Scope eyepiece brand interchangeability (1 Viewer)

So, I have a Hawke Frontier ED 85 scope, and am slightly disappointed with the eyepiece. Unfortunately, Hawke only do one eyepiece, but insist that the fitting is the 'standard bayonet type' and to try another manufacturer.

At Leighton Moss today I tried an RSPB eyepiece which did fit (and despite being cheap outperformed in many ways the Hawke eyepiece), and a Kowa which didn't. I can't for the life of me determine what brand eyepieces will fit my Hawke.

Any advice from the more knowledgeable people out there?

I believe what Hawke is calling a "standard bayonet" is the Swarovski bayonet, which has been cloned by several Chinese makers (who also have copied the optics of the Swarovski 20-60X zoom eyepiece). Besides Hawke and RSPB, Vortex and Zen-Ray are two other brands that use it and I think also Viking. In my experience they are not all quite identical, but usually close enough to fit. Among the "alpha" brands only Swarovski uses that size bayonet.

henry link said:

I believe what Hawke is calling a "standard bayonet" is the Swarovski bayonet, which has been cloned by several Chinese makers (who also have copied the optics of the Swarovski 20-60X zoom eyepiece). Besides Hawke and RSPB, Vortex and Zen-Ray are two other brands that use it and I think also Viking. In my experience they are not all quite identical, but usually close enough to fit. Among the "alpha" brands only Swarovski uses that size bayonet.

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Fantastic, I'll try and source a Swaro eyepiece and give it a go. It might stop me splashing out on a Kowa 883 which blew me away today... for now, anyway

It would be wonderful if some optics genius could create a UEA (Universal Eyepiece Adapter).
There are many orphans in the scope world, perfectly good scopes whose manufacturers have ceased production, leaving the owners scraping the Astromarts and Ebays for components. There is a good market there, imho.

Pablosammy,

Just looked up the RSPB 82 ED scope. Its eyepiece appears to be the same Chinese copy of the Swarovski 20-60x zoom used by Zen-Ray and Vortex. I can't see much point in paying the Swarovski price for that eyepiece when the two Chinese copies I evaluated were optically about as good as the original. I suppose the Swaro is probably mechanically superior, including sealing against water, if that matters.

Henry

henry link said:

Pablosammy,

Just looked up the RSPB 82 ED scope. Its eyepiece appears to be the same Chinese copy of the Swarovski 20-60x zoom used by Zen-Ray and Vortex. I can't see much point in paying the Swarovski price for that eyepiece when the two Chinese copies I evaluated were optically about as good as the original. I suppose the Swaro is probably mechanically superior, including sealing against water, if that matters.

Henry

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Well, I tried the Swaro 25-50w on the Hawke today and it wouldn't lock into place despite looking superficially identical. So unfortunately, I'm no better off. I might order a Chinese copy and see how that goes, I can always return it if it doesn't fit. Cheers for the tip-off.

However, I did have a good comparison of the current Swaro range. Suffice to say, the ATX 95 blew my socks off despite many having told me I wouldn't be able to see much difference compared to their cheaper scopes. It was noticeably brighter, significantly more contrasty, slightly more detailed and subjectively 'easier on the eye' than the ATX85 and ATS80 (with a 25-50w) I compared it to. Here in the UK where we have many a dull overcast day, the big objective lens appears to have real benefits not just at dawn and dusk.

Between the ATX 85 and ATS 80 there was very little to separate them except the small matter of £500. The ATX had the edge on sharpness and the ATS had the edge on contrast for me, but it was all within a tiny range and within sample error. Both had similar colour and brightness throughout their zoom range, and neither would be a bad choice... if only I hadn't tried the 95!

Pablosammy said:

Well, I tried the Swaro 25-50w on the Hawke today and it wouldn't lock into place despite looking superficially identical. So unfortunately, I'm no better off. I might order a Chinese copy and see how that goes, I can always return it if it doesn't fit. Cheers for the tip-off.

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Yes, the bayonet flanges are not quite the same length. When the Swarovski eyepiece is rotated to a stop on some of the Chinese scopes the locking pin on the scope does not quite align with the hole on the eyepiece. You might have better luck with the RSPB/Viking/Vortex/Zen-Ray eyepieces. I know Zen-Ray has a nice 25-50x wide field zoom if that appeals to you.

henry link said:

Yes, the bayonet flanges are not quite the same length. When the Swarovski eyepiece is rotated to a stop on some of the Chinese scopes the locking pin on the scope does not quite align with the hole on the eyepiece. You might have better luck with the RSPB/Viking/Vortex/Zen-Ray eyepieces. I know Zen-Ray has a nice 25-50x wide field zoom if that appeals to you.

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Unfortunately nobody stocks Zen-Ray over here in the UK. I could import one, but if it doesn't fit it would be an expensive return!

The RSPB do their own version of the 25-50W, but only seem to do it as a bundle with the scope. I'll email them and see if they can sell separately.

Cheers,

Sam

surely be easier to change scopes....?

to one that has 1.25" astro fit.
its possible there isan adapter out there; lots talk about scope threads, if you take time to dig deep enough on this forum. is there an external thread on the scope?

I'm having the same problem, ive recently bought a RSPB AG80 and although happy with the zoom eps i am looking for a WA fixed mag eps to fit, don't know which other brands fit, only that its a standard 1.25, any advice tips would also be appreciated. Sorry for jumping on your thread Pablosammy. ��

Thanks

Damian

`only that its a standard 1.25,`

how do those eyepieces attach to the scope? or what mechanism does the scope body use to stop them fallin out.....

Boro Birder said:

I'm having the same problem, ive recently bought a RSPB AG80 and although happy with the zoom eps i am looking for a WA fixed mag eps to fit, don't know which other brands fit, only that its a standard 1.25, any advice tips would also be appreciated. Sorry for jumping on your thread Pablosammy. ��

Thanks

Damian

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Damian, you're in luck! This means you can choose any of the standard 1.25 inch astronomy eyepieces. There's an incredible range of options open to you in terms of quality and price.

Once you decide what level of quality you want (ranges from generic Chinese knockoffs to Televue, Pentax, Docter) then you pay more money for a wider, flatter, color corrected view through the eyepiece. So a Televue Delos which would give you around 30x would cost you $330 and show an afov of 72 degrees, while a Televue Plossl with around 30x would cost about $100 but only show a 50 degree afov. Both eyepieces will display a terrific image, but you'd pay a $200 premium for the sensation of greater immersion in the scene before you.

Going down the quality scale, You could choose to spend as little as $30 to $40 for the same magnification from a generic manufacturer, but the view will be blurry around a good part of the image and the colors are going to look odd.

You won't be able to use any of the Leica, Kowa, or Swarovski eyepieces without a special and costly adapter but similar or higher quality astro eyepieces are readily available to you, usually at a fraction of the alpha prices.

You can check out Cloudy Nights, particularly the eyepiece forum, for all the latest on astro eyepieces.

Best to you,
Jerry

PS: The astro eyepieces are arranged and sold by their focal length, not magnification. So a 30 mm eyepiece is not a 30x eyepiece. You need to find the focal length of your scope and divide that number by the focal length of the eyepiece to get the magnification of the eyepiece on your particular scope. So, if the RSPB had a 600mm focal length then you would divide that by the 30mm focal length of the eyepiece to yield a 20x magnification. To get a 30x magnification you'd need a 20mm eyepiece if you have a 600mm scope.

I don't have any idea of the actual FL for your scope; usually they're 480 to 600mm but you need to find an actual number before you can choose an appropriate eyepiece for the 30x magnification you mentioned.

`JerryLogan` think your jumping the gun here, i very much doubt that astro eps attach to the rspb scope. unless this is a recent model that i am unfamiliar with......however as the rspb tend to sell chinese clones, and the chinese are sldon the idea of scopes with astro eps.

woodhornbirder said:

`JerryLogan` think your jumping the gun here, i very much doubt that astro eps attach to the rspb scope. unless this is a recent model that i am unfamiliar with......however as the rspb tend to sell chinese clones, and the chinese are sldon the idea of scopes with astro eps.

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I'm on the wrong side of the pond so I've never seen a RSPB scope and there's not much technical info on the website - I was going with Damians' statement that the scope took "standard 1.25 eyepieces". I guessed he read that somewhere on the papers he got with his new scope and standard 1.25 eyepieces are the astro eyepieces.

The website certainly shows what appear to be standard eyepieces but, and I should have mentioned this in my op, some scopes which mount standard eyepieces have trouble coming to focus with some eyepiece designs. Therefore, Damian should be sure to buy with the right of return so he's not locked in if there's a focus problem.

Best,
Jerry

I checked with RSPB and they replied that the AG scopes won't accept astro eyepieces. It's a pity since the standard EPs are such a rich source of quality goods. Thanks to Woodhornbirder for the alert!