M42 surprise !! - Meade Series 4000 8mm-24mm Zoom Eyepiece (1.25") 07199-2

I have been getting interested in astrophotography, particularly through the eyepieces so I could get more variety of magnifications than what a prime lens setup will allow. So, I asked Meade's tech support (via their website) about using this zoom with cameras with T-adapters and whether or not this zoom had threads under the rubber eyecup for connecting a camera. They said that this was not possible, but when I finally got one these eyepieces and removed the rubber cup - VOILA! there actually are M42 / T-threads. The one gotcha for buying this eyepiece is that it was redesigned about 2 years ago and I got mine about a year ago so I do not know which version I have. Mine has a black barrel and the other one has a chrome barrel, I think the chrome barrel is the older one but I am not sure. I also do not know if the chrome barrel version has the threads under the eyecup. Otherwise the eyepiece seems to be decent quality and works pretty good.