Celestron Axiom 34mm

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Celestron Axiom 34mm
This is a very nice eyepiece. Weighs in at less than a pound. There is a nice rubber grip like all of the Ultima line, and it fits nicely in your hand. It is made in Japan. The glass is fully-multi coated. The images on-axis are sharp and contrasty on the Orion Nebula and M51, and star clusters like M35 & M37 are pinpoint and bright, but degrade off-axis depending on the focal ratio used. The lense is a whopping 1.5" which means you have to pan your eye around to see the entire view, but it is not that bad. The eyecup is to big in my case which darkens the image dramatically when extended, and cuts down on your field of view, but I am not entirely sure yet if this is a pro or con as of yet. Eye relief is fine, and I have experienced no black out. When the eyecup is down it compares nicely with the 27mm Pan, but not quite as contrasty. The 34mm Axiom seems to have only a slightly larger field than the 27mm Panoptic. The field stop actually is quite small which makes me wonder if the eyepiece truly has a 70 degree apparent field, but what attracted me to this eyepiece is that it is designed off the excellent Ultima line of eyepieces. As far as I am concerned it has demonstrated some of those qualities. For the price I certainly think it is a bargain, but I plan to test 34mm some more. I am quite curious about the other focal lengths, 50mm, 40mm, 24mm, 19mm, and 15mm (I think that is right), but I may wait for other test reports before I purchase anymore. I think this is going to be a very nice set for the amateur astronomer on a budget who cannot afford the more expensive widefields like Naglers or Panoptics. Recommended.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 2 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43815

Celestron Axiom 34mm
Addendum to the last review:

The more I use this eyepiece the more I like it. I tried it in my C8 and was impressed with the contrast. The Celestron Axiom 24mm held up nicely against the Televue Panoptic 27mm in the f/10 instrument. I am looking forward to trying it in my Celestron 102mm fluorite refractor, and I will give you my report. I have a couple corrections to make as well: The Axiom eyepieces actually have 7 elements not six, and you can purchase this eyepiece for around $209.00!

Clear skies,

JoeM

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=43816

Celestron Axiom 34mm
The 34mm Axiom is a Celestron two inch barrel eyepiece with a 48mm Camera eyecup and a 70 degree apparent field of view. It is the Celestron equivalent of the TeleVue 35mm Panoptic, though at a lower cost and less than half the weight.

I bought my Axiom 34mm on-line at Binoculars.com for under US$150 and it was a very good deal. Optically the Axiom is inferior to the Panoptic but still very good - distortion toward the edge becomes more pronounced the shorter your telescope's f-ratio. The construction of the eyepiece is very good, yet it is just under one pound in weight. The eyecup is very large and I can press my face right onto it - eliminating stray light and bringing my eye to the perfect focus without ever having lash-marks on the lens. Can one hope for better at $150? I think not.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=111836

Celestron Axiom 34mm
This EP is not made for fast focal ratios. That's why it's relatively light and compact. In long focal length refractors, Maks, Cassegrains, SCT's, etc., it is a killer EP. There is no blackout or kidney beaning as you scan around. Stars remain sharp until just before the very edge of the field stop. For visual use, I remove the camera adapter ring and eyecup so I can take in the entire FOV without moving my eye around. This EP has a really wide AFOV and easily meets the 70 degree specification. Witht the camera rind and eyecup attached, you can fold down one side of the eyecup and get very effective blocking of ambient light. Highly recommended if you have an f/8 or longer focal ratio scope.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=559705

Celestron Axiom 34mm
First off. this EP is not inferior to a Panoptic as one reviewer claimed. It's a different kind of EP made for long to moderate focal ratio scopes. It's for Celestron's f/8 refractor and their large SCT's. I use mine in an f/15 Mak and it works wonderfully. Far less optical distortion than a Pan, smaller, lighter, and more comfortable to view through. In my f/6 refractor, it does not do nearly as well, but still acceptable in the central FOV. To get good edge performance, your scope has to be f/8 or longer focal ratio. If you use this EP in a 2" Powermate, then it works well in a fast Dob as the focal ratio becomes f/8 or longer.

If you are one of the smart people that discovered longer focal ratio scopes are the best for visual use, then this EP is worth checking out. Too bad that Celestron quit importing the old Japanese Axiom line. Baader of Germany was somehow involved, as they were the Celestron distributor for Germany. The old Ultima EP's were very closely related to the Baader Eudiascopic EP's and had similar Phantom coatings which were superior to the cheap green coatings you see on most EP's. When you look into an Axiom EP, you see the multi-colored Phantom type coatings that are tuned to each optical surface.

The old Ultima and Axiom EP series have been replaced with Chinese manufactured EP's. The Ultima LX is obviously Celestron's version of the Baader Hyperion. The Axiom EP's have been expanded in FOV to do battle with Naglers, Meade UWA and such. It remains to be seen by me if these new Chinese EP's will equal the old Ultima and Axiom series in quality in the type scopes they were designed for. Concessions have probably been made to allow them to work better in fast scopes such as Dobs and Apo refractors.

The old Axiom 34mm is a jewel of an EP for SCT's and MCT's, and long focus achromats and classic Cassegrain scopes. The only reason I knock off a point is that the eye relief is a bit short for those who wear glasses. If you want to see the entire huge FOV without scanning, you need to screw off the eyecup/filter ring that's on top. That's not instantly obvious to some people. This is also a great projection photography EP because of the threaded output and low field distortion. Axiom EP's are noted for their brightness at edge of field as well, also a must for photography to preserve faint stars at field edge.

If you own a 2" Powermate, you can use this EP in any fast scope with a 2" focuser and probably get excellent results. Just remember it doesn't like light cones steeper than f/8. These EP's are often found on the used market, and usually at a much lower price than Panoptics.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=563047

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