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Baader Planetarium Hyperion 8mm
| Brand | Baader Planetarium |
| Part Number | |
| Availability | available |
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Product Info
Overview
Reviews
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Oct 25, 2009
Not wowed over, but it's an okay eyepiece
Pros:Wide FOV; decent contrast; good eye relief; large opening (no tiny pinhole to look through).
Cons:Focuses out further than other eyepieces; it's not good as a longer focal length eyepiece.
Comments:I will probably replace an 8mm Burgess TMB with this eyepiece. I've only had one night of average, not good, seeing (moderate atmospheric turbulence) in clear skies to try this thing so take the following with the proverbial grain of salt.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
The Hyperion seems as good or slightly better than the TMB. Contrast and light throughput are a tad better. Sky seems a tad darker. It does better than the TMB on planets and the moon, but the ring nebula seemed slightly better defined on the TMB, though it seemed just as bright in the Hyperion. It's just that with the Hyperion, I felt like I had to use more averted vision whereas with the TMB, I could look directly at the Ring Nebula. The double double in Lyra looked a little better than the TMB. The colorful double at the bottom of Cygnus (Albiero) looked more colorful with the Hyperion compared to the TMB. Detail on the moon seemed sharper. Coma and color aberrations didn't appear to be too noticeable (unless the lower lens element is removed - see below).
I haven't tried it with adapter rings to change focal length, but I did remove the 1 1/4" adapter that holds a lens which is supposed to turn it into a very wide field 21mm eyepiece, but I didn't like the view - too much coma and color aberrations, not focused across the field. My scope is an f8. It will probably do better with the adapter rings to make it a smaller focal length eyepiece, though.
Overall, I'm not wowed like I am when looking through a University Optics Ortho, but it's not a bad eyepiece. One other thing to note, I had to rack out a lot farther than other eyepieces. Using the 2" focuser, I had to lift the eyepiece out of the focuser where it was barely clamped by the hold down screw. Finally, I switched over to a 1 1/4" to 2" adapter and just mounted the 1 1/4" end and it was within my focuser's range.Aug 5, 2009Hyperion 8 is great!
Pros:AFOV 76.6; Clear to outer edge; Glass you're looking into, not a pin hole; Eye relief
Cons:Eye guard seems to come off at times when flipping up; Little hard to focus
Comments:I found out that the 8mm hyperion seems to work great on globulars compared to my TV 26mm x3 or the TV 10.5mm or the 12mm T4 nagler. It picks up more stars, which shocked me!
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
TV's do a better job on the the planets but he Hyperion is not far behind. It is crisp to the edge in my F/5.9. It does everything else very well.Jun 22, 2007Baader 8mm Hyperion
Pros:Great value for the price, Excellent Characteristics overall
Cons:Large and bulky for an 8mm, Slight Coma
Comments:For those of you that have trouble buying high dollar eyepieces I would suggest you take a serious look at the 8mm Hyperion. This eyepiece is a great performer on all objects I used it on. While it's definitely not a Nagler or Pentax XL, for the money it's a terrific buy. It's a terrific overall, general use eyepiece for price performing well on planets, the Moon, and DSOs alike.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? Yes
The eyepiece is sturdy and ruggedly built with great fit & finish. It is a large eyepiece that's as large as some of my 2" eyepieces but not exceptionally heavy for its bulk (13.5oz) and, in fact, fits 2" focusers with its new housing that has a full-length 2" barrel with a tapered locking recess. It also has the advantage of being used as a 6.9, 6, 5, and 4.3mm eyepiece by using extensions. In rough field measurements, I confirmed the 68° AFOV and almost 20mm eye relief.
One of the easiest ways to test the quality of an eyepiece is to drop it in a fast scope and check the edge performance. The edge characteristics of an eyepiece in an f/4.5 scope can tell you a lot about its design and attributes. Many eyepieces in this price class exhibit astigmatism, coma, or soft views in the outer 20% to 25% of the FOV. It's very common for these eyepieces to have the outer 1/4 of the FOV focus at a different point than the on-axis view or have the stars appear to have small tails like comets or tiny “Vs” jutting out. The 8mm Hyperion doesn’t display any of these aberrations until the very outer edge of the FOV. This Hyperion provided a slightly soft but generally aberration free view to the edge exhibiting no astigmatism and only the smallest amount of coma. Bright targets like planets and the moon showed no scatter or internal reflections like the BO/TMB 7 & 9mm eyepieces. Even while looking at stars next to the Moon, this eyepiece showed only a slight bit of glare. I was also pleasantly surprised to find the 8mm Hyperion did not Black Out and had for all intents and purposes, no Kidney-Beaning.
Instead of trying to write up my notes I'll just copy some of what I wrote while testing this eyepiece:
* [Temp: 60+ Seeing: Excellent Transparency: Very Good+ Wind: Calm, Occasional slight breeze.]
* Eye point is simple; very easy and comfortable to use. Eyecup works well.
* The FOV is flat with the stars clear, sharp, and pinpoint to the edge, no gullwings. Slightest softening in 10% of outer edge. Nice Airy Disk rolling through focus.
* Venus nice 2/3 phase, no CA, no scatter or reflections. Very clean edge and nice color. Excellent light transmission - sky is dark but not stark. No ghosting with Venus at Field Stop, slight coma at edge.
* With Jupiter about 5° from zenith, effectively no light scatter looking at Jupiter. View very contrasty, excellent on-axis detail.
* Jupiter appeared a crisper yellow/white. I can easily see browns, yellows, and some oranges. Clearly see the 2 major bands, top band and 5 smaller bands. Definite impression of swirls in primary belt.
* Detail and contrast in M44 is better with the Hyperion than the BO/TMB.
* Starpoints are brighter in the Hyperion, most likely due to the increased contrast with the Hyperion.
* Can clearly see the fifth star in the trapezium in M42.
The Hyperion 8mm is a very enjoyable eyepiece to use. Comfortable although large for an 8mm. I'd recommend this eyepiece to anyone who wants to stay in the $100.00 price range. You can spend more for a TeleVue or XL but for the money, this eyepiece is a probably a better deal. You get 90% of the performance for less than 1/2 the price. This eyepiece is a great Jack of All Trades and Master at None but it's a lot closer to mastering a lot of areas than any other 68 degree eyepiece in the $150 or less price class. I may just turn in my Speer-Waler for one of these.Sort by
