I like the finish of the WO stuff, long perng is the same & but cheaper at Andrews. Though I bought a 2" generic diagonal off Peter (wax gibbous) that was a bargain. The ep is the piece if glass to watch more closely imo
The GSO dielectric diagonals are very good (2") but that 1.25 you talk about is the old standard type, the one I had I DiDNT rate very highly. I see they do not carry the long perng anymore, The WO IS MUCH NICER IN THE 1.25" format I think
My recommendation is go for dielectric diagonal (99% transmission) and avoid regular (90% transmission) diagonals, budget permitting.
For $100 you should get something good. GSO stuff is really good, you won't be disappointed.
Yes - I have to agree with the bulk of opinions. Ironically - while there is a good range to be found in 2' diagonals the range for 1.25 is somewhat limited. Best bang for your dollar seems to be the WO 1.25 aka Orion 1.25 or Astro-Tech 1.25 (if you happen to be in North America). After that it boils down to how deep your pockets are and "supposedly" the 'best' 1.25 mirror diagonal you can buy is the Televue 1.25 everbrite. I am not sure whether AP/Baader make a high quality 1.25 but if they do I don't know where you can readily get one from Australia.
BTW - no comment on the exact properties of the Televue everbrite mirror in the diagonal. Perhaps there is something special/better with the mirror but as far as I can tell the main difference in the Televue (versus the WO, Orion or AstroTech) is that it is made from a one piece solid machined al housing.
Final point - Peters comment about the Takahashi 1.25 diagonal is a handy piece of information to keep in mind as I have often found out the hard way that you can easily spend a lot of money sometimes without much difference between the big names and more modest products.
The one piece Televue setup is smart - I have a very expensive 2" Takahashi diagonal and end up screwing the nosepiece back in all to often when it's come loose.
I have the 1.25" and 2" WO diagonals and a GSO 2". The fit and finish of the WO is better and they hold the eyepieces more firmly (but gently). A bit lighter also-the carbon fibre is nice.
