Orion Lanthanum Superwide 22mm

5.0 22mm Orion Lanthanum Superwide

Sharp to edge of field, easy to use, excellent eye relief and build quality.

Slightly smaller field of view versus competition, lateral color near edge of field.

This is a wonderful eyepiece which I owned for about a year before selling to fund other projects. Since that time, I've come to regret that sale almost every day. I've used this eyepiece extensively in my f6 dob with sharp edge to edge views everytime. Eye relief was very generous and I had no problems with either blackouts or eye positioning. Build quality was also top-notch and definitely better than that of my 17mm Stratus eyepiece with better blackening of the barrel threads and a more clearly defined field stop.

However, to give the Stratus credit, I did find its softer eyeguard to be more comfortable and its apparent field of view seemed significantly larger and more immersive. The specifications for this eyepiece state a 65 degree field of view versus the 68 degrees of a Stratus eyepiece or 70 degrees of a Pentax XW, which seems about right.

Overall, there is very little to complain about this eyepiece. I know others have complained of lateral color with objects near the edge of the field, but I consider this a minor issue which doesn't bother me during observing. I do wish it had the softer eyeguard of the Stratus, but this probably isn't a big deal for most people either.