The validation of the Houdini 7 last month went very well.
Observing the Sun with the pair of Houdini 7 prototypes at 170X in the 6" F/8 binoscope, we compared with a pair of Svbony 3-8 planetary zoom eyepieces dialed to 7 mm. Besides the obvious difference in comfort (eye relief) and field of view, the Houdini 7 produced slightly sharper images with visibly more contrast. Compared to the SvBony zoom, the Houdini 7 gave the impression of cutting through the seeing, and providing a lot more usable observing time on this breezy summer afternoon.
In the T1100 F/3.6 we tested the Houdini 7 on some major deep sky objects like M13, M57 and NGC 7331 with the supernova. The experience with the Houdini 7 was pretty much indistinguishable from the Ethos 8 in Paracorr type 2. The latter combination provided some extra peripheral field of view, but the larger eye relief and great contrast of the Houdini 7 create a similar feeling of immersion or "spacewalk".
On Saturn we compared the Houdini 7 to a Baader Genuine Ortho 18 in a 2.5X Powermate which produced nearly identical power. Crisp Saturn in both solutions - delicate bands on the disk, the planet's shadow on the rings, and the moon Tethys moving just below the ring while Enceladus was on the other side. The Houdini 7 performance was on par with the BGO, which is a great result, considering the 86° vs 40° field.
This session was very conclusive - the Houdini 7 is a great addition to the series! Production has begun, and the eyepiece is expected to hit the shelves in December.
Meanwhile we have also finalized the design of the Houdini 9. Two prototypes are ordered and will arrive in November.
We've added it to the Houdini Eyepiece Specifications page.
