Hi all,
I got to use the new 13mm Televue Ethos (100° AFOV) under the stars last Sunday Night at TSP, in Larry Mitchell's 36"/F5 Obsession and in Barbara Wilson's 20"/F4 dob on several targets. I also got to use it in a Televue 85 at a "private" gathering yesterday afternoon on selected terrestrial targets and in a Televue NP127 on some test targets. It is absolutely outstanding. I would estimate that right at EOF, image quality is 95% as good as it is on axis. I really am stunned. I can't believe how good the image quality is right across the FOV. Colour reproduction is nice and cool. As cool and neutral as I have ever seen in a Televue eyepiece, where whites appear white not cream. Eye relief for non eyeglass wearers is very good, it is difficult to use with glasses on, but you can fit a dioptrix to it. This eyepiece is a prototype and Al Nagler wasn't letting it out of his sight, so I feel quite privileged, to have been able to spend as much time as I did with it (maybe it was the Aussie accent). Production is still about 6 months off and pricing is not yet determined, nor is the entire focal length range. What I can say is they are going to sell a lot of them, regardless of cost.
I am a Pentax XW fan through and through, but I have to take my hat off to Al Nagler on this occasion. I have to say it is revolutionary and taken widefield eyepieces to a new level. Queue up people
CS-John B