globulars, Saturn and Jupiter at 150x. Sharpness and contrast was not as good as the ortho, but very nice.

However, when I turned it to the moon I was shocked! Internal reflections and ghosting were so severe that they rendered the eyepiece completely useless for lunar observation. Images and the sky background were severely fogged, with a pronounced ghost ring about 5 degrees from the edge of the field of view.

This was by far the worst performance of any premium ocular I have ever seen. I'm being generous with a 6 because of its nice eye relief and planetary views, but I cannot recommend it. I've gone back to my 5mm ortho and a 9mm U.O. ortho barlowed instead.

Overall Rating: 6
Optics:6 Value:5
Weight: 11 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=136746 

>I purchased this eyepiece as a longer eye relief alternative to my venerable 5mm ortho (which practically puts my eye out).  Eye relief was luxurious compared most 5mm's and I was impressed with its sharp and contrasty views of globulars, Saturn and Jupiter at 150x.  Sharpness and contrast was not as good as the ortho, but very nice.
>
>However, when I turned it to the moon I was shocked!  Internal reflections and ghosting were so severe that they rendered the eyepiece completely useless for lunar observation.  Images and the sky background were severely fogged, with a pronounced ghost ring about 5 degrees from the edge of the field of view.
>
>This was by far the worst performance of any premium ocular I have ever seen.  I'm being generous with a 6 because of its nice eye relief and planetary views, but I cannot recommend it.  I've gone back to my 5mm ortho and a 9mm U.O. ortho barlowed instead.

Impossible! You must have an defective one! Mine is tack sharp, gives extremely good contrast, tack sharp to the edge, flat fields, never any ghosting detected, good for moon and DSO that can take high mag. Tested on F/5 and F4.7 Newton scopes.
Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
very nice eyepiece. Much more comfortable than the Ultrascopic 7.5 (7.5 does not use a built in barlow). Views are very crisp and contrasty to the edge, in my TV Genesis SDF. Great Ep at a reasonable price.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=103838

Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
Great ep for the price, best one in my case!

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=407800

Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
Glare and internal reflection on the moon are simply outrageous. Brilliance is also very low. A poor eyepiece!

Overall Rating: 6
Optics:5 Value:6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=205450

Orion Ultrascopic 5mm
All around a nice eyepiece. I think the FOV is a little less than the advertised 52 degrees, perhaps closer to 50. Employs a 2 element barlow. Eye relief a little more than the Meade 9.7 super plossl, maybe around 10mm.
In my 8" f/6, about 30X per inch, Jupiter displays it's bands, and coloration in the north and south zones. The eyepiece is sharp, but there is a little color around the edge of Jupiter. I didn't have very good seeing when I first looked. I'll continue tests.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44251

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