Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm

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Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Exceptional contrast and transmission, pin point stars out to edge in f4.8 scope
Ink black sky background with no ghosting on planets. Barlows well for high power though sky blackness suffers a bit.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42922

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
This eyepiece in my C-14 is the hands-down winner for the "cluster-buster" award. Incredible light throughput and contrast make globulars come alive! Sharp right to the edge of the 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=42924

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
quality optics and great eye relief

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42925

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Pinpoint stars clear to edge in my 8" f/10 SCT as well as 70mm refractor. Works very well for lunar/planetary on SCT, and for medium power eyepiece for small refractor. You won't want to use your other eyepieces after getting one since it's so pleasant to use. High-quality look and feel, really a bargain considering you can now get them new for around $220. 65 degree field is perfect; all my eye can see at one time.

Another point worth noting is that all the XL's weigh about the same... from the 5.8 to the 40mm ones! This makes changing eyepieces much more pleasant... no rebalancing (try this with Naglers/Panoptics). If you buy one, you'll want them all!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42927

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Walks all over the Radian.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42928

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
My first Pentax, but not my last!! Incredible sharpness out to the edge on a variety of scopes. GREAT contrast, and the colour rendering makes looking at objects such as M42 an amazing site. Love it!!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42929

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
The best !! Excelente eye relief , suberb eye-cup, very sharp , incredibly clear, the best buy !!!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42930

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
No TeleVue can compare to this !!! You must see to believe , top off the class !!!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
saaaaaaaaaaaaa

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42933

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Clear and bright, a bargain at $225±, I can't wait to buy the 7mm.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42934

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Best true color of all my EPs. Moon images are true grays and not brownish-gray like my Nagler 12 and 17 T4s. Excellent light throughput-on par with my Takahshi 7.5 and is superior to Naglers. On a F/5 Dob it has a prefectly flat field and is forgiving of eye position with little or no blackout. Absolutely no coma unlike the Nagler 17. The 65 degree AFOV is plenty. You can see the edge of field if you look for it but it is just outside the eyes peripheral vision threshold and is not directly visible when viewing on axis. There is plenty of field to "look around" in. Exit pupil @ F/5 is 2.1mm resulting best visual acuity of exit pupil. Tak 7.5 is also in this range at 1.5 exit pupil. Contrast is equal to Tak or better. Image appears a little crisper too. I personally like the eye cup. It is intuitive to use and really blocks the light. Very comfortable too. This is the EP I always fall back on. A "keeper", especially since they are half the cost of Naglers. Best $ value.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42935

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
This is one of the finest eyepieces I've seen. The wide 65 degree field is sharp to the edge in my 12.5" Discovery dob without any aberrations. Contrast and detail on Mars was very impressive. The dumbell nebula was spectacular in combination with a filter. The eyepiece is a tad heavy but no balance problems on my dob. Very comfortable eye relief withouy blackout effects.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42936

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
Cet oculaire est fabuleux. Sur un instrument ayant un rapport F/D proche de 10,
on obtient alors l'amplification optimale en planetaire. Le confort d'utilisation est genial, le champ genereux et le pique parfait. Le systeme de bonette caoutchouc vissante permet d'optimiser le placement de l'oeil et supprime efficacemment les eventuels reflets venant de sources exterieures.
Seul defaut: son prix (france : 2035 FF), toutefois amplement recompense.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42937

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
first impression is very good to excellent. luckly the sky have been super clear so i have used the pentax 10.5 on 2 night's. used it on m11 m13 m57 m22. this ep excel's at bringing out the star's in globular cluster's and open.i have compared it to my 14mm radian as close as they are. i love the radian's but the pentax is as good or better'will need to evaluate more.payed $227 from astronmics'would definately recommend. will add more data to review later. thanks bob hart

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42938

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
best light transmission and contrast ever seen why bother with other eyepieces have the best im going for a full set !!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42939

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
I cannot find a fault in this one: Great contrast and sharpness from center to the edge, a nice wide 65 degree field of view, very comfortable to use with 20mm eye-relief. No kidneybeaning, very little pincushion distortion (tested during daytime), great eyecup system. It has been said that this is one of the truly superb eyepieces in the world. I tend to agree, and thus give it a full score.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=42940

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
I sold my 10mm Radian for this eyepiece and it is an improvement. It is easier to keep my eye positioned correctly, and there is no ghosting that was present in my 10mm Radian. The construction of this eyepiece is excellent with nice touches like a beveled barrel and I like the screw type eyecup adjustment much better than the Instadjust, whatever it is, that Tele Vue has gone to. The edge sharpness is better than the Radian as well and I cannot tell a difference in contrast however from the Radian. Lateral color is the same as the Radian, which was practically non-existent. Maybe I had a bad Radian, but I like Pentax XL 10.5mm much better.

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=42941 

&gt;I sold my 10mm Radian for this eyepiece and it is an improvement.  It is easier to keep my eye positioned correctly, and there is no ghosting that was present in my 10mm Radian.  The construction of this eyepiece is excellent with nice touches like a beveled barrel and I like the screw type eyecup adjustment much better than the Instadjust, whatever it is, that Tele Vue has gone to.  The edge sharpness is better than the Radian as well and I cannot tell a difference in contrast however from the Radian.  Lateral color is the same as the Radian, which was practically non-existent.  Maybe I had a bad Radian, but I like Pentax XL 10.5mm much better.
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These and the Pentax XW's ,( the 40mm, 10mm, 7mm, and 5mm), are the FINEST EYEPIECES on the entire planet bar none. Al Nagler doesn't hold a flame hot enough to come close to these sharp eyepieces....stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
If I could have only one ep, for my Ceravolo HD-145, this would be it. Excellent contrast and transmission. Very bright image and sharp to the edge. Almost toomuch eyerelief, but that eyecup is really nice.
I don't like the "captive groove" in the barrel, wish it was made like Tak LE's.

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=42942

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
I truly love the Pentax XL line with my TV-85; I have to date the 14 mm, 10.5 mm, and 5.2 mm. These are easy to use for newbies. No blackouts and tricks to position your eye. The field lens is large with a nice 20 mm eye relief. Images snap into focus, sharp across the field with great contrast. The FOV is perfect - I don't have to move my eye to look around and find blackouts. They are comfortable to use. They perform like a Panoptic, but with flatter fields. If you don't have a Pentax XL get either the 14 mm or 10.5 mm for starters. I bet you will buy more of them. I bought mine at Adorma - very good prices.

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=42943

Pentax SMC-XL 10.5mm
An excellent series of eyepieces, all parfocal, all with wide field of view, and very high optical throughput. Eye guards are easily adjustable to give a deep well for viewing through, or flat against the glass for specatcle wearers.

Highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 2 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=68665

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