Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm

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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
All I can say is FANTASTIC! I've been A/B comparing this eyepiece to my Meade 9mm Orthoscopic for some time now in both deep sky and planetary roles. Orthoscopic eyepieces are widely recognized as the bench mark for all other eyepiece designs for contrast and resolution and are highly regarded by planetary observers for this reason. Their only draw back is a narrow AFOV and relatively high cost. They have fallen out of favor of the masses recently because of this. In the end, the Seibert 10mm performed at least as well as the Ortho, but as a bonus provided a much wider field of view. The eye relief is good for a 10mm but the slight (and I do mean slight) coma present at the edge in the other focal lengths remains. Some examples of the results I saw in some pretty tough (but real life) tests...

In my back yard:

I directly A/B'd the Siebert 10mm to the ortho on numerous objects. On every object I looked for the dimest stars I could detect. In both eyepieces these turned out to be the same stars.

Comparing the field around M57 (Ring Nebula) to a chart showing magnitudes of some of the nearby stars, the nearby mag 13.1 star was just as easy to see in both eyepieces.

Looking at M57 itself and the Swan nebula in Sagitarus yielded visually identical views, with the arch of the "neck" just barely visable under Mag 4.5 skies.

At a recent star party under mag 6+ skies:

I pointed my 8" f/6 newtonian at M22 in Sagitarus. This eyepiece resolved pin prick stars clear to the core and extended all the way to the edge of the field of view. It litterally looked like diamond dust scattered on black velvet. A guy setup next to me who used Nagler lenses exlusively on his 14.5" scope was very impressed by the view and asked what kind of eyepiece it was. He about fell over when I told him what it was (and what I paid for it). I think that speaks loads about this eyepiece in of itself...

The tentacles of the Orion Nebula's outskirts extended well beyond the nebula itself, and stucture within the nebula was very obvious. If I was told I was looking at a photograph, I would have believed it. This view was impossible in the 9mm Ortho, not because the detail could not be seen, but because the FOV is too narrow to take in the entire nebula and it's extents (while the 10mm Siebert nearly can).

Several bands of Jupiter were clearly seen and cloud patterns where just starting to become detectable. The Great Red Spot was detectable (but not "observable" - remember this is only 120x!), and a shadow from Europa cast cleanly onto the cloud surface. Later, you could actually see Europa in transit across the disk! Compared to the 9mm Ortho, the 10mm Siebert provided equal, if not better, views (I thought they were pretty much the same while the guy I was with felt the 10mm gave better contrast in the cloud bands). The Cassini division in Saturn's rings were also easilly spotted, as well as a band or two on Saturn itself. Amazing!

In the end and after several months of using these eyepieces, I've decided the entire line up of Siebert's 10-18mm eyepieces are winners. I have already recomended these eyepieces to others. The performance of them all is outstanding and the price means you can afford more than one with change left over. The 10 has probably become my most used eyepiece and I will now sell my 9mm "benchmark" Ortho as I see no real compelling reason to keep it.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44023

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I got a chance to use my new 10mm siebert last night and did some critical comparing to a nagler and panoptic. After about 3 hours of tests we found that the only thing the naglers and panoptics had over the 10mm , 12.5mm, and 7mm sieberts were more field and a little sharper on the edge. The sieberts seemed to edge them out in sharpness and contrast and had a nice plenty sharp field that started to break down a 3rd from the edge but was only slight. A remarkable eyepiece. If it cost $200 i would give it a 9 but at $40 dollars its a definetely a 10. Keep up the good work harry.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44024

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Well, I dont have anything to compare this eyepiece to. Its my second one. It gives me very clear, crisp images. All i can say is that it gives me everything i would want in an eyepiece, at a price a young person like myself is attracted too. $40? Can anyone beat that? Didnt think so...

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44025

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
My primary Ep's have always been the Meade 4000 series. I bought a set of Harry's EP's, and now I'm going to sell my Meade's. Harry's are at least as clear and sharp, have lots more FOV, and cost less! It's so enjoyable looking through a big piece of glass which encourages me to look for longer periods of time as opposed to Meade's tiny lenses. And if all this wasn't good enough, Harry is just the nicest person to deal with. As busy as he is, he always makes the time to talk with you and answer your emails. The eyepieces' appearance has been critcized as looking a bit "home-made", but who cares. They are well made and they look fine. And to repeat from another reviewer: eyepieces are for looking through, not at.

Good job, Harry, and I look forward to doing business with you in the future.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Harrys 10mm wa is just awesome in my 10f/9 scope. the views are crisp and clear to almost to the edge of the fov. the brightness is brighter than a u.O. 9mm and it has a good eye relief for this size eyepiece. i would buy from harry anytime

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=44029

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I got 5 Harry Siebert wide angle eyepieces 2 days ago (7, 10, 12.5, 15, 21 mm) and yesterday I make a one-to-one comparison with my other eyepieces (Ploessls, Kellners, Orthos). I had a look at the moon and some stars. To make a long story
short - all my former EPs in this focalrange slip a notch. The Siebert's shows the same (or more) details and contrast and were allmost sharp to the edge (up to 90% of axis in my f/7 Newton). The generous FOV in the Sieberts is about 65 deg. which is very pleasing to the eye (though eyerelief is short). Surprisingly this 10 mm EP could outperform and replace with ease 3 of my former eyepieces (worth ca. 200$!) including my former favourite 12.5 mm ortho.
I strongly recommend this EP to everyone (without glasses). Even without considering the price I give a 10!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
It has become my standard eyepiece, since it has a wider exit pupil than the 10 mm Plossl that came with my refractor. Images are very clear edge to edge and the brightness is excellent.

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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Very sharp eyepiece, all the way to the edge on my Pronto and DGM OA-4.

Goes neck and neck with my University Optics 12mm Ortho, perhaps a touch sharper.

It doesn't have the fit and finish of my 18mm Radian, but the image is just as sharp and contrasty.

While the eye relief is a tad short, the size of the eye lense (~13mm) makes the ep a joy to look through.

Despite the large variety of "high end" (read expensive) ep's in my collection (Televue, Vixen, Celestron), this ep has been permanently added to the case of eps I actually take out. It simply beats everything else in sharpness and contrast.

Best kept secret there is in eps. Harry is doing us all a tremendous service in keeping these affordable despite their high level of performance!

Gotta rate 'em "10"!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 13 (Trustworthy Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I was skeptical about purchasing optics from what is very obviously a home-grown business, but wow! I can't imagine doing better for $40.

Okay, to put this in perspective, I'm new to this hobby. I've got an Orion (Apex) 127mm Mak-Cass with the standard Orion (Sirius) 26mm Plossl and a 2x barlow. The combo of those two gives and equivalent magnification in the same general ballpark as the HS 10mm, but there is no comparison in contrast and detail -- all the way out to the edge. Plus, I love the large glass Harry uses.
And the shipping is reasonable ($4.60) and I had the eyepiece in my hands 2 days after ordering it.

The only downside is the exterior appearance leaves a bit to be desired. Personally, I don't care what it looks like on the outside, just how it looks through the glass.

So while I can't compare the visual performance of this eyepiece to the big buck versions, I can say that I'll be going back to Harry to expand my collection.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 16 (Trustworthy Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=64721

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Excellent quality and service

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=78874

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Hello,

this is my second Siebert EP bought in Germany - see my rating for the 21 mm Standard EP. Also a very good EP! I use it with a 8" f/6 DOB and are very satified! Very good FOV (good feature for a DOB!) distortions are not so significant as with the 21 mm, eye-relief seems to be a little bit longer as with the 21 mm - one word - GREAT!

Willi Warkowski
warkowski@netcologne.de

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=139853

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Great eyepiece on my f4.5. For $49 a solid 10

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Poor cosmetics. Soft edge optically.

Overall Rating: 5
Optics:7 Value:7
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=178422

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
A typical plossl in the same price range just can't compare. The reason i give it a 8 for value is the the funky o-ring filter holder that the version of mine has and the reason overall gets a 7 is the funky o-ring came off of mine [though i think he may have changed that filter mounting system by now? If he has it would get 9's there, too].

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:9 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I've owned three of Harry's standard ep's: 7mm, 10, 15. All are a great for the price. Better than plossl's, especially at the shorter focal lengths. The only reason I sold mine was because I needed more eye relief due to the need to wear glasses. If your looking to upgrade from the ep's sold with your telescope, these are the way to go. Highly recommended!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I have the 10mm and 15mm standard and they sit in my ep box never touched. You get what you pay for and $49 is pushing it for these eps.

Overall Rating: 5
Optics:6 Value:5
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=269109

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I've been using this on a 90mm Synta Refractor, and I'm very pleased! Sharpness, detail, contrast and color-correctness are all terrific in all but the last 10-15% towards the edge. There, the view begins to fall off, but gradually. The "sweet spot" is still larger than my UO orthoscopics entire FOV! Eye relief is also much better than the orthos as well. I actually get more contrast and detail from this eyepiece used with my 2x barlow than I do from my 6mm UO ortho by itself! There is some slight ghosting with very bright objects (like Saturn), but not so much that it is distracting (I tend to forget it's there after a while). You would need to be a very critical person to not like Harry's work. When you compare this eyepiece to any other in the price range, you realize two things: the Big Name companies are ripping people off, and you will never part with this jewel!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=331419

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
I love these eyepieces!These are very clear and offer wider views than my orthos on the planets in my Ar-6 refractor.I use this eyepiece as well as the 12.5 and 15mm focal lengths barlowed,(Orion shorty plus).In my opinion these images are the best that one can get out of a non apo acromat.I can sit and look at the Cassini div as well as extensive equatorial banding on Saturn.Jupiter is also a joy.These are strictly my planetary/lunar eyepieces.You can get similar images from more expensive eyepieces but for the price these are hard to beat.Harry was also a very nice guy to deal with.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Horrible eyepiece in every scope I have tried it in. Like the other reviewer, this one sits in my eyepiece case and collects dust.

Overall Rating: 1
Optics:1 Value:0
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=419912

Harry Siebert Optics Standard 10mm
Wonderful and versatile eyepiece - often the best view I have, especially for objects like close clusters and planetary nebulae. Fantastic for viewing the great nebula in Orion. Also useful for getting the best view of double stars in my SCT. Comparable in quality to my UO HD 7mm except a wider field and more forgiving exit pupil. Usually the Siebert wins out over the UO except on bright planets where there can be some ghosting. In my opinion, one of the best kept secrets in amateur astronomy - if it weren't a secret, surely people wouldn't be spending $200-$300 on eyepieces that give only marginally better views at the edge of the field... or would they?

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 9 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
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