Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm

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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Great sharpness on axis, but poor at edge of field (similar to the U/O 40mm Konig MK-70 and Meade 40mm SWA in this regard). Excellent contrast. Adequate eye relief for glasses. Serious problem at the edge of the field leaves very bright objects blazing with the worst blue color fringing (lateral color) problem I've ever seen in an eyepiece, so don't try this one on the moon (unless it is kept from the edge). If used exclusively on dark sky objects it is excellent. Without this problem it would be a solid 9.

Overall Rating: 8
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
A value priced nebulae wower. Great light transmission, very sharp except for the edge.

Overall Rating: 9
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Very nice eyepiece for the money--a good replacement for the 31mm Nagler T5 if you don't have $600 to spend. Huge apparent field. Performs well even at f/4, especially with the Televue Paracorr. Bright images. Pinpoint stars out to about 90% AFOV. Could improve a little (not by much) in contrast and the edge of field performance, otherwise a "10". Very happy with this one.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
It is light and small compare with Nagler 31mm or Leitz 30mm, all wide field eyepiece is suitable for deepsky object observation with long focal ratio telescope, such that the image is enlarged enough but still be able to cover the whole FOV. It shown sharp image at the center area, but the eye relief is short.
It is not an extreme high contrast widefield eyepiece.
kkchiu@pacific.net.hk
20001106

Overall Rating: 8
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Outstanding wide-field eyepiece, almost the widest possible field in a 2" format. High transparency, excellent contrast. Sharp to the edge at f/10.

Overall Rating: 9
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Great Eyepiece!!
FOV is HUGE, contrast is excellent. Views are clear to the edge.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43804

Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
The FOV is huge. Comparable to the 31mm Nagler at 1/3 the price. Field gets a little soft starting about 2/3rds out, in my 12.5" f/4.8 But so does the 31 Ngaler, just not quite as bad. The Veil is stunning. as is the North American and Lagoon Nebulae. Great for bright galaxy fields Like Markarians Chain in Virgo. Apogee has this EP for $199

Jim Nadeau

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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Views are bright, but only 70 deg sharp in F/4.
Good for price.

Overall Rating: 9
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Awesome eyepiece that weighs 1.1 lbs. It is true that the edge is soft, but I'm not bothered by it since the field of view is so large. Excellent light transmission and wide field of view makes nebula viewing easy and fun to do. Also good in my f5 telescopes since the exit pupil is kept to 6mm (I like to keep on the safe side when it comes to exit pupils). Will replace my televue 32mm plossl as my main low power eyepiece. Clusters also look much better in this eyepiece as well. I was able to find the crab nebula in mag 3-3.4 skies with this eyepiece, where as I couldn't find it in the Televue plossl (had to move the eypeice around a bit to find it though, couldn't see it by just looking through the eypeice.)

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
This eyepiece reminds me of what a 30mm Panoptic would be like without the 68 degree field stop. I recently sold away a 27mm Panoptic in favor of this eyepiece and the edge quality problems appear to be exactly the same to my eye, angle for angle, between the two eyepieces in my f/10 C102. The only real difference between the two is lack of an eyecup on the Widescan II and far more comfort when finding objects and viewing large fields. I much prefer the Widescan over the 27mm Panoptic; it is like a 31mm Nagler but how a konig would be if expanded to allow 85 degrees of apparent field of view. Not perfect and frankly disappointing if you are expecting it to be a Nagler, but everything said above in other reviews about the good contrast and sharpness within about 60 degrees is true. For the price it is basically a bargain; how many other Panoptic level eyepieces are available for $200 in this focal length range?
Jeff Quinn

Overall Rating: 9
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
I've never made much use of my 2inch eyepieces in my C8, feeling that they weren't worth the bother. But this eyepiece changed that, and is absolutely great in my C8. It gives the bright "porthole into space" experience that was somewhat lacking when I used my other higher power, 82 degree field eyepieces. In my 14.5inch dob, I couldn't get it to focus with the Paracorr. What some people describe as image softness at the Widescan's edges, I would describe as distortion. And to me it seems more annoying in f/4.5 and f6 telescopes, than in my f/10 C8. Thus if you have a fast telescope and tend to get annoyed with edge distortion at the periphery of your vision, I don't think you would like the Widescan. You will just have to get a 31mm Nagler instead. But if you have a slow telescope, and are not annoyed by edge distortion of the type seen in Erfles and Konigs, I think you will love this eyepiece.

Overall Rating: 8
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Further to my comments above - that the Widescan's edge distortion is similar to that found in Konigs and Erfles - I have directly compared the 30mm Widescan to my old 40mm Konig in my C8. I find that the Widescan's edge distortion is only about half as severe as the Konig's. Thus there is less distortion at the edge of the Widescan's 84 degree field, than at the edge of the Konig's approximately 60-65 degree field.

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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
This eyepiece is great looking & performs great! ive used it on the moon &, planets with a barlow. Deep sky is awsome!! Star clusters & galaxies are what this eyepiece is made for! i own a meade 12.5" f4.8 & the views thru this eyepiece are amazing!! a little soft at the edges but at f4.8 what would you expect! cost is $ 210.00 shipped to your door, why spend $ 600.00 for the tv 31mm nagler at $ 400.00 more? give this one a try, you wont be dissapointed!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43811

Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
This eyepiece sucks one into the views like no other eyepiece I’ve ever used. It is much lighter than a Panoptic 35mm with a much wider AFOV. The edge falls off quite a bit and shows false color, especially in fast scopes, but this does not particularly bother me in this focal length. This is a superb finder eyepiece and Milky Way cruising eyepiece for astronomy, and very nice for daytime views in a refractor as well.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Extremely wide apparent field, with good contrast everywhere, and a very sharp image over most of the field. There is a little astigmatism and softness near the edges, however, and with the large field, the coma on fast newtonians becomes obvious towards the edges also. It gives a 2.3 degree true field in my 10" newt, so large DSOs fit within the field, and it's a credible replacement for a small finder scope.

Highly recommended and excellent value for money! Buy 3 of these for less than the price of the equivalent Nagler.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43813

Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
Excellent wide field ocular, and even a replacement for the finderscope. Very sharp, but the wide field really shows up coma in fast newtonians.

Overall Rating: 10
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
WOW!! wide views at there best. great in a f10 scope! they are no longer made & what a shame. wider afov than the uwa & naglers. if you can find one dont hesitate to buy it. they were selling for about $ 210.00 shipped when they were in production. dont be suprised to pay twice that in a year or so.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
best widefield views available!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=66762

Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
this eyepiece has such a wide panaramic view that it makes you feel like you are there, looking thru a porthole from space. i know that sounds like a tv nagler advertisement but there is nothing else to compare it to. great eyepiece!! looks great & is a really good value.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 2 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=66774

Apogee WideScan Type II 30mm
90 degree 30mm 2" unbelievable views!! is soft at the edge, about 75% is really great the other 25% is not so good. but really great optics! field of view in my 8" f10 scope is around 1.3 +. id recomend this eyepiece to anyone. great value!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
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