My latest (used) EP Purchase. Maxvision 20mm.

[Marmot]

On my quest to obtain useful and hopefully decent quality EPs at a reasonable price, I regularly scan the used market in case anything interesting appears. I have recently acquired the following Eyepiece that caught my interest for a number of reasons.

 

Maxvision 68deg 20mm.

 

The 68deg FOV was appealing: I have one other EP with a similar FOV and I find it to be both practical and comfortable. 

I had not previously come across EPs branded as “Maxvision” but the limited research I did revealed the following:

 

Meade produced an EP range (series 5000 SWA) which appears identical apart from some green colouring to the body. These are no longer produced.

Explore Scientific also produce(d) an identical range of EPs which they actually called “Explore Scientific Maxvision”. Again these EPs are identical to look at.

 

I own two Meade series 5000 UWA EPs with an 82deg FOV. There are certain similarities between these and the Maxvision: The appearance is similar and they both use the same  screw up and down eye-guard system. They utilise the same eyeguard cap with a circular indentation where Meade has put their Logo/Star. The Maxvision is not a small EP, but it is not such a hand grenade as the Meade UWAs.

As yet I have only tried the Maxvision on a daytime target using my Skywatcher ST120 and I am pleased to say that I am quite happy with the view it provides.

The only downside is that I now have 3 EPs of a very similar focal length so I will have to be practical and sell on one or two of them, but it won’t be this one.......it’s a keeper!

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Marmot

[Nightspore]

2 hours ago, Marmot said:

On my quest to obtain useful and hopefully decent quality EPs at a reasonable price, I regularly scan the used market in case anything interesting appears. I have recently acquired the following Eyepiece that caught my interest for a number of reasons.

 

Maxvision 68deg 20mm.

 

The 68deg FOV was appealing: I have one other EP with a similar FOV and I find it to be both practical and comfortable. 

I had not previously come across EPs branded as “Maxvision” but the limited research I did revealed the following:

 

Meade produced an EP range (series 5000 SWA) which appears identical apart from some green colouring to the body. These are no longer produced.

Explore Scientific also produce(d) an identical range of EPs which they actually called “Explore Scientific Maxvision”. Again these EPs are identical to look at.

 

I own two Meade series 5000 UWA EPs with an 82deg FOV. There are certain similarities between these and the Maxvision: The appearance is similar and they both use the same  screw up and down eye-guard system. They utilise the same eyeguard cap with a circular indentation where Meade has put their Logo/Star. The Maxvision is not a small EP, but it is not such a hand grenade as the Meade UWAs.

As yet I have only tried the Maxvision on a daytime target using my Skywatcher ST120 and I am pleased to say that I am quite happy with the view it provides.

The only downside is that I now have 3 EPs of a very similar focal length so I will have to be practical and sell on one or two of them, but it won’t be this one.......it’s a keeper!

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure a lot of the older Meades have the same light train as the ES equivalents and were made by JOC.

 

 

I think the Maxvision were made originally for Meade by JOC and were the same as the 68 degree ES series with but different housings. 

 

 

I nearly bought a Maxvision once. They had a good reputation. JOC is good glass though.

 

[Marmot]

Thanks Nightspore, it’s always a relief when something gets positive remarks from yourself. I hoped I hadn’t bought a dud as I hadn’t heard of Maxvision, but First impressions certainly seem good. I was hoping to try it out this evening, set my scope up, but clouded over and looks like more snow!

[Nightspore]

1 minute ago, Marmot said:

Thanks Nightspore, it’s always a relief when something gets positive remarks from yourself. I hoped I hadn’t bought a dud as I hadn’t heard of Maxvision, but First impressions certainly seem good. I was hoping to try it out this evening, set my scope up, but clouded over and looks like more snow!

 

There's a whole back story about the Maxvision series but I can't really remember it lol. I'm pretty sure they are basically the same as the ES 68 degree series. I think Meade changed their suppliers at one stage and the series stopped being produced. I never bought the 20mm 68 degree Maxvision or the ES as I've owned a 19mm Panoptic for years. The Meade/ES series are very good though. Have you used the 8.8mm yet? I actually prefer it to the 9mm Nagler! 

[Marmot]

13 hours ago, Nightspore said:

 

There's a whole back story about the Maxvision series but I can't really remember it lol. I'm pretty sure they are basically the same as the ES 68 degree series. I think Meade changed their suppliers at one stage and the series stopped being produced. I never bought the 20mm 68 degree Maxvision or the ES as I've owned a 19mm Panoptic for years. The Meade/ES series are very good though. Have you used the 8.8mm yet? I actually prefer it to the 9mm Nagler! 

To answer your question re the use of the 8.8:  My observing over the summer has been very limited to be honest, (probably due to not getting good dark skies till late and some other commitments), but I have tried both of my mead 5000 82deg against the moon in twilight just to try them out. I like them a lot. It’s one of the reasons I was interested to try the Maxvision as I had read about the possible connections to the Meade 5000 range and I felt that if the quality was even close to the Meade 5000 82deg, then it would be a good eyepiece. I will certainly keep an eye open for other Meade 5000 or Maxvision EPs. I do enjoy using EPs with a wider field of view.

Now we have darker skies earlier in the evening I am eager to try them out against different targets. I think the Maxvision 20mm with my ST120 will give some great wide views.

[Nightspore]

9 hours ago, Marmot said:

To answer your question re the use of the 8.8:  My observing over the summer has been very limited to be honest, (probably due to not getting good dark skies till late and some other commitments), but I have tried both of my mead 5000 82deg against the moon in twilight just to try them out. I like them a lot. It’s one of the reasons I was interested to try the Maxvision as I had read about the possible connections to the Meade 5000 range and I felt that if the quality was even close to the Meade 5000 82deg, then it would be a good eyepiece. I will certainly keep an eye open for other Meade 5000 or Maxvision EPs. I do enjoy using EPs with a wider field of view.

Now we have darker skies earlier in the evening I am eager to try them out against different targets. I think the Maxvision 20mm with my ST120 will give some great wide views.

 

I'm pretty sure all of these were manufactured by JOC (Jinghua Optics and Electronics Co., LTD) who are the parent firm of Bresser and ES.

 

 

They've always had a good reputation.

 

 

A lot of eyepieces are made in the same factories, regardless of what's written on the housing.