Monday, February 06, 2012
   
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Meade 5000 Plossl 20mm

Meade Series 5000 Plossl 20mm

Eyepiece specifications

Manufacturer

Meade

Model

Series 5000 Plossl

Focal length

20mm

FOV 60˚
Diameter 1.25"
Review date 2006-08-15
Reviewer age 31
Reviewer experience 4
Review location Colorado Springs, CO
Seeing conditions Clear and steady dark skies.
Telescope used LX-200 8"
 

Stars are pinpoint sharp, Orion looks absolutely stunning. On planets the LX-200 performs well and with this eyepiece, I feel it is the perfect match for medium magnification on the moon. Craters are sharp and give a 3D impression, it's almost as if you're floating above it, very impressive indeed, I did use a moon filter on the full moon because of the immense brightness. Saturn doesn't appear large but a lot of detail is discernable, Jupiter doesn't appear large either but has definite color and detail, I can make out two bands very clearly, I prefer color and detail as opposed to apparent size, I'm sure most of us do. This is a good open cluster and globular cluster eyepiece, stars are sharp without too much ghosting, when looking at M13, stars are very sharp yet bright. There is some curvature at the edges, I would say about 5% to 7% on the edge does show some curvature. I feel that some of the Meade's 5000 series EPs are better than the 4000 series, while others are inferior. This eyepiece is an improvement on the 4000 series, I definitely recommend it.

 

Pros

Low price, wide FOV for a plossl, high quality workmanship

 

Cons

Some curvature at the edges and not as bright as some high end eyepieces.

 

Rating

8/10