Takahashi LE's - Feedback/Opinions?

[Profiler]

Does anyone have some experience/opinions with the Takahashi LE's in comparison to some of the TV EP's? I can't seem to find too much information in terms of eyepiece reviews on the LE's and I am curious to know what is their optical quality/performance like in comparison to a Radian or 5mm Nagler for planetary viewing.

[Hans Tucker]

I nealy have a full set of the Takahashi LE eyepieces (haven't got the HI LE 2.8 & 3.6 nor the LE 10mm) and they are one of the best performers particularly for Lunar and planetary viewing. Sharp right to the edge and good contrast. I use these eyepieces with a FSQ-106ED, APOMAX 130 refractor and a Mewlon 250S. I would like to get the LE 10mm so I will be selling a duplicate LE 18mm to fund that. Sorry but I haven't done a comparison with equal focal length Radians although I do have the 10mm & 14mm Radians. The Radians are equally as sharp as the LE's but their click stop adjustment barrel is a bit annoying..the Pentax XW has a better method..the barrel rotates..rather smoothly.

[Brettstar6754]

I am the proud owner of a full set of Tak LE eyepieces,5mm up to 30mm.
at least 15 years now.
The Taks perform beautifully for me.
The eye relief and exit pupil all agree with my style of observing.
My style is serious observing, observing a lot of galaxies and needing detail and contrast in a pinch. Taks deliver the blackest background with a strong transmission of the targets photons.

It gets better!
Taks are approximately par focal and their weight difference isn't huge. Balance is never an issue on the top of a big truss Dob.
In fact I always observe with a 2nd eyepiece clipped on the lower ring of the top cage to swap out whilst at the eyepiece. Usually the 30 and the 12.5 for SN searching.

The 7.5 is just perfect for planets.
I often think to myself the 7.5 Tak is the best eyepiece in the world.


Now that I have a 80mm APO the 5mm loves the planets too!

Delighted with my Taks Thanks,
Brett

[Profiler]

Thanks for the great feedback - I am just really curious to know how these LE eyepieces rate against some of the Televue.

[Zaps]

Another very satisfied owner of a set of Tak LEs. No way would I claim they are better than, say, Naglers, but the LEs are very fine eyepieces in their own right, and I highly recommend them unreservedly.

[rmcconachy]

I used to have 5mm, 7.5mm and 24mm Tak LE eyepieces. I thought they were very fine eyepieces, especially the two shorter focal length ones. My desire for a wider field of view and more eyerelief were the reasons I sold them. The 5mm and 7.5mm Tak LE have 9-10mm of eyerelief which is much better than a plossl or an ortho of the same focal length but not a match for the 20mm offered by a Pentax XF/XL/XW or TV Radian. However, the Tak LE eyepieces are significantly less expensive than Pentax XL/XW eyepieces and much smaller and lighter too.

[Profiler]

Thanks for the feedback - this is really getting closer to the nub of the question I am curious about in terms of a side-by-side comparison in optical performance amongst a 5mm LE versus a 5mm Radian or 5mm Nagler - which would provide the better view (putting aside AFOV, eyerelief issues etc) of a planet (as an example)?

[Brettstar6754]

I used to do a lot of comparisons but have settled on Taks. I would say that if you were looking for the best Planetary detail with a 5mm eyepiece, then my money is with the TAK no question. Transmission, contrast, sharpness, eye comfort, colour correction, weight, cost, feel, time wasted, kidney bean effect and balance are my reasons.

[MikeyB]

Horses for courses - Naglers are highly corrected ultra wide-angles. That means they will be sub-optimum for a specialised application such as planetary observing, where that "spacewalk" view is unnecessary.

In planetary applications (Mars, Saturn, Jupiter), I notice that my 13mm Nagler Type VI falls down in two areas primarily - contrast and light scatter. My 10mm Radian has a considerably narrower field of view, but offers better contrast and less light scatter - it's in its element with planets, just as it was intended to be by its designer.

I used to have a 7.5mm Tak LE and rather regret selling it - eye relief wasn't great but for clarity and contrast on planets, I haven't tried anything that beats it. Cloudy Nights has some interesting and detailed planetary observing eyepiece comparisons:

5mm Planetary Eyepiece Shoot-out (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1683)

6mm Lunar/Planetary Eyepiece Comparison (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1935)

DETAILED COMPARISONS OF 7MM EYEPIECES (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=291)

There's probably others there too, if you go looking.

[skies2clear]

As always, this is only my opinion and not everyone will agree, but I rate the Tak LE 5, for example, very highly. I have other 5mm premium grade eyepieces, such as Pentax XW5, TMB Supermonocentric 5, and others, but not a Radian 5mm (sorry). I rate the Tak LE5 above the Pentax XW5, which is more expensive, though the XW series are superb eyepieces and wider field. It would be marginally bettered by the Supermonocentric and Zeiss Abbe II, but these are far more expensive and have their drawbacks too with regard to comfort of viewing. The Tak LE 5 and 7.5 both have moderate eye relief and reasonable comfort, unlike many of the dedicated planetary types.

I would pick a Tak LE 5 over a Nagler any time (except for wide field viewing), but against a Radian???? Never done the comparison. This based on using many different scopes from 4" to 16", both refractors (not the 16" unfortunately) and reflectors.

my 2 cents, fwiw