Meade Orthoscopic 25mm

4.0 Meade Orthoscopic 25mm

Sharp images; Long eye relief; Barrel length can be altered.

No longer available.

I really bought this eyepiece more out of curiosity than a real need. After reading so much about the advantages of a good orthoscopic over the standard plossl design when it comes to planetary and lunar observations, I jumped at the opportunity when this ocular appeared on Ebay. After the bidding was over, my wallet was lighter by about fifty bucks.

The ortho arrived a short time later and was in excellent condition. Physically, the eyepiece is approximately 3" long, has an eye-lens that is about 3/4" in diameter, and is segmented by two knurled rings that allows the eyepiece to be shortened in length by unscrewing one of the sections right at the mid-point of the barrel itself. The top of the ocular is flat with no eyeguard, and is lettered with a blue Meade logo, and the word "Multi-Coated". An abbreviated "OR25mm" in white lettering also adorns the top of the unit. A magenta/greenish color is exhibited by the eye-lens itself, which can attest to some form of multi-coating. I only recently learned, through this website, that this ocular has a 45 AFOV and an eye relief of 19mm.

When used in combination with my Celestron C80ED, the views were sharp to the edge of the field with no objectionable aberrations of any sort. Views of the Moon where framed nicely with very good contrast. I must admit that I wasn't overwhelmed by any deep sky observations, probably because of the long focal length of this eyepiece and my light polluted backyard. But I didn't purchase this ocular with deep sky observing in mind.

To be honest, I don't use this eyepiece that much. I love the long eye relief and the sharp images, but I find myself using a standard plossl or longer eye relief design for most of my viewing. However, I still enjoy popping it into various scopes just for the "what if?" factor.