Originally Posted by
Jim Chandler
Other viewpoints? You came to the right place <g>. The differences among the various eyepieces that are easily seen in the 48" simply cannot be seen in my 25" or 30". I have a full set of UO volcano tops which rarely get used because, after extensive A/B comparisons with my Nagler T6 set, I can see no discernible difference in contrast, light grasp, or, for lack of a specific word, detectability of objects in my scopes. With all else equal, I prefer the wider apparent field.
Both Jimi and I do see the difference in his scope, and neither he nor I see the difference in my scopes. We have discussed this phenomenon ad infinitum, and a couple of years ago we asked James Mulherin for a professional opinion. His theory was that it's a matter of small percentage differences that yield a large enough absolute difference in the larger aperture to cross the threshold of detectabiity, while remaining unnoticeable in the smaller scopes.