Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I have had the 11mm Ultra for a while now. I did not want to comment too soon. I have a fast 10&amp;quot; Dob and an SCT. This has become one of my favorite eyepieces. I had a nice 10mm Vixen eyepiece but this was better on the edge and has a wider field. The ER was great too. It is made out of solid Aluminum from the looks of it. The filter threads work with all my filters unlike some of my other cheaper eyepieces. Also Mr. Seibert said all eyepieces are made from edmund Optics which I am guessing is good. I can say all in all I am very satisfied. I even showed it to the head of my astronomy club who has all the nice eyepieces and after using it a few times he gave it back and said that for the money I paid it was a fine eyepiece. I'm not sure what to make of that or how that means it compared to his better eyepieces but I would like to compare it to more expensive eyepieces myself soon. So far this eyepiece and the three other eyepieces I purchased from Siebert seem to be a clear cut above most others that I have used. I am not sure its a 10 until I try it against some tougher competition but I feel safe giving it a 9.

Daniel Martain

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 8 (Veritable Vote)
Date: 03/19/2005 07:38:56 pm PDT
By: Daniel
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=427338

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I tested this eyepiece last weekend in a 14" f/5 Dob with excellent optics (pegasus).

Initial tests showed a sharp image in the center of the eyepiece, with the image deteriorating in the outer 30% of the field.

Like every other Siebert eyepiece I have tried, this one suffers greatly from lack of contrast and poor transmission. In direct comparison with a 10.5mm Pentax XL, the Pentax showed faint stars which would dissapear in the Siebert, and of course exhibited much better contrast, as well as sharpness across the entire field.

Overall Rating: 2
Optics:2 Value:2
Weight: 7 (Veritable Vote)
Date: 03/22/2005 10:45:25 pm PDT
By: Nexstar8
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=428063

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

In search of an EP in the 11mm range for my 17.5-inch f/5 truss scope, i ordered the Ultra 11mm.

This EP looks cheap, and comes without one of Harry's neat belt-pouches. It also has lacks any internal blackening - unlike my TV/UO/Celestron EP's.
It also lacks a eyecup so eyelash crud gets on the eye-lens.

Performance-wise i am not very pleased - this eyepiece is not a keeper. Stars do not focus across the field, it is very fussy regarding eye-position, and has poor eye-relief with blackout. It is not very easy to focus, unlike some EP's which 'snap' . At f/5 it performs worse than my TV Plossl. It is also less user-friendly than my 10mm GS ultrawide, due to more out-travel.
In all this looks like being a poor EP for a big f/5 scope.

I do not have any Nagler/Panoptics to A-B it with, but based on reviews and comments i have seen on the web i have reason to believe they would perform noticably better than the Siebert.
As a combination of low performance and low price i give this baby a 3.

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:1 Value:3
Weight: 6 (Veritable Vote)
Date: 03/31/2005 02:38:11 am PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.247.163)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=429452

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I bought one of these along with another Siebert Eyepiece to use in my Meade LXD-75 6" SN.

Harry was courteous on the phone, and helped me select the eyepieces for my scope. I placed the order, and had my eyepieces shipped promptly.

When I unwrapped the eyepieces I noticed that they do have a bit of a "homebrew" look to them, as others have commented on. They do feel pretty sturdy, though. Two things bothered me about these eyepieces. 1, they don't appear to have much of coatings at all. I got lots of reflections off them and couldn't see much evidence of deep colored coatings like my other eyepieces have. 2, there appears to be either bubbles or dirt between the lenses - that is really a bummer for new eyepieces.

When I tried the eyepieces at night, I was disappointed to see that these weren't very good eyepieces in my telescope (which has a good mirror). Things looked very sharp in the middle, but only in the middle! About half the way out, the stars got really mushy and streaky. I put one of my trusty plossls back in, and everything looked fine. So I checked colimation, and it was good. The eyepiece just gave a ugly view. Kind of a bummer.

To Harry's credit, he did take back the eyepieces. I am bummed because I had hoped that I had finally found high-performance eyepieces for a cheap price. Unfortunately, these are not high-performance. I have used a friend's Televue Nagler, and it was a very nice eyepiece - no comparison between it and the Siebert. Unfortunately, I guess you get what you pay for.

Overall Rating: 2
Optics:2 Value:1
Weight: 6 (Veritable Vote)
Date: 03/27/2005 11:59:27 pm PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.196.239)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=428866

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I have had this eyepiece for some time and the only eyepiece that is slightly better in this range is my T5 16mm Nagler that I got from my dad as a gift last year. You can see my review of the Nagler in the TV section. I had read a lot about Siebert eyepeices and did a lot of research on my own before buying these eyepieces and after getting it I was glad I was not disappointed. This is one of my favorite deep sky eyepieces. The contrast is really good and it is sharper on the edge in my fast scope then many eyepieces I have tried. Made very nice out of shinny aluminum and the Muli coatings are nice also. I saved a lot on this eyepiece which is important since I had to buy the last few eyepieces myself. My older brother has been in astronomy a lot longer then me and said I got a great deal. I agree. My Nagler is a 10 so this one is a 10 also since it was almost as good and was half the price.

Sarah

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date: 03/20/2005 07:25:25 pm PDT
By: Sarah
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=427610

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I bought one of these along with another Siebert Eyepiece to use in my Meade LXD-75 6" SN.

Harry was courteous on the phone, and helped me select the eyepieces for my scope. I placed the order, and had my eyepieces shipped promptly.

When I unwrapped the eyepieces I noticed that they do have a bit of a "homebrew" look to them, as others have commented on. They do feel pretty sturdy, though. Two things bothered me about these eyepieces. 1, they don't appear to have much of coatings at all. I got lots of reflections off them and couldn't see much evidence of deep colored coatings like my other eyepieces have. 2, there appears to be either bubbles or dirt between the lenses - that is really a bummer for new eyepieces.

When I tried the eyepieces at night, I was disappointed to see that these weren't very good eyepieces in my telescope (which has a good mirror). Things looked very sharp in the middle, but only in the middle! About half the way out, the stars got really mushy and streaky. I put one of my trusty plossls back in, and everything looked fine. So I checked colimation, and it was good. The eyepiece just gave a ugly view. Kind of a bummer.

To Harry's credit, he did take back the eyepieces. I am bummed because I had hoped that I had finally found high-performance eyepieces for a cheap price. Unfortunately, these are not high-performance. I have used a friend's Televue Nagler, and it was a very nice eyepiece - no comparison between it and the Siebert. Unfortunately, I guess you get what you pay for.

Overall Rating: 0
Optics:0 Value:0
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 03/30/2005 04:55:01 pm PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.229.168)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=429382

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

I use a set of these in my Denkmeier II binoviewers. I have used a lot of other eyepieces but I have not found a more comfortable set. The performance is also quite good. I have compared them to a Nag 13 T6 one on one and there was not enough difference to make me spend the extra money. The Nagler had a little more field but 70 deg is enough for me. My other eyepiece are Denk 21's which I like also. My next review may be on the Denk II Binoviewer.

Jim Sanders

Discovery 12.5"
80mm ED
Denk II
Duel arm power switch.
Denk 21's
Siebert 11mm ultra's
And the list goes on.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 03/23/2005 01:56:28 pm PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.139.150)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=428143

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

Horrible coma and poor contrast. It is unbelievable that Harry compares these to Pentax's and Naglers on his website.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:2 Value:3
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 02/11/2005 08:09:01 pm PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.52.185)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=418974

Reply Replies: 0

Harry Siebert Optics Ultra 11mm, 1.25 inch

The truth is these are the best set of eyepieces I have to use with my Denkmeier binoviewer. It seems to minimize the color difference on each sides eyepiece in the binoviewer. They are light too and that helps the weight issue the Denks. They are very heavey and the two offset one another. If you have a Denk these are the eyepiece for you. sharp bright and contrasty. If I ever send these binoviewers on their way I will keep these eyepieces for the next unit I own. A review on the Denkmeiers soon.

Eric Tracy

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 03/29/2005 01:34:34 pm PDT
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.228.71)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=429152

Reply Replies: 0

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