I did a brief comparison of the BW-Optik 30mm Ultrawide with the Orion =
35mm DeepView last night in my Guan Sheng 10" f5 dob.

I have also had the opportunity to test two low end eyepieces in a GS 10 inch
F5 dob, the BW-Optik 30mm and the GTO Proxima 31mm 71 Degree eyepiece. I spent
quite a bit of time comparing these, looking at the same FOVs, moving the
bright stars to the edge, just looking at stuff.

Both are passable. Some views are really quite pleasing, some are rather
disappointing. I think the BW is sharper in the center but the edge problems
are worse.

Both eyepieces have noticeable edge distortion. The issue for me is whether
that edge distortion distracts me from the rest of the view. I find edge
performance of the GTO Proxima less distracting but certainly bright stars near
the edge of the FOV are pretty unpleasent to look at.

The FOV of these two eyepiece is quite similar, the BW-Optik is slightly larger
but at that point in this scope, the distortion is bad enough that it makes no
difference.

I have also tried both of them in my 12.5 inch F4.1 DOB. In this scope I can
only say both are quite horrid. Of course there is the nearly 8 mm exit pupil
and then there is the coma inharent in an F4 scope.

I would be interested in seeing how they looked through a Paracorr, might help
clean things up. I find most eyepieces look pretty decent in either scope when
used with a paracorr but my Paracorr is 1.25 inch....

The difference between either of these 2 eyepieces and my old Televue Widefield
24mm with or with Paracorr is large. By comparison with these two, the
Televue, with a FOV of about 63 degrees or so is sharp to the edge without the
Paracorr and with the Paracorr it is really quite sharp even near the edge by
any standards.

Overall, I think it is a tough call between these two eyepieces. The GTO is
better across the FOV but there is something that is not quite right about the
center, it does not seem to be truly sharp in the center. The BW-Optik is
quite sharp in the center but deteriorates quite quickly away from center.

Bottomline is that in a F5 scope, some views are really great, some are really,
ah, really ah... I will leave that to your imagination.

I think I have heard these are quite nice in an F10 scope so you SCT guys
finally have something to be happy about. g

----

While at first one might guess that Televue might be concerned about these
eyepieces taking some of their market share, I think it is more likely that
these eyepieces will only wet the appetite of those who buy them and a good
many will move on to TV stuff sooner or later.

jon