Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Eyepiece Reviews:Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm

 Info  Votes  Messages  More Stats  Up One Level
Brand and Model:Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Price ($USD):$179.50
Type:Zoom
Focal Length:8-24 mm
Barrel Size:1.25 in
Apparent FOV:40.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:17 mm
Elements:7
Weight (lbs):0.5
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I purchased the Vixen LV Zoom to "upgrade" from my older GTO 7-21mm zoom and replace two Vixen LV eyepieces in my 6" f/5 Newt and 8" SCT.

Positives? It is extremely comfortable to use with exceptional eye relief, and less sensitive to eye positioning than the Vixen LV's I have. Images are sharp and bright and contrast is good from 9mm-24mm - as good as any high quality plossl.

Negatives? This zoom completely falls apart at 8mm, with the images becoming muddled and dark. FOV also drops off very quickly after you hit about 12mm.

Did it best the $50 GTO zoom? Surprisingly, the GTO matched the Vixen zoom in brightness, contrast and sharpness across the zoom range, however the GTO was sharp all the way down to 7mm. While the GTO's 15mm eye relief made it slightly less comfortable to use, it beat or equalled the Vixen at every comparable magnification.

Finally, in a head to head comparison to the fixed focal length Vixen LV's, the zoom was brighter, but the LV's definately had superior contrast and sharpness, both on planets and brighter deep sky.

This is a great eyepiece, but the GTO zoom equals or beats it at less than a third of the cost.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:8 Value:6
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=367114

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
The best zoom available! the same as the meade or tv zoom, they just have different names on theirs & a lot higher price tag. At 8mm A 60 degree afov & at 24mm the afov is around 40 degrees. really sharp optics & smooth action! pinpoint stars across the field in a 8" f10 scope. highly recommended!

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=74284

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I'm also a professional photographer, I've used zooms for years for the convenience, and now they have come a long way. The Vixen/TV zoom is an incredible eyepiece, If I could only have one eyepiece, or if I could only carry one to a remote location, this would be the one. Very sharp, and decent field of view. I compared my TV click zoom, at the 8mm setting, in a Tak FC100, to my 9mm Nagler T6, on Jupiter, and the views trough the zoom were more pleasant, I could see far more detail in the bands and sharper than with the 9 Nag. I was very surprised and tried it several times. Hihgly recommended.

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=61621

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I brought the LV zoom from the distributor in HK and it costs me about $120 USD :)

Considering the optics, it is much sharper than my Vixen Orthoscopic ( 18mm) and no color distortion. teh LVZ can easily show me the jupiter with 5 - 6 brands in a fair condiction thru my 5" scope. Very sharp at the edge and virutaually no distortion !

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 6 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=63902

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I have a Soligor 8-24 zoom which is the same model as the TV and LV versions.It gives beautifully crisp images through my TV Pronto,be they of the Moon,planets,or stars.The large aFOV at 8mm and the long eye relief are its strong points.Barlow lenses?No problem!Thank God for lanthanum!!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=113125

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I tried this on my TV85. There is much color at the field edge. I did not like the narrow field at the low power. E.R. is very good. Contrast is good. I bought this because the ratings at Excelsis seemed to point to a winner. I was disappointed.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:6 Value:7
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=86449

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
The following comments are based on two sessions, one with the Coronado PST (f/11) and the other with a Celestron C90 (f/11) scope at night. I own about 30 eyepieces and so far my highest rating goes to my 14mm Meade UWA which got a 9.

Some people have reported that the EP performs poorly at 8mm but I did not find this to be the case. The magnification jump from 24mm to 8mm is considerable-- so yeah, light spread/dimness would give the impression that the EP performed poorly at 8mm.

Here's the good news:

The eyepiece is sharp and contrasty throughout its zoom range. I saw all four stars of the Trapezium at all focal lengths (beautifully pinpoint at 24mm). Obviously it gets dimmer at higher magnifications and it does seem a tad darker than my other eyepieces. With star gazing, center performance is comparable with my 25mm GSO Plossl, 20mm Tele Vue Plossl, 14mm Maxview Scopetronix and 7mm UO Ortho. Zoomed to 8mm, detail is just as sharp as my 9mm T1 Nagler on the PST. Wonderful orange peel texture of the solar disk, filaments and prominences for both the Vixen zoom and the 9mm T1 Nag.

Very good eye relief and very comfortable, even an 8mm. Less black out than 9mm T1 Nagler for the Coronado PST.

Solid feeling build (but note problem below).

Eye cup is excellent and foldable. Don't really need to shield your eye when used on the PST.


And the NOT so good:

Varifocal. One must refocus slightly with zooming.

The zoom is viscous/tight in cold weather. Be careful not to grind in nasty set screw marks while zooming.

Slight slop/lag in the zoom.

Narrow AFOV (I'm spoilt on Naglers and UWAs).

Seems to have a wee bit more color fringing than the Plossls but less "flaring" at the extreme edge (but then this EP has a small AFOV).

-S&B

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=417645

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Very sharp optics. Sharp to the edge. good contrast. The field of view is alittle narrow, but the convenience of zooming in and out makes up for it. Very versitle.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=300371

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
smooth zoom function! great optics! how can anyone not like the views thru one of these? ive owned just about every zoom on the market & liked this one as well as the most expensive ones.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=66464

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
this the best of the zooms as far as quality & especially price. tack sharp in my 10" f5.6 dob & in my 6" f8 refractor. i highly recommend this one to all. meade & tv also have really good ones, price is the difference, why pay more for the same eyepiece?

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43625

[Click Here to Login]
Don't have a login? Register!

Jay Freeman's Eyepiece Primer
Starting out in Amateur Astronomy
 
How to use This Site
Why Register?
Voting Guide