The Christmas Comp 13mm Tele Vue Nagler

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #1 07-03-2006, 05:24 PM

It's here! Finally.

Some of you have asked me to jot down my impressions of the Nagler when it arrives. Well it's here, along with the mandatory 3 months of bad weather after getting astronomy toys. Sorry North QLD guys for ruining your night sky.

As I write this it's truley impossible to wipe the smile off my face. No sky for a while so pointed a couple of my fast scopes at trees about 100 metres down the back.

The first thing you notice with 82 degrees apparent FOV is that it's like you've stuck your head in the scope and become immersed in the scene. With this eyepiece the experience is even more pleasurable due to the edge to edge sharpness, even in a fast scope like my 6 inch f5 Newtonian.

When I first heard it was 13mm I thought this EP was not going to be that good for true wide field use. Wrong! The apparent 82 degrees FOV fits in about as much as sky, or trees in this case, as my old 45 deg FOV 25mm Kellner.

On to the pics taken afocal through a 6" f5 Newt. Sorry the trees are sideways, but ya get that. Pics were taken with my Nikon Coolpix with the lens set to wide.

First tree pic is with the Nagler. There's no vignetting, in fact I can't fit the entire view in the camera lens. There's probably half as much again to see. It's nice and sharp along the entire branch. For those that want nice afocal pics without vignetting this EP makes it easy.

Second pic is with my Celestron Orthoscopic 18mm apparent FOV 50 degrees. This EP is 20 years old but still in good condition. Was worth about $100 back then. Notice the drain pipe view and blurred edges when focused at the centre.

Third tree pic is with my 0.96 inch 25mm Unitron Kellner. It has bad shadow in the centre due to central obstruction. This eyepiece performs better at longer focal lengths but is pretty bad in an f5 scope. Where's the bin...

Fourth tree pic is with a Celestron? 10mm LV eyepiece. Blurred everything except the centre and bad chromatic aberration. I never thought much of this $200 eyepiece. Bin time again.

I have a couple of others but my eyepiece collection isn't that big and admittedly was pretty ordinary to start with. The Nagler blows them all away.

Thanks to Mike at Bintel and Mike at IIS for this lovely eyepiece.

Can't wait to see the night sky with it!

Kieken · #2 07-03-2006, 05:28 PM

Never thought that 82° would give this effect when imagng

. Quit impresssive if you ask me. Anyway thanks for sharing this.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #3 07-03-2006, 05:51 PM

Kevin, You only just got the Xmas comp Nagler??

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #4 07-03-2006, 06:01 PM

Just arrived a couple of hours ago. I believe Bintel had to get in an order from the US. I have plenty of patience this time of year as our skies are usually lousy for months anyway.

davidpretorius · #5 07-03-2006, 06:40 PM

great comparison, you have taught me heaps!!

thanks

Ziggy · #6 07-03-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

It's here! Finally.

Some of you have asked me to jot down my impressions of the Nagler when it arrives. Well it's here, along with the mandatory 3 months of bad weather after getting astronomy toys. Sorry North QLD guys for ruining your night sky.

So you're to blame for the weather up this way! Knew it would be the fault of someone from around here

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #7 07-03-2006, 08:39 PM

Hehheh, sorry about that. The cloud animations don't look good for clear skies any time soon for most of the QLD coast either.

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #8 07-03-2006, 09:16 PM

Tried a couple more scopes. The Nagler works well even with the f3.64 Schmidt Newtonian. Has a few blackouts at f11 with the Mak though unless my eye is just in the right spot. Looks like they optimised it for fast f ratios which suits me well as most of my scopes are fast.

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #9 07-03-2006, 11:48 PM

Woohoo, got a few gaps in the clouds. Grabbed a 6 inch f6 dob and headed for the backyard.

Spied the moon partially through cloud. Awesome! Real FOV must have been about a degree cos I could fit two moon diameters in the field. Unreal for a 13mm eyepiece. The 82 degree AFOV really improved the look as opposed to looking through a 50 degree pipe.

The clouds more or less parted over Orion so went straight for M42. I could fit the whole sword in and at the same time the trap was very clear and well defined, seeing 5 stars in the trap. Could have seen more if it was truely cloud free and I wasn't being masacred my mossies, plus it was so humid and hot I fogged up the eyepiece in seconds. Stars were sharp over the entire field - no seagulls.

Saturn was great and it's little moons sparkled around it. This and other planets are probably the only objects that don't really benifit from the ultrawide AFOV but it was nice just the same. Could have done with more than 13mm though. Maybe I should get a decent barlow next.

Heaven would be two Naglers in a binoviewer.

I think I might have to do more visual observing from now on.

matt · #10 08-03-2006, 05:04 AM

Very happy you're enjoying the 13mm T6 Kevin.

She's a grand little performer

ving (David) · #11 08-03-2006, 09:06 AM

very interesting... thanks

cjmarsh81 · #12 08-03-2006, 11:17 AM

You have made up my mind. I want one.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #13 08-03-2006, 11:48 AM

Don't believe him, CJ! They are no good.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

Seriously the real trouble is that once you get one and like it, you'll want more of them. The absence of seagulls across an 82 degree field is very impressive indeed. Even the Panos suffer from a mild case of the seagulls at f5-6.

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #14 08-03-2006, 03:47 PM

Lol. I didn't even notice seagulls at f3.64 through my 5.5" Schmidt Newtonian "Cometcatcher" scope! It even brings small scopes alive!

When you think about it, the eyepiece is half the telescope really. To buy a really cheap eyepiece you may as well buy a crook mirror. Having said that my next EP will probably be a cheapy.

ving (David) · #15 08-03-2006, 03:56 PM

and if you ever decide to give it away....

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #16 08-03-2006, 05:49 PM

The Nagler ain't going anywhere. It's a keeper.

I can't wait for the cooler mossie free nights when I can drink in the star fields of the Milky Way. Bring on June and July.

Mick (Michael) · #17 08-03-2006, 09:28 PM

The sky may clear by then CC, and for punishment I will have to have a look through your nagler even though it scares me a little $$

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #18 08-03-2006, 09:52 PM

Your welcome anytime Mick! Gimme a ring if you want to see it sooner than the club meets.

robin · #19 09-03-2006, 11:17 AM

Glad you like the Nagler Kevin.Its one sweet eyepiece isnt it.

astro_south (Andrew) · #20 09-03-2006, 04:43 PM

I love my 13mm T6 - my favourite eyepiece for viewing galaxies in my dob. Sharp to the edge in my f6 and very comfortable to use. You will be happy with yours Kevin, and like you I'll be keeping mine for eternity