Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm

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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Star images are crisp throughout the entire FOV with only a very slight distortion at the extreme edge. Excellent lunar and planetary contrast although there was a bit of light scattering noticed while viewing Jupiter but none with Saturn. Very smooth zoom operation which requires very little refocusing throughout its range. Excellent for planetary obsevation.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Good convenient eyepiece. May not offer the quality of higher end eyepieces, but this really just depends on how picky you are about images. Works better with long focal length telescopes than with short focal length telescopes. Good for telescopes that have no tracking ability since you do not have to switch out eyepieces. Gives somewhat soft images on the lower end (8-10") depending upon the magnification and the telescope. Performed wonderfully on my 6" f8, so-so on my 80WA refractor, and okay on my 10"f/5 dob. Some people love this eyepiece, others don't like it. Definately try before you buy if possible.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Ultimate convenience for ETX 90, super sharp through 10-24mm, less contrasty below 9mm. The "minimalist's kit" with barlow. Soo crisp on lunar, justifies lingering. Great medium-power piece with "average" field of view. Surprisingly bright.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Much better than I thought it would be. Compares well with brandons and much wider field. Good brightness and sharp mostly to the edge. Smooth zoom and good finish and coatings. I bought another for a different scope. May buy two more for a 125mm bino I am making.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I got the Tel Vue 8-24mm zoom which is the same as the vixen one for xmas this year and it's one of my most used ep's. Great eye relief, fov at higher powers is very good but above 20 to 24mm its a little tight. Contrast is outstanding, its like having a variable contrast ep and you don't have to change any ep's.The sharpness is as good if not better than almost all the plossls I have looked at including some Ultima's and 4000 Meade's. The sharpness is on par with the Vixen Lanthium ep's. The only thing I could say is that at lower than 9MM it's not as sharp but from 9 to 24mm its really great. I really recomend this EP, even though early versions have been reviewd by Ed Ting and others stating that its so so, I feel they must have made improvements cause this one performs outstandingly well.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Bought the 8-24 zoom a few weeks ago. Very smooth mechanically through its range of travel. The images produced by the eyepiece are crisp and bright. I did compare it with the stock plossl's that came with my scope 10 and 20mm and the results are significantly better with the 8-24 zoom at the same power. The zoom is really handy if you wear glasses with the long eye relief. Very nice to have if you have guests looking through your scope. You can zoom in or out as needed without having to change the eyepiece. Another use if you are at high power and do not have auto tracking on your scope and the image drifts out of view at high power you can reduce the magnifcation easily and catch the object and zoom back to a higher power if desired. The only negative I noticed about the 8-24 is at 8mm that the image degrades a little but as stated earlier. However from 9-24 its super. Over all im very pleased. I'd give the 8-24 a solid 9.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Really a great and very convenient eyepiece. Views are clear and bright although not as sharp as truly high-end fixed focal length ep's, but the zoom is loads of fun. It's a great deal for the money.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
GREAT EYEPIECE, TACK SHARP IMAGES OF THE MOON AT 8MM WITH A 2X BARLOW ON A 6"CELESTRON REFRACTER. BEST CONTRAST OF THE MOON IVE EVER SEEN AT 300 X. I THINK JUST ABOUT ANYONE WOULD BE PLEASE WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS EYEPIECE.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
There are probably better eyepieces out there with single focal lengths but for a zoom to perform this well over it's range, I give it a solid 10. It's good enough that I bought another one and they are my most used eyepieces on the seven scopes I use. Large refractors, SCT's and MAK's. I did a critical test comparing the 8mm Brandon with the 9-24 and there was no contest. Sharper and brighter with larger field of view.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43610

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
The Vixen Lanthanum Zoom is a great value and I use it more than any other eyepiece. It comes in handy when you are climbing in power because you are never at risk of losing the object. The views are sharp and contrasty throughout the range of magnification with little refocusing required. This eyepiece performs just as well as any fixed focal length plossl. Even at 8mm the eye relief is great. The only reason I give it a 9 is because of the small aparent field from 16mm to 24mm. In this range I prefer something wider.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Excellent value for the $. If you've just bought an expensive new scope (I got an LX90) and can only get away with one add'l eyepiece purchase without getting pummeled by your better half, go for this one. Excellent contrast and sharpness throughout the range, great for extended viewing. I won't get much use out of the 26mm that came with the scope now that I have the Vixen. It and a barlow could keep most people from whipping out the wallet for a good while. And you'll never be saying "Gee, I wish had something in between my Xmm and my Ymm".

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Excellent eyepiece, I've owned several now for various lengths of time, and believe I will allways have at least one in my collection. I have since aquired a good set of premium eyepieces, and now find myself using the zoom less and less because I have better options for most given tasks, but the 8-24 LV-Zoom is, after all, a compromise. While perhapse not as good at any single task, it's not limited to a single specialty like many of the premiums. So while there are better specialty eyepieces for a given task, hardly any seem to be as versital, or perform as well at such a variety of tasks. Mostly I use mine now to dial in just the right magnification for viewing elusive deep sky objects, after finding it in a wide field, then switch to a better premium eyepiece in that magnification range. I also use it as an eyepiece to leave in my 80 f/6 while I use my premium eyepieces in my bigger scopes. It's also great for daytime use when I use my 80 f/6 as a spotting scope. Often I don't want to take a whole case of eyepieces with me for daytime outings, so I just slip the zoom into the diagnal, and it's the only eyepiece I usually need. It also works really well with my Ultima Barlow. Sometimes when I go out for a quick look at the planets I take the zoom and the barlow, together with this gives me from 20x to 180x using various combination/configurations. Ad a 26mm Plossl, or better yet a 22mm LVSW, and you have a very versitle collection.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
You need this eyepiece. Available for 160-170 at serveral dealers. (do a thorough web search and you'll see what I mean) I've a decent collection of Televue ep's, but this is the first ep out, and spends the most time on my scope (an LX90). It's a fine investment and views rival many more expensive fixed length ep's.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
I've the one with the Tele Vue label, and it's supposed to be the same one with the Vixen LV zoom. The more I use it, the more I love it. The image is excellent all the time in my f/6.8 refractor. I've seen the Cassini division, the GRS and the cloud bands of (2 to 3) Saturn and (over 8) Jupiter without averted vision in a 70mm refractor with a cheapy barlow!
Highly recommended without any reservation.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43618

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Very good eyepiece. More versatile than any other. I've used it in various refractors, newtonians and SCTs. It has performed well in all. Contrast and sharpness are as good as most premium eyepieces. It also barlows well. The eye relief is great and the foling eyecup is very good. The zoom action is smooth. I don't leave home without this eyepiece. In a pinch, this zoom with a good barlow and one low power wide field eyepiece is all you need.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43619

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Very good eyepiece, especially at the lower power end (as long as you don't mind the small FoV at low power). Contrast is good but not excellent. It gets a tad soft from about 9mm, hence only 9/10. Excellent with my x2 Ultima Barlow. This e/p, the Barlow and my 32mm Plossl (for wider views) are all the e/p's I need. It enables finding tghe best mag for some of the trickier DSOs and has also led to hours of childlike fun zooming in and out around the Lunar terminator .

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43620

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
tv, meade, orion, they all claim to be the best, ive owned all within the last 2 years. there is only one best, it is the vixen Lv 8-24 zoom. unequaled clarity, construction, optics. you want the best here it is. pin point stars. very good eye relief. there non better i guarantee...

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43621

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
Too much color aberration, too narrow a field of view (especially at 24mm), poor
image quality at the 8mm end, soft images in general compared to separate eyepieces, and recessed groove to prevent eyepiece from falling out of scope is
positioned wrong for the eyepiece screw in all 3 of my scopes.
Nonetheless, a blast to use. I use it in my spotting scope all the time.
I hope there is a revolution in zoom eyepieces and we get some better ones (like the 5-8mm Antares Speers-Waler) because zoom eyepieces are so much fun to use.

Overall Rating: 5
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43624

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:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43625

Vixen Lanthanum Zoom 8mm-24mm
A Very nice eyepiece with only 1 problem, The last 10% of the FOV the stars are a bit elongated (although this may be induced by my own astigmatic eyes) Therefore a 9.
Barlow or better yet a powermate will complement it very nice along with a wide-angle eyepiece (Can you say 31N5?). All the eyepieces one ever might need!.

With a TV/Vixen-zoom who needs a drawer full of eyepieces?

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43626

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