Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm

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Brand and Model:Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Price ($USD):$249.00
Type:Zoom
Focal Length:4.7-7.9 mm
Barrel Size:1.25 in
Apparent FOV:86.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:10 mm
Elements:9
Weight (lbs):1
Description:Fantastic light transmission/contrast. Wider view than the Naglers without the annoying color off axis. Big, tall EP focuses inside most others. Surprisingly good on moon, planets for a multi-element wide field; second to none for high power wide apparent field views.

Vote Highlights Vote
Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Great zoom eyepiece with sharp images, but not as good as Radians. Superb quality for such a low priced piece.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=80855 

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>Great zoom eyepiece with sharp images, but not as good as Radians.  Superb quality for such a low priced piece.

is the 10mm wa  as good as a radian ?
Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Fantastic eyepiece! Not quite sharp right at the very edge in my F5, but a wide high power view that is sharp and well defined for a much larger area than most eyepieces will present.
If you want a big view with the flexibility of tuning your magnification to the seeing - this is the one!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=372858

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
I can't give this eyepiece straight 10's as it has a tad too much in-focus then what I'd prefer. It seems to just barely reach focus in Newts, I thought the 14mm was tight but it's even more so.

I really love the 10 and 14 Speers Waler 82* Wide Angles, I feel the 14 is just a hair behind the 10mm but the Zoom is that much better then the 10mm. I couldn't believe how clear and sharp the 5-8 zoom was compared to TeleVue Plossls'. It seems to have good eyrelief, stated as 12mm but feels like a bit more.

The zoom mechanism needed some work but runs smooth now that the bolt has been reversed. It's a tall eyepiece, at 7.8mm it's 6 1/4" tall and when zoomed past 5mm it's 8" tall.
I honestly didn't think I'd use the eyepiece as much as I have esp. in my 80-mm f5, I usually take my 32mm Plossl and this eyepiece and that's it.

Maybe I should get teh 18mm as well ;)

-Chris

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=341751

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
I bought the 5-8 zoom at the Chiefland star party used for $125. I am amazed at what a bargain this ep is! It is very close in contrast to my 6mm radian. Pick one up if you can find one!!! ---Mark

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=99882

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Great Eyepiece with good correction and a nice wide field. It replaces 3 eyepieces in my box with only one! Too bad it isn't made anymore :-(

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=57727

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
I`m a little surprised that no one has voted on this eyepiece lately. It is a terrific eyepiece that I think is much better than the new Televue 3-6 zoom that is now getting a lot of attention although I have not yet seen the TV. The image quality and 78 degree field of view are very good. The TV fov is much narrower and while I`m sure the TV is very nice, I consider the extra fov very important.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43394

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Great e.p.! I use it on my 8" DOB as well as a 5"G5. Works best on 8", of course, but quite useable at lower end of zoom on 5". Two caveats: 1) slit on side allows dust to get inside eyepiec, but barrel can be dismanteled easily to allow dust to be blown out (be careful with this process). 2) eye relief is tight. I have trouble getting eyelash oil on lens. I have to clean eyepiece every two or three uses, so brush up on your lens cleaning skills. I have found the best way to clean it is to use pure cotton swabs with high quality lens cleaning fluid. Acetone, used by some, will leave a residue. Make sure you blow away dust first! Also you can minimize the eyelash oil by washing around your eyes before each observing session. However, these are minor issues compared to the fantastic wide field views! Easily replaces two or three Naglers and performs as well or better!

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43393

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Excellent value. Replaces at least a couple high power widefield premium eyepieces, and might even outperform them. HUGE apparent field of view. Very sharp almost to the very edge.

Minor imperfections worth noting:

This eyepiece shows a little lateral color at the outermost edge which becomes apparent when a bright object (planet) passes through it, but you won't be placing a planet in this zone for any extended period of time so it is a minor issue. There is also a "ring of brightness" around the periphery that results in some contrast loss there as well. Again, it is negligible when considering the large AFOV available. Finally, this eyepiece requires the most in-travel of any eyepiece I've tried which forced me to pick up a low-profile 1 1/4" adapter for my 2" focuser.

This is a fantastic eyepiece for observing planets at high power against a large background of space. A "9.5" for the possible negative points mentioned above.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43392

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Ditto all the above. Used most often for planetary viewing with an
ETX 90: Jupiter's GRS readily discernable along with 5 bands on nights
of good seeing, 4 moons are airy disks; Saturn's Cassini division sharp,
crepe ring distinct against bright planet, and 3-4 moons occasionally discenable with direct vision. Variations in batch sharpness, so be picky.
Superb eyepiece and a value to boot. Rates a solid 9.5!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43391

Antares Speers-Waler Zoom 5mm-8mm
Good for deep-sky objects. Have seen eyepieces that perform better on planets than this one. But still a fantastic value for what the eyepiece delivers. Only complaint is the infocus travel of the eyepiece, so that on some telescopes, use of adapters is needed to make use of the full range of the zoom.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43388

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