Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm

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Brand and Model:Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm
Price ($USD):$229.00
Type:Misc Wide Angle
Focal Length:5 mm
Barrel Size:Dual
Apparent FOV:65.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:20 mm
Elements:8
Weight (lbs):
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm
I compared this eyepiece recently against a 5mm University HD ortho, and a Meade 4.7 Ultrawide using a 127 F8 acro. In the past I have compared a 3.5 against a Radian on a Stellarvue 1010. Of course the 5mm Ortho had better resolution, but the Vixen was not bad, and much more comfortable. The Vixen was a lot easier to track manually even with a GP GEM mount.
The Mead 4.7 was pretty clear, but not near as comfortable
(I don't use glasses) as the Vixen LVW.Unlike previous comments, I do not think the Radians beat these eye pieces. The Radians actually seem colored versus the Vixen LVW, and feel much more opaque....I don't care for the 22mm LVW as it blacks out in some scopes.....I do like the focal lengths shorter than that however. Instead of the 22mm I use a TAL24

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=380022

Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm
This eyepiece gives a bit too much magnification for most nights in my 8" f/6 and requires good seeing to be usefull, on the other hand it gives 96X in my 80mm f/6 and is my favorite midpower eyepiece for that scope. I have seen some ghosting in this focal lenth that I did not observe in a borrowed 5mm Radian. I was unable to see any diffrence in sharpness or contrast during a direct comparison against a borrowed Radian, but did not like the click adjustable eyecup arrangement on the Radian, so perfered the slightly heavier and more solid LVSW, with it's larger FOV.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43498

Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm
I get great controst with this eyepiece and it is sharp to the edge.
I use it both on a 102 mm apo and a 8" F4 newt.
My celestron ultima is a little brighter but really by a very small amount.
Overall a great eyepiece.
This was my first lvw.
After this one i bought the 8mm and the 22 mm to.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43497

Vixen Lanthanum Superwide 5mm
Very comfortable eye relief, and overall very sharp on deep sky except at the edge of the fov. In a side by side comparison of the 5mm Vixen LVSW and the 5mm Radian on a night of "average" seeing (around 5-6/10), the Radian showed far more contrast and sharpness in the bands. Two bands were seen clearly in the Vixen while the Radian clearly showed more contrast and sharpness in the 7 bands that were visible. the comparison was done on a 14.5" Dob w/Zambuto mirror and a 4" f/9.8 Vixen Achromat.
As much as I like my 22mm Vixen LVSW, I am glad I went with the Radian for the 5mm. At approximately the same price for the two eyepieces, the Radian is clearly a better eyepiece.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43496

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