Japanese eyepieces at Japanese prices!

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Japanese astro dealer Kokusai Kohki is now selling and shipping direct globally.
http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html

Check some of these prices...

Volcano top orthoscopics $53.27AUD
Pentax XW 5-20mm $346.28AUD
Vixen LVW various prices around $220AUD



I'll be ordering a few orthos for the refractor me thinks

[Dennis]

Thanks for that Geoff - bookmarked the site for future use!

Cheers

Dennis

[MikeyB (Michael)]

Barry Gooley is the manager there, so as you'd guess from his non-Japanese name, there aren't any language/translation problems in dealing with them. From my own small experience with KK, I can recommend the service - friendly, fast and excellent prices.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Im pretty surprised that this hasn't generated much excitement.

[GrahamL]

Its been mentioned before Geoff,and Barry is good to deal with by all accounts btw .

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Starkler

Im pretty surprised that this hasn't generated much excitement.

Wallet still recovering from the Canon 40D.

Cheers

Dennis

[erick (Eric)]

If I wanted a finderscope and had the money, their finderscope is very tempting. 8x50, straight through "correct" view, small circle at the junction of the crosshairs so you can see the centred target, one degree increments marked on the vertical crosshair, adjustable LED crosshair illuminator, finder bracket and foot with two lock screws - I make it about A$247 including shipping.

[dannat (Daniel)]

I was thinking about buying a tak LE ocular - because I read on cludy nights they are comfortable to view with, I have trouble with my WO swan 9mm ep, I find it slightly uncomfortable to look thru.
Does anyone know - even though our eyes are all different - how comfortable are these japan ortho's to look through - I would buy either the 7 or 9mm, with 51/2 & bit over 7 ER for both oculars.
thanks daniel

[MikeyB (Michael)]

If "slightly uncomfortable to look thru" means 'lacking eye relief', then orthos aren't the answer, Daniel. In my experience, orthoscopic eyepieces are all about jamming your eyeball almost right onto a tiny eyelens to see anything - mighty uncomfortable for many of us.

I'm not sure how your mention of "a tak LE ocular" relates to orthos, as Takahashi LE eyepieces aren't orthoscopics - I believe they're a super plossl design (and a very fine one in my limited experience). Like plossls generally, their eye relief is somewhat limited.

[mark3d]

bookmarked thanks for the tip

[dannat (Daniel)]

Michael - I mention tak LE's because I read on cloudy nights that the LE ep's were similar to orthoscopic oculars but an improved design,
anyway thanks for the advice, maybe I will give the ortho's a miss and save up for the tak ep's.
I have found it hard to gather much info on the tak oculars on the web, there are hardly any reviews or much other info ???

[skies2clear]

The Tak LE's are understated oculars all to often, but they are great eyepieces! You can see nothing but positive comments on Excelsis, especially for the Tak LE 5 and 7.5 (ED's)...
http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/section.php?sectionid=22

I have had a few shootouts with volcano top orthos and there is no doubt the Tak's are better optically and have more eye relief, and therefore, more comfortable to use. Takahashi would not put mediocre optics with their excellent series of refracting telescopes.

Clear skies.

PS Geoff, thanks for the link above to KKOHKI.

[StarLane]

I'm in Japan at the moment and just bought a 17mm LVW for 16,900 yen, what a bargain, around $180 AUD.

[PhilW]

I just used KK to buy an eyepiece & it was an entirely positive experience. The service was quick, & the eyepiece arrived cunningly packed & padded & in perfect condition.

Phil

[dazastar]

Originally Posted by PhilW

I just used KK to buy an eyepiece & it was an entirely positive experience. The service was quick, & the eyepiece arrived cunningly packed & padded & in perfect condition.

Phil

Quick is an understatement, I ordered on the weekend and recieved it Tuesday morning. Not even interstate was that quick let alone from Japan.

[allan gould]

I ordered on the 22nd May and still awaiting delivery

[erick (Eric)]

Apart from those lucky enough to go and visit the shop (), how did you other guys arrange payment. Site says no credit card, rather carrier pigeon carrying yen or something???

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Eric at the bottom they mention PayPal.

I have used pp for a number of transaction including buying from Astromart without any issue.

[erick (Eric)]

Thanks Geoff, I can see that now. Thank goodness. Their terms say:-

"....for the time being, all payments for goods must be made via international wire transfer directly to our bank account." That's a groan!

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

I went to email Barry last week to see what they accepted other than wire transfer and noticed at the last minute that they took paypal.

Once he had the EP in stock it was only 2 business days and I had it in my hands