TV verses TAK

[FlashDrive]

Some comments please .... TV Eyepieces are very expensive now....been looking at TAK Eyepieces 18mm / 24mm / 30mm .... I know they are only 52* degree FOV ...but price to price with TV's and good quality, the TAK are cheaper ( and I don't mean rubbish by saying cheaper )

What would you prefer for the money .. ??

Col

[Wilso]

For me it’s not so much bang for your buck but the objects , brightness, field of view your looking for. Tele Vue have great quality control, all the eyepieces I’ve bought new have been perfect. Takahashi not so much, I think their quality control has slipped a little. I’ve only the TV 22 nagler now and the 5/7.5 Tak eyepieces. The rest have been replaced with other eyepieces, Vixen, TMB, masuyama, a parks gold and a couple of nikon microscope eyepieces. I do like 5 element eyepieces, just not necessarily has to be Takahashi. :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

I'll be frank, Frank...err..Col. TV EP's are good...but they aren't the best. I've looked through MANY of the high-price (I didn't say high end) including the glass grenades, and they have never wowed me enough to buy them rampantly as many do. Naglers are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over-rated IMHO, and I have had better views through a Vixen 8-24 zoom then a Nagler 17 I used (including owning one).

I like the Tak LE's to be honest, and they do all I need. I have the 30 and the 7.5 and that is ALL I need. I would happily go back to any of the Parks Gold Series again (you should know how good they are!), or any of the pseudo-Masuyamas.

Some love the TV's of course - especially SC users - perhaps the TV EP makes the fuzzy SC image better :P

[FlashDrive]

If I can find them in very good condition, I would prefer early Japanese Eyepieces....I do have some in my signature....Antares / Celestron Ultima / Parks Gold Series/ Orion UltraScopics would be my choice ,but finding them out there in really good condition is scarce.....Those who do have them hold them close to their chest .... hence my interest in the TAK / TV's

Col.

[Wilso]

With that 10” light bucket almost finished Col, I would be looking out for a good quality used 2” eyepiece or 2 to maximise your field of view. Enjoy!

[ab1963]

Col i would go for a quality ep around the 14 to 17mm mark at least 70 degrees well corrected as your scope is f5, Had a 10'' Skywatcher dob for about 10 minutes before i sold it but noticed even with 100 deg eyepieces the view still moves along at a rate

[issdaol]

Hi Col,

I have a full set of Tak LE's and almost a complete set of TV Naglers which I have used for years.

I find the Taks a bit sharper and the Naglers a bit softer and slight burnished view.

Tak AFoV isn't that good though so Naglers win hands down on that area.

I don't plan on selling any though because I like to swap between both on the same targets to appreciate the strengths and difference each.

I have a couple of Pentax's XW's which are nice and sharp compared to the TV's and sit somewhere between the two for AFoV.

My Favourite EP's though are the Denkmeiers D21 and D14...... to my eyes they are noticeably better than Tak/TV/Pentax for sharpness and contrast....but medium AFoV (65 Degree) so closer match to the Pentax XW in terms of AFoV. Pricing used to be very attractive as they come in matched pairs. The only annoyance is they only make the D21 and D14.

If you are ever visiting down this way you are welcome to pop by one night and test them all side by side for yourself and see how they perform in either the Cassegrain, the Mewlon DK or the Refractor.

[FlashDrive]

Thanks Phil .....will make a note of that ...Cheers

Col.

[N1]

Hi Col, TV plossls also give better image quality than TV Naglers. The 7mm smoothside I once had beat the 7mm Nagler I once had for contrast, sharpness, scatter and lack of reflections on the Moon. So does that mean TV EPs are good, or does it mean the opposite?

For a dob, consider ES' offerings. Decent quality both physically and image wise, large AFoV options and reasonable cost. The 82°11 practically lives in the focuser of my 8" f/6 even though I also have a 13mm T6.

[Startrek]

Before I started purchasing eye pieces about 4 years ago I bought an excellent book called “Choosing and Using Astronomical Eye Pieces” by William Paolini
It’s about 6 or 7 years old now but to me it’s well worth purchasing as it covers the A to Z of astro eye pieces , very comprehensive and easy to read
Amongst other sources of advice it helped me make my decision about choosing Televue eye pieces. It’s taken nearly 4 years but I now have a good range of Televue eye pieces for my 12” Goto dob , although quite expensive , you pay for what you get with Televue and I have absolutely no regrets
I’m also one of the fortunate few that have the Televue Apollo 11 commemorative eye piece ( serial no 186 ) it’s definitely not a show piece in a trophy cabinet as some folk have suggested , it’s a absolutely brilliant eye piece
( I wrote a review in early June about this eye piece )
Good Luck with your eye pieces
Cheers

[GrahamL]

I would use the eyepieces in your sig for now if there still current as they are look similar to what you want to buy ,,f5 can be harsh .

[FlashDrive]

Yes Graham .... all the EP's in my ' sig ' are still current ( not letting them go anywhere ) I have reviewed my decision on further eyepiece purchases for now ...but would still consider some ' doubles ' ( to make a pair ) for future BinoViewer use.

Col...