tele vue plossl or vixen lv ?

[frogman]

they are around the same price....... both have around 50 degree..... both are a good name ... !!!

what brand ??
what do you reckon i should buy John ?

[asimov]

What do you want to do with the said EP? low power DSO work or High power planetary?

[iceman]

yeh what focal length froggy?

[frogman]

12 to 18/20 somewhere in between ?
already have the 9mm LV

[janoskiss]

Never tried the LVs but in that FL range I'd choose the TV Plossl over the LV.

[asimov]

I agree: TV plossl in that range, but I've never used a long FL LV. :confuse3:

I have a 20mm TV plossl & a 5mm LV.

[Ziggy]

I certainly can't help you with a choice there, but I'm kind of interested in the comparison myself though. Not really in the market to buy either or any of them at the moment, but I was just wondering about people's views of the 11mm Televue Plossl as a planetary eyepiece? For the price, it seems quite good value. Of course, the UO Ortho's are excellent value also, with a slightly smaller field of view.

As I said, around the 11mm - 12mm mark, the Televue Plossl seems good value. I suspect it is, and would work very well. Though I've read that they have a warmer feel to them. Don't know much about Vixens. Is there a better option, without going over the top like Radians? I already have my premium planetary piece sorted! I suspect there's not much between any of them, and I have read the threads on planetary eyepieces, so have a pretty good idea. Just enquiring more specifically about the Televue 11mm plossl.

Same question with the 30mm - 32mm size I guess? I was wondering on people's thoughts of the Televue 32mm Plossl as a low power peice? Also seems excellent value when compared to a lot more expensive counterparts, namely Celestron 30mm of course. I realise they have the huge mark up and all that. I'm thinking 1.25" size here too.

Sorry to hijack your thread mate! Don't want to get into trouble!! Hope people answer your question first, but I think I'm along a similar line. I guess I was surprised to see the reasonable prices of the Televue Plossls, when compared to other brands.

[ving]

see now i was going to sugest a celestron ultima as an equal to TV...

[Starkler]

Last time I checked, Celestron eyepieces suffer horrendous mark-up in the Australian market. A couple of years ago I paid $240 for a 12.5mm Ultima. :doh: AFAIK, nobody imports the equivalents such as Orion Ultrascopic, Parks Gold series, so in the local market it seems the TV plossl is the best value for this eyepiece class.


Anthony, what the vixen lv has over the tv plossl is 20mm eye relief. This is something that plossl type eyepieces cant match in the shorter focal lengths.
How much eye relief is desired is always a personal choice and nobody can tell you how much ER you desire. I personally wouldnt use a plossl shorter than 10-12mm and would barlow a longer FL one to keep a reasonable eye relief.

[Merlin66]

About ten years ago I finally "upgraded" from UO Orthos to Televue Plossl/ naglers. All I have in my box is TV Plossls/ Naglers ( Nag 4.8/32) and the old 6mm Ziess Mono, 2.5 TV barlow. Never been dissappointed with the performance on any of my scopes: 4" Genesis, 90 ETX, 10" Lx5, 333 Dobbie or the 450 f4.5 Dobbie.
Life is to short to get caught up in trainspotting for the "Ultimate" eyepiece, they never exist.
When I started with a 6" f8 Newt I used a couple of old Ramsden 1/2", 1" which got me through the first few years, never knew the difference!!!

[Robert_T]

Just for the record, Sirius Optics, Underwood Brisbane, do stock and sell the Orion Ultrascopics - I bought a 10mm from them a few months back. A nice eyepiece, but I wouldn't rate it any higher than the UO HD ortho - can't compare to a Vixen LV or TV plossls as I've never used them.

cheers,

[Starkler]

Well if its as good as a UO HD and with greater fov, that has to mean its pretty damn good doesn't it? :confuse3:

[Robert_T]

Yep - though it's (Orion Ultrascopic) more expensive too at $199 versus $125 for the UO Orthos. For my money I'd prefer to spend a bit more (~$285) and go for the Takahashi LE eyepieces, these just seem to have an edge for me in overall, brightness, colour rendition, fov, and comfort (eye-relief).

cheers,

[Starkler]

In that case the TV plossl is the clear value winner for top shelf plossls in Aus.

[ving]

how would a meade 4000s plossl compare to these?

[Starkler]

Ving they wouldnt, unless they are the earlier "made in Japan" 5 element type.
The later ones are just a garden variety rebadged Chinese plossl AFAIK.

[ving]

i thought all 4000s were japanese made.... shows to go hey...

[ausastronomer]

David,

There are "at least" 4 variations of the Meade Series 4000 plossls, maybe 5 actually. The Japanese made 5 element ones are very good. The made in China versions are very average.

CS-John B

[ausastronomer]

You can import the Antares Elite plossls, another 5 element Japanese made clone with a different label, from Kendrick in Canada for about $140 each including shipping. If you bought 2 or 3 eyepieces the cost would be a bit less.

http://www.kendrick-ai.com/astro/ep_antares.html

CS-John B

[asimov]

John..Quick question: I get confused about the meade series 4000 still. The 5 element jap version are the best, everyone including you have made this perfectly clear to me, Is it correct they do not make these anymore & ones only hope to get one is the second hand market?

[ving]

the 4000s at bintel, which i asume are the newer ones are 4 element... so i'd asume the 5 elements ones arent made any more :(

[janoskiss]

They are probably still being made, just not sold under the Meade name.

[Argonavis]

I find Scopestuff to be very good for Antaries items:

http://www.scopestuff.com/#Eyepieces%20and%20Barlows

suggest that you compare prices.

[ausastronomer]

John,

Yes thats correct, the good ones are the earlier versions, which haven't been made for a few years.

All of the recent manufacture series 4000 plossls were made in China. IMO these are not much better, if at all, than the generic plossls supplied with budget scopes.

When the good ones are advertised 2nd hand, the user usually advertises the made in Japan factor and 4 element or 5 element. There were also some 4 element series 4000 plossls that were made in Japan which came after they changed from the 5 element design and these are also very good.

CS-John B

[mickoking]

I have a 25mm LV and it is sharp as. Very good eye relief and pin point to the field edge even on fast 'scope. However, i don't know if they still make the 25mm model?