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Opticron have dropped the HDF 40809 ep? (1 Viewer)

G

giosblue

Well-known member
Looks like Opticron have dropped the HDF 40809 ep. Maybe they don't sell enough. I could understand it if the zoom was that good, but it's not.
 
Giosblue,

I didn't hear anything to that effect. I did notice that the US and UK websites weren't in sync in terms of the HDF wide field/fixed mag eyepieces at one point about a week or so ago. The UK site had everything on it but the US site was missing some of the sizes.

I just checked out both websites and it does appear that particular eyepiece is now missing.

I sincerely hope that is not the case. I use it almost exclusively with both the MM3 60 and MM3 50 for phonescoping. In my opinion it provides an ideal combination of eye relief, exit pupil size and magnification for both scope sizes in terms of general use and phonescoping. I will have to ask a few folks to see what the story is.
 
Kowa have discontinued their 30x, but that's because their 25x60 zoom is so good.
Maybe Opticron have a new zoom in the pipeline that makes their fixed eps redundant?
 
The 40809 has been discontinued (sorry Frank!) but the 40810 continues as our "go to" fixed mag eyepiece.

At present, we have no plans to change the SDL zoom eyepiece and it's difficult (impossible?) to deliver a wider field of view in that eyepiece body due to the restrictions we have on field lens size. We examined the options for a 2x rather than 3x version but it just didn't work out as we'd wanted it.

HTH

Cheers, Pete
 
Sorry if this has been posted somewhere else (I haven't been able to find it), but what are the main differences between 40809 and 40810? Is 40810 the follow-update of the 40809 as the name might suggest?... or maybe I'm just making it up ;)
Thanks in advance for your comments and advice :)
 
Focal lengths are different - 40810 is 22mm, 40809 is/was 16mm - so they provide different magnifications on the same scope.

HTH

Pete
 
Pete, thanks so much for the swift reply :t:
One last question (if your patience can take it) ;)
Should I assume that, because the difference in FL (and the higher price), 40809 is "brighter/clearer" than 40810?

I'm thinking of getting one of the remaining units before they're finally gone.
Thank you again for all the clarifications.
 
Last edited:
pete_gamby said:
The 40809 has been discontinued (sorry Frank!) but the 40810 continues as our "go to" fixed mag eyepiece.

At present, we have no plans to change the SDL zoom eyepiece and it's difficult (impossible?) to deliver a wider field of view in that eyepiece body due to the restrictions we have on field lens size. We examined the options for a 2x rather than 3x version but it just didn't work out as we'd wanted it.

HTH

Cheers, Pete
Click to expand...

Words fail me.

New product, best fixed eyepiece, now cancelled.
 
The 40810 has always been our recommendation as a digiscoping eyepiece should anyone ask us starting from a "blank sheet" so to speak. Frank's choice of the 40809 as his preferred eyepiece is not unusual but certainly isn't the default position from our point of view.

A shorter focal length eyepiece with the same fundamental optical characteristics is unlikely to deliver a brighter/clearer image. But in real world testiing, it might be that the combination of scope, eyepiece and imaging device favours one over the other.

Cheers, Pete
 
Pete, thanks again for shedding some light, I'm a newcomer to the scopes world, so I do appreciate your time explaining the technicalities of optics :t:

I was thinking about having a fixed eyepiece for the MM3 60, taking advantage of the fact that the 40809 gives a x23 magnification (compared to x18 of the 40810), and I was concerned that x18 could be on the short side.

Thanks again.
 
Just another quick update. There will be a replacement for the 40809 in a couple of months - managing smooth product transitions when sales are only in 2s and 3s per month can be tricky sometimes!

For existing 40809 owners, the warranty support is 10 years from date of purchase.

HTH

Cheers, Pete
 
Just to clarify my choice of 40809...the slightly increased magnification (in both the MM3 50 and 60)... is the reason I chose this particular eyepiece. I tried 40810 and though the image is beautiful (slightly brighter with better depth of field) I found I needed the increased magnification to get the detail I wanted in the image for the specific distances that I usually do my phonescoping from.

I did not yet try the higher magnification HDF fixed mag eyepiece but plan to in the near future.

Happy to hear that the new/replacement eyepiece is planned to debut in the near future. Is it going to be the same focal length as the 40809?
 
Coincidentally stock arrived this week. Should be past QC in a few days. Part code is 40831, SRP is £129.

As with the outgoing 40809, it provides 18x on 50mm and 23x on 60mm

HTH

Cheers, Pete
 
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