-
Final Announcement: We're Saying Goodbye to AstronomyConnect. Read Our Closing Notice.
More Views
Agena 2" Super Wide Angle (SWA) Eyepiece - 26mm
| Brand | Agena AstroProducts |
| Part Number | E-AG-SWA26 |
| Availability | available |
| Share |
Product Info
Manufacturer Description
Looking for $400 performance in an under-$100 eyepiece? Then you can look no further.
With features like a wide 70 degree apparent FOV, five elements of fully multi-coated high-index glass, beautiful black anodized body and barrel, the Agena Super Wide Angle (SWA) eyepieces are as close as you can get. These eyepieces will give you crisp and wide views of the Moon, planets, galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, rivaling the performance of much higher priced eyepieces.
Features:
- 70 degree apparent field of view, for that immersed in space feeling
- Available in 1.25" (10, 15 and 20mm focal lengths) and 2" (26, 32 and 38mm) formats to cover a wide range of magnifications and true fields of view
- Super sharp, with excellent aberration correction and extremely high resolution rivaling higher-priced eyepieces
- Blackened lens edges, anti-reflection threads for maximum image contrast
- Fold-down rubber eyecups, rubber grip rings for comfort and safety
- Sleek black barrel with safety undercut to reduce the possibility of the eyepiece slipping out of the focuser or diagonal
- Light in weight for their size, thus minimizing or eliminating the need to rebalance your telescope
See why Erik Wilcox, reviewing the Agena SWA 2-inch eyepieces for Astronomy Technology Today magazine [Oct. 2007, pp. 36-38], said:
All these three eyepieces offer a great value, with a lot of "bang for the buck." Agena AstroProducts has really raised the bar with this line, and in the under $100 category, I feel that it would be difficult to find another line of 2-inch eyepieces that offer better performance for the price.
Reviewing our 20mm 1.25-inch SWA eyepiece on Cloudy Nights [Jun. 2007], Nathan Melendez concluded:
"Excellent performance in an inexpensive package. Highly recommended whether you wear glasses or not. These are great all purpose eyepieces...an incredible buy!!"
Reviews
-
Oct 27, 2018
Great bang for the buck
Pros: Cons: Comments:Recently switched to 2 in eyepieces and this one performed better than I expected for the price. With an 8in SCT I can't find anything I don't like about it.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Mar 25, 2017Perfect, as described.
Pros: Cons: Comments:Great value for the money. Provided a wider field and sharper views at the edges of the field than the eyepiece that came with my scope
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Mar 30, 2016Very Good Eyepiece, Excellent Value
Pros:Accurate,Quality Lenses,Strong Construction
Cons: Comments:See extended review under the set. These eyepieces work well in F6 telescopes, and very well in F6.5 and above. Very good engineering and manufacture. I have and use TV and UO with similar AFOV. But for star parties, Astronomy Merit Badge, Grab and Go, other "many hands, eager hands" uses these just can't be beat. The set of three costs less than one of "the best". Peace of mind combines with the Agena SWA very good optics to create comparable views in the central 2/3s of the field, with the surround enhancing the experience. Include Agena's case, excellent customer service, and prompt free shipping and you are at 5 stars.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Jul 14, 2015Great for the money!
Pros:Easy to Use,Strong Construction,Quality Lenses
Cons: Comments:Great eyepiece for the money..Great for lunar, DSO..Stars are pinpoint almost all the way to the edge in my Meade ACF 10"..The only thing I don't like is this and the 38mm have developed some spots between the lenses..Doesn't seem to effect the performance though..
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Oct 18, 2014Excellent value
Pros: Cons: Comments:Great eyepiece. I don't think you can get a better value, as this relatively inexpensive eyepiece has a very wide field of view that is sharp pretty much to the edge on an ED100 refractor that I first tried it with. Good contrast, comfortable viewing. Hopefully it will not be too bad with my fast reflector either.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 30, 2014Great product for the budget driven!
Pros:Quality Lenses,Easy to Use,Strong Construction
Cons:Heavy
Comments:After a 25 plus year in the USAF I am now a non-traditional college student and I recently took an astronomy class for my degree. I enjoyed the class so much I purchased a Celestron NexStar 6Se telescope and this is currently the only lens I use (although I do have others). It, coupled with a 2x barlow, provides great views from my backyard in an area with moderate light pollution. The other lens I bought were some of the "introductory" lens from the company that manufactured my telescope and I quickly learned that there are great differences in lens' quality. I plan to buy even more Agena lens in the future and have no problem recommending their products to someone else.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Nov 29, 2013Great Value
Pros:Quality Lenses,Easy to Use,Strong Construction,Accurate
Cons: Comments:An excellent EP that provides great wide field, low power views on those clear nights! This EP is solid, well constructed with excellent coatings! For the $ value it is a great performer and I personally feel you can't go wrong owning one of these!
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Sep 28, 2013Fantastic eyepiece!
Pros:Quality Lenses,Good contrast,Wide Field of View,Strong Construction,Great build quality
Cons:None
Comments:Fantastic eyepiece, especially for the money. Performs very well in my f/10 8" SCT. It's great to know that even though I can't spend hundreds of $ on a TeleVue or Explore Scientific eyepiece, I can still get such amazing quality and performance at a price that's affordable. Don't even hesitate to get any of the Agena SWA's.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
HawaiiAstro New Member
- Skill Level
- Unknown
- Time with Product
- Unknown
- User Notes:
- Review by Tiebreaker of Texas.
Apr 5, 2013Great Eyepiece at a Great Price
Pros:Quality Lenses,Value,Strong Construction,Easy to Use
Cons: Comments:I use this eyepiece in a 10" LX-90 scope and it has become my most used eyepiece. Works well with my f/6.3 focal reducer too. Wide field of view stays sharp almost to the edge. Although it doesn't matter in the dark, I like the business-like look of the eyepiece as well - all black with no unnecessary colors. The only minor complaint is I don't find this eyepiece to be parfocal with the 38mm.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Mar 24, 2013Very Nice Eyepiece
Pros:Great Eye Relief,Strong Construction,Quality Lenses
Cons: Comments:This eyepiece is great. Bright wide views help when trying to hunt down faint objects. One night it was the only eyepiece I used because the views were just beautiful. Agena shipped this eyepiece well protected and quickly. Will definitely order from Agena again.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 17, 2012Built like a rock
Pros:Quality Lenses,Easy to Use,Strong Construction
Cons: Comments:I bought this a while back and tonight was the first time I was able to use it with a clear sky. Great images and only a little loss at the edges. But the greatest thing, and I doubt if another product could do this, was that after changing to a 32 mm eyepiece, my 2" 26 mm Agena rolled off my patio table onto my tiled patio and landed with a sickening crack. Much to my surprise, I picked it up and nothing fell out, nothing made any noise and when I put it back in my scope, it's still perfect! There was no damage other than a slight dent in the housing. I couldn't believe it - it fell a good 3 feet onto ceramic tile and no functional damage at all! 5 stars for that besides being a great value for the money. Used with an 8" f/4.9 newt.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Jul 4, 2011Great Eye Piece
Pros:Easy to Use,Price,Strong Construction
Cons: Comments:I must say that this is a really nice eyepiece. Used it in my 10 inch dob f/4.9 and it worked great. There is a tiny bit of astigmatism at the edge of the field but not enough to to be bothered by it, it's to be expected in a fast reflector. This eyepiece is very well built and performed great. Teamed up well with the GSO 2 inch 2x barlow. The views of M5 & M13 were fantastic with that combo. Can't beat it for the price! I definitely recommend it.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Sep 1, 2010Very good for the price
Pros:Quality Lenses,Strong Construction
Cons: Comments:For under $100 this is a very good eyepiece. Some re-focusing is needed between edges and center, but in an older C8 f/10, this is renders very nice, wide views. It is not as sharp overall as a Panoptic, but you get 80% of the performance for 30% of the price.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Aug 5, 2009Not as good as it sounds
Pros:Astronomy
Cons:Astronomy
Comments:Experienced observer. Even though the apparent FOV says 70 deg only about 70% of the image is in good focus. I tested this eyepiece in both a C8 and C14. I was hoping for better performance but at this price I should have known. Although the 40 to 50% view around the center is fairly good.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? NoThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
May 31, 2009Good Performer for the Price
Pros:Quality Lenses,Strong Construction
Cons:Soft focus at edge
Comments:Very good price for a good eyepiece. Bear in mind this is no Nagler or Panoptic but at a fraction of the price, you'll get your money's worth.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Mar 26, 2009GREAT 2" LENS
Pros:Accurate,Strong Construction,Quality Lenses,Comfortable Eyepiece
Cons: Comments:WOW, what can you say about a true 2" 26mm lens that performes like a 500 dollar lens. Just can't say enough about this lens. The glass was coated and the performance in an 8 and 10 inch SCT was flawless as compared head to head with a 500 dollar lens at a star party. It made the others say "no way it only cost [$]". It is constructed like a very expensive lens and I found the coating better than the more expensive 26mm lenses we compared it to. True 2" lenses inside gave an awsome FOV and was a wonderfull lens for any type of star party or personal use. Awsome lens.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesThis review was provided courtesy of AgenaAstro.com
Feb 14, 2007First impressions
Pros:Cost, Construction.
Cons:field curvature and coma present.
Comments:Please see my reviews on the 32mm SWA and the 38mm SWA as they were tested on the same nights as this 26mm and observing conditions and telescope descriptions are in those reviews.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
Comments here are where this 26mm eyepiece differed from the others.
This eyepiece was of similar construction and overall cosmetic quality as the others tested. Image contrast was very good with this eyepiece although my comments regarding the sequence of testing (this one was tested last) may contribute to better dark adaptation and discernable contrast differences.
No astigmatism noted. An equal amount of coma present in this eyepiece compared to the others noted above, see the note below on use with a Paracorr.
This was the only eyepiece of the 3 to show any field curvature (positive) and I felt it to be a bit more than usually accepted. Most people will tolerate some small degree of positive field curvature (where racking in the focus is necessary to focus edge stars).
This eyepiece also had a bit of coma that even use of the Paracorr could not resolve. While the others had some coma, the Paracorr would 'fix' it with the 32mm and 38mm. At least in this particular 26mm, I had enough coma that the Paracorr could not remedy it. This indicates some genuine coma within the eyepiece not attributable to the fast f/5 optics I have. Some coma is expected with fast scopes and the Paracorr will deal with it, with this eyepiece it did not.
Due to these disparities from its tested partners, I'd have to drop the rating on this eyepiece from very good to average. Recommendable until consensus shows an undesireable trend. I may simply have a less than optimal example in my case that may not be typical. I may be tempted to return this one for an exchange after additional testing.
Overall I still believe this 2" SWA series is recommendable and great value for the price.Sort bySpecifications
Apparent Field of View 70° Barrel Size 2" (50.8mm) Bolt Case Included Yes - Free Agena Eyepiece Container Bolt Case Size Agena 65x80mm Coatings Fully Broadband Multi-Coated Height (with Eye Guard) 3.7" (93mm) End Caps 2 Eye Relief by Design 20mm Filter Threads Standard 2" Filter Thread (M48 x 0.75) Focal Length 26mm Lens Elements 5 Lens Groups 3 Rubber Eye Guard Yes Blackened Lens Edges Yes Manufacturer Agena AstroProducts Eyepiece Focal Length 20.1mm - 30mm Eyepiece Field of View 61 - 70 degrees Eyepiece Series Agena SWA Barrel Type With safety undercut Parfocal No Eyepiece Weight 10.20oz (289.16g)
