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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Geo. G." data-source="post: 3193178" data-attributes="member: 129989">I've found a fair amount of cross-referencing between this forum and cloudy nights, due to an overlap in interests among participating members, particularly with regard to equipment.  Certainly if you're interested in fixed-focal-length 1.25-inch eyepieces, you will find a wealth of information at an astronomical forum, where these things are discussed with all the attention to the minutiae of optical theory, pricing, manufacturing details, etc., that you find here with regard to binoculars.  But let me say at the outset that, in my opinion, you already have some of the best eyepieces on the planet.The Leica zoom is designed for their spotting scopes and so has a proprietary bayonet attachment.  When it was "discovered" to be such a fine astronomical eyepiece, some vendors (e.g., APM in Germany) developed adapters for use in either 1.25 or 2 inch focusers.  So the 1.25 adapter would enable one to use it in spotters such as the Pentax.  I just might do that if I ever graduate to getting a spotter; as it happens, I've got my eye on the Pentax PF-65EDA II.  I know how good their stuff is, and that scope looks like a very sweet deal.  In the past, when I would use the XWs in the daytime, I found eye placement more critical than at night, resulting in blackouts occasionally.  It was strange, because the XW is an extremely comfortable eyepiece at night.  But I find the Leica to be much more friendly with regard to eye placement--the pupil is easy to hold during the daytime.  It sounds, though, as this is not an issue for you.  For me, though having found a zoom that is every bit as good or better than my XWs, it was hard to hold onto the latter.  In a daytime spotting-scope application (or a night-time astro app) one can dial in a magnification to match seeing conditions.  However, getting the Leica only becomes cost effective at the point that it replaces, say, three XWs or so.  If you are generally happy with one or two eyepieces, the expense of the Leica is not really justified.  (And, in particular, your 20mm XW will provide a noticeably larger field than the Leica at minimal mag.)  I only went with it because, at the time, I was obsessed with getting the best possible planetary image I could.  (Actually, I'm not sure that kind of expense makes any sense at all when one is restricted to the low powers of a spotter.)By the way, while I've spent 15 years in the astro hobby (and very avidly so), I've taken up birding with a vengeance, spending a lot more time on it than on astronomy since November.  It's nice to have a connection with nature that doesn't require a clear dark sky, or a steady atmosphere!  Just tonight I had the big scope out for all of five minutes, when it became clear that the seeing conditions weren't going to cooperate.  You're right that seeing conditions in the daytime tend to limit magnification--mostly due to thermals--but imagine what kind of conditions are necessary to use 300x, rather than 30x.  That's when planetary observation gets interesting.  So it's mostly about being patient and being disappointed most of the time.  On the other hand, a 20-minute walk today with my dog yielded a dozen species, including a Nuttall's Woodpecker and a beautiful male California Quail--not a common bird on my street.  And yesterday, I spent 2 hours at the local marsh and saw 26 species, each of them spectacular in its own way.  So yay for birding!</blockquote>

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