Stellarvue 4 mm Ultra Wide Angle 1.25" Eyepiece - EUW-04.0

Top quality. Period

Wonderful performance in a compact size for a reasonable price! I have seen some great transits on Jupiter in detail with this ep!

I have not had the chance to do any planetary observation yet with it, but I thought i'd point it at the center of the orion nebula just to test sharpness on my 8" reflector, with a 2x barlow, mind you. This pushed my magnification to 600x One word, WOW! The level of detail and field of view was spectacular! Even at an arguably "useless" magnification, it delivered rewarding observation quality (for 600x), I was able to see fine detail in the nebula "cloud" without having to bump it as often (unguided scope). I look forward to high power planetary observation with this.

When I first received this fine eyepiece I only had a brief look at the moon before the long and mostly cloudy Chicago area winter set in. When spring came, and I had opportunity for extended viewing, I was stunned! The moon was exhilarating, with great detail inside of craters easily visible. I alternated between a Meade 4" SCT, and a Televue Ranger 70mm refractor. Using the 4mm eyepiece with the Stellarvue mirror diagonal, I was clearly getting the finest view of the moon in my now 30 years of star-gazing. After the moon, Jupiter was still fairly high in the southwestern sky. The first time I focused in with the Ranger, I was seeing things I previously had only seen in published photos. The equatorial belts were very prominent, with swirling within the belts just visible. But what I had never actually seen with my own eyes before were secondary belts above and below the main belts. Also visible were swirling patterns outside of the belts, and the red spot was very well defined. Turning to Mars almost directly south, again i was seeing what I had never seen. In the 4" SCT and my larger 8" SCT, I had never really seen much on mars other than the reddish hue and the ice caps. First time with the Ranger at 120X and I was clearly seeing grayish/blue surface markings. I had what was obviously outstanding seeing conditions that night, so I added a Barlow to the 4mm Ultra-Wide. This was right at the limits of what the Ranger could handle, but the view was still better than through the 4" SCT. My old Meade Barlow is too long for the Ranger, and could only reach focus with the 4mm if it was just barely held in to the scope body. I may have to try a "shorty" barlow. Finally I looked at Saturn, lower and a little east from Mars. Surface markings and color variations were clearly visible. The moons were pinpoints, and the rings had great contrast. I was able to make out the Cassini Division. Satisfied with the planets, I viewed a number of double stars with great results. I still have not had the oportunity to check out deep space objects, but for all the rest, I whole-heartedly recommend this product

From my now seriously light polluted home in the northern suburbs of Chicago, I used to enjoy a good, dark sky from the south west to the northwest, reasonably dark straight south, fairly dark straight north, and fair to poor to the east. Now, sad to say, only the western view is reasonably dark, so my viewing is more or less limited to the sun, moon, planets, and brighter deep sky objects. With those conditions, I was looking to upgrade my eyepiece collection with some type of wide-angle, high power unit. I had a 20mm plossl, a 40 mm plossl, a 7 mm plossl, and a 14mm ultra-wide angle, along with a Televue 5X Powermate, all of which I use with a 70mm Ranger and an old Meade 4" SCT, Both scopes are mounted on a common mount, a modified Meade fork. With the 20mm and the Powermate, I enjoyed 120X views in the Ranger, but the combination was rather bulky, and the view was relatively narrow. I contemplated a Nagler, but the price was too rich for my budget. Then I saw the Stellarvue, and could not resist, so I purchased the 4mm Wide Angle eyepiece. First night out I enjoyed the most breathtaking view of the moon I had ever seen. Even though the magnification was the same 120X that I had previously, the field of view now takes in the entire moon, with remarkable detail and contrast. Switching the 4mm from the Ranger to the 4" SCT upped the ante to 250X. WOW! Incredible clarity and detail. I was not only seeing more in the way of small craters, but could now make out detail within each crater. I looked at a few double stars, and in the ranger both pairs of the double-double in Lyra fit in the same field of view, with both pairs easily split. I checked out the the Andromeda Galaxy briefly, but it was not situated in the darker sky region to my west, so it was not as fulfilling as it could have been, but I saw enough to know it will be enjoyable to hunt for such objects in the future. There were no planets to view yet, but I anxiously await the view of Jupiter and Saturn, which were both st times stunning in the Ranger with the Powermate. The eyepiece is handsome and very well made. The adjustable rubber eye cup works flawlessly, and it has a nice heft, without being bulky. I highly recommend this product to anyone seeking high power, good eye relief, and stunning wide angle views .

Viewing the moon showed crisp and sharp details from a wide angle. Saturn looked very good despite the smoke haze from the recent fires. Recommend this lens.