Burgess Optical Original 6mm Planetary Eyepiece

Eyepieces: Planetary: 6 mm Discontinued Special Offering

6mm Planetary EP in Up and Down positions

The picture above shows two views of the 6mm Planetary: the left view with the twist-up eyecup fully extended and the right view with the eyecup fully twisted down.

The Burgess Optical / TMB Planetary eyepieces offer a 60 degree field of view with a tack sharp view and lots of eyerelief. Just what is needed for extended gazing at our close neighbors. And, just what you would expect from a Thomas Back designed eyepiece.

HOWEVER, our first production run of 6mm Planetary eyepieces do not quite meet the high standards set by Thomas Back of TMB Optical. So, we are offering the 6mm Planetary eyepieces at $49, less than 1/2 of their regular price! The factory is shipping this first production run to us in several lots.

Designing and developing the Planetary eyepieces has been an ongoing effort. We obtained prototypes of the 6mm Planetary eyepiece before we received prototypes of the 4 and 9mm Planetary eyepieces. The preliminary tests for the 6mm showed that the eyepiece met all of our specifications, so we had the factory make a production run of that eyepiece. We then received a prototype of the 4mm Planetary eyepiece. WOW!! The 4mm Planetary is a fantastic eyepiece. The 4mm eyepiece exceeded our specifications to such a large degree, that we feel that the 6mm eyepiece needs to be reworked. Not that it is a bad eyepiece, just that it can be so much better.

We discovered that the final design for the 4mm, if applied to the 6mm eyepiece, would result in making the 6mm a better eyepiece than it is now. There is a slight improvement that we are going to make for the final design of the 6mm Planetary eyepiece that will make the field stop razor shart, the very edge of the field in fast telescopes slightly better corrected (very sharp) and the eye relief slightly longer: 20mm vs. 16mm. Even without these changes, the first 6mm's are superb eyepieces.

Check out our construction and features:

Every Air to Glass surface has Multi Broadband coatings!

Twist-up eyecups with flexible eyecups on top.

On Wednesday, July 13, 2005, the designer, Thomas Back, posted a message to the Yahoo BurgessRefractors group describing, in his words, the 4mm Planetary eyepiece:

Hello all!

As you all know, there was a star party last weekend, and a customer with a TMB 105mm f/6.2 apo, had a chance to test the new 6mm BO/TMB planetary eyepiece, vs. his 6mm TMB Super Mono, and his Vixen 6mm eyepiece.

If you read the review [Read the BurgessRefractors review post here, Ed.], you will see that the reviewer said that I didn't like the 6mm, compared to the 4mm. This is because the development and testing of the eyepieces continued after the 6mm was put in production, and it was too late to incorporate the final design features into the 6mm, which had already shipped from the factory. The 6mm, under careful testing, did not meet my quality standards, whereas the 4mm exceeded my high standards for a planetary eyepiece.

What we plan on doing is selling the 6mm eyepieces for only $49.00, for the 500 we ordered. Everyone that used the 6mm at the star party, even using it on a fast, large f/4 dob, thought the eyepiece was outstanding, even to the edge of the field.

The next day, Bill sold out the stock he had in less than 5 minutes.

This 6mm is an excellent eyepiece, but we feel that because it wasn't my final design, we should give a discount, and make sure that the first run 6mm's will be marked different from the final production 6mm, which will take some time before we have new stock.

This is so everyone will know if they are using or will be buying the first run, or the production run 6mm. We will mark it, or use a different paint color to allow you to tell if it is the first run, or the final production run. And one more thing, the barrel in the first 6mm eyepieces, is the final style barrel, with the laser engraving.

Bill tells me that the people at the star party that tested the 6mm planetary had a hard time understanding what could be done to make it better, but there is a slight improvement in the final design, that makes the field stop razor sharp, the very edge of the field in fast telescopes are slightly better corrected (very sharp), and the eye relief is slightly longer, 16mm vs. 20mm. But that is it, in all ways, the first 6mm's are superb eyepieces.

The 4mm, 6mm, and 9mm BO/TMB planetary eyepieces will be available for sale in about two to three weeks, and the other focal lengths will come in the months ahead. Keep your eye on the TMB and Burgess web sites for updated information on availability.

Thank you.

Thomas Back

Why are we selling this eyepiece?

When we design a new product, we receive prototypes to evaluate our design. We also request the manufacturer to make a short production run of the product. We do this to ensure that the manufacturer has the capability to produce eyepieces in sufficient quantity and with good, consistent quality. With this eyepiece, the manufacturer ran a short production run of the prototype. Optically, the eyepiece if fine; however, it can be, and will be, better.

However, because this eyepiece does not meet Thomas Back's high standards, we decided to sell the first production run at a discount after making a full disclosure. The next production run will be tested when they come in, and those that meet our specifications will be sold at the regular price.

One reason we are selling this eyepiece at a discount is because the retaining ring inside the eyepiece has a glossy surface, which causes glare and off-axis reflections. We are in the process of obtaining replacement retainer rings in an attempt to reduce the glare in these eyepieces. We will post more information after they are in hand.

Products

Eyepieces: Planetary: 6 mm Discontinued Special Offering

Why are we selling this eyepiece?

Eyepiece Specifications