Calling all nagler owners!

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by rumples riot

All Televue Eyepieces are very good, Yes they are better than any EP I have looked through include Pentax and Meade 5000 series. .

There are many who prefer the Pentax XL/XW's to the Televue radians. Not all Televues are top of the tree in all aspects but pretty close to it.

[cahullian]

Those with expensive ep's could do a review on them for us lesser mortals.Those with not so expensive could also review theirs and so on and so forth.

Gazz

[asimov (John)]

Well, there's actually plenty of EP reviews out there on the internet, but some are hard to track down for some. IE: the ED2 EPs that AOE have on special & the 7.5 ED baader that I've got for sale.

[Miaplacidus (Brian)]

I have the 12 mm Type 4 Nagler, and if I didn't own it and hadn't paid for it I might actually be honest enough to say I'm a tad disappointed in it. On some scopes at least, the kidney beaning is insufferable (I don't have the pupil guide). I suspect the eyepiece really needs quite a lot of aperture to overcome the dulling effect caused by all those layers of glass.

Apparently the cognoscenti don't feel it's one of Al's best, although interestingly the 12 mm remains a popular eyepiece, probably because it is a focal length a lot of people find handy to have. (I've read that the T4s aren't a scalable design, so there is potentially more variation between different focal lengths than with other Nagler series eyepieces. Ed Ting particularly likes the T4 17 mm.)

Still, I bought mine second hand, and I know whenever I decide to sell it, I won't have much difficulty finding a buyer and I'll get pretty much what I paid for it. So in that sense, you'll never lose if you buy a Nagler.

Originally Posted by asimov

To put it bluntly, any suggestions on a particular brand of EP that work nearly as good as a nagler (@ F/5)...but costing way less?

Well, er, with all due recognition that I'm potentially exposing myself to public ridicule here, Andrews 2" UWA 30 mm eyepiece is an amazing eyepiece for the price: great even for daytime use, and no kidney beaning effects. (Shame about the flecks of blacking inside the barrel which seem to have found their way onto the inside of the lens! I might send it back to Lee and ask him to disassemble it and clean it for me. Do you think he will?)

As always, it's best to try before you buy (but it's not always possible when you live in Tasmania).

Interesting discussion!

Brian.

[p medcraft]

Wow, talk about a hot topic!
I own a type 6 Nagler 13mm, a type 6 Nagler 7mm, a type 4 Nagler 22mm, a 27mm Panoptic and a 35mm Panoptic
I built that collection up over a period of years, sometimes buying and selling other eyepieces to get the right combination. I figure it is just about the most perfect eyepiece box you will ever see, I also have an apo barlow to round it off. It is hard to describe the difference other than to agree with a previous comment that the noise made by observers when looking through these eyepieces is probably the best measure. The porthole effect is as applicable when viewing low power as it is when using the 7mm. I guess if I had to choose between a good scope and an average scope or good eyepieces and average eyepieces the eyepieces would stay. Over the years I have had the opportunity to look through many different eyepieces including Pentax and I have necer seen an eyepiece that I would swap for one of mine.
For me that says it all.

Paul Medcraft

[Argonavis (William)]

The TeleVue Plossel is a much neglected high quality affordable (relatively) eyepeice. The first time I looked through one I knew that this was so much better than anything else I had used, and this was in the early days when TV was just starting out. Very good on planets. Highly recommended

[rumples riot]

The series 5000 EPs are definitely mid range quality and really good value for money. Only going to generally cost you around 200 for most of them and not many over 400. The Pentax are a little further up the list and cost a lot more. Got to say Televue is top of the list and nothing competes with them. Don't let anyone tell you that x brand makes EP's for Televue, that is a trick to sell you a lesser EP. So from what I have seen, an affordable EP with some value is the Meade 5000 series. Just watch the Grease though on the UWA EP's.

[asimov (John)]

I have an ED-2 9.5mm on it's way. Most user reviews on this particular EP are not all that favorable. IE: 6 elements = a rather 'soft' look. I have the option of sending it back if it's not up to my standards though.

I'll take the recommendation on board re: meade 5000 & TV plossl's..Thanks.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by rumples riot

The Pentax are a little further up the list and cost a lot more. Got to say Televue is top of the list and nothing competes with them.

I'll have to disagree there.
The Pentax cedes nothing to Televue in contrast or sharpness. Whilst a nagler has a wider FOV 82 degrees versus 65, what the pentax does give is eye relief of 20mm with unsurpassed viewing comfort.
Sadly the XL series is no longer available, replaced by the XW series with a much bigger price tag.
I purchased my XL's for $229US brand new and at that price were a genuine bargain in a premium eyepiece.

[robin]

I own 2 naglers,9mm & 17mm, a 6mm radian & a 35 mm panoptic.Love them all, they are fantastic & I know that if i ever want to sell them, I'll get a good resale price.Sure,they cost a bit but they enhance my viewing experience & I intend to have them a long time.If i ever upgrade the LX200, the TV's will serve the next scope well too.I consider my TV's a long term investment & I intend to get a couple more.
They are, simply stated, excellent.

[asimov (John)]

I just went & checked out bintels price's on meade series 5000 & Naglers. Not that badly priced, considering..

I'm actually thinking of biting several bullets & getting a Nagler!

I look at it this way...& I'm sure I was not the only newbie to do this?..I own 20 plus EPs, I estimate roughly $4000 worth. None of the low power EPs much chop in an F/5 scope. My high power ones are ok for planetary work...I could sell all those EPs off, (keeping a couple of the best) and get a couple of naglers, & I'd be set! In hind-sight, I should of just started buying Naglers & other high end EPs when I first got into astronomy....I'm KICKING myself! very foolish!

My next dilemma is with me moving to America soon, my aim was to sell the 12.5" reflector, & eventually land myself a 14"-16" SCT or something similar, which means most of my EPs would be quite good in an F/10-F/12 SCT.....decisions decisions!

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

I have used losts of eyepieces over a long period of time. Simple fact is you usually get what you pay for. Its worth noting that some Naglers are better than others. As they incorporate different optical designs and parameters over different focal lengths. For instance, some of the earlier Naglers were not comfortable to use and also suffered from Kidney beaning and blackout, this manifests more in some observers than others and generally is more apparent to less experienced observers. Its also worth noting that a lot of Naglers have fairly short eye-relief and may not be all that suitable for people that wear eyeglasses. For instance the 24mm Panoptic is optically the best eyepiece available in that focal length but eye-relief is tight, hence for me the 20mm Pentax is a better option having 20mm of eye-relief. Some other Naglers namely the 12mm, 17mm and 22mm T4's have more comfortable eye-relief but the compromise here is that they sacrifice a little in edge performance (compared to the t5's) to obtain the extra eye-relief.

In the shorter focal lengths (under 14mm) which are mainly used for higher power observations the Pentax XW's are just as good as anything Televue produces. Actually to me they are better because they are a "lot" more comfortable to use than the NT6's for an eyeglass wearer and optically they are just as good, fractionally smaller FOV which you don't really notice, offset by marginally sharper on axis images with higher light transmission. But we are splitting hairs here, both the Pentax XW's and the Nagler T6's are absolutely outstanding eyepieces.

CS-John B

[asimov (John)]

John B. Who actually sells pentax's here in AU? I don't think I have come across any in my browsing as yet.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Starkler

I'll have to disagree there.
The Pentax cedes nothing to Televue in contrast or sharpness. Whilst a nagler has a wider FOV 82 degrees versus 65, what the pentax does give is eye relief of 20mm with unsurpassed viewing comfort.
Sadly the XL series is no longer available, replaced by the XW series with a much bigger price tag.
I purchased my XL's for $229US brand new and at that price were a genuine bargain in a premium eyepiece.

I agree Geoff,

I think Paul and a few others BTW, either need to visit their optometrist or take the rose coloured glasses off. I have used lots of both and I can tell you there is barely a struck match between the Pentax XW's and the Nagler T6's optically, with the Pentax winning on comfort and losing marginally on FOV.

CS-John B

[rumples riot]

No need to get personal. I am entitled to an opinion, your not entitled to berate me publically.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by asimov

John B. Who actually sells pentax's here in AU? I don't think I have come across any in my browsing as yet.

John,

Here are 2 companies that I have dealt with and both offer excellent service.

http://centre.net.au/Pentax_0008BH.html

http://www.staroptics.com.au/index.php?a=accessories

I have actually bought a lot of goods from Centre.net and their service is superb. They will go out of their way to order a product into stock and add it to their inventory if they don't carry it. I was the reason they now sell the Pentax XW eyepieces, I phoned and asked them if they could get them for me and what the price would be and they phoned back an hour later and said they could get them and the eyepieces turned up 2 days later superbly packaged. I have also bought camera gear, binos and filters from them.

CS-John B

[asimov (John)]

Thanks John B. At least all The XWs I would consider purchasing are in the $479 bracket.(from star Optical)

This I believe, will take some considerable thought. Naglers versus Pentax's

I agree with Paul, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, and I dont believe it is acceptable here. If one has something to say to another member, do it via email otherwise shutup.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

How about using a coma corrector? Could one use a corrector to sharpen up the seagulls of simpler design wide FOV EPs in fast scope? Paying big bucks for built-in optics for dealing with coma, with each EP (like Naglers) seems a bit silly, if one correcting lens could do the job for every EP. Well, can it?

[beren]

Thats one way Steve , always wondered how a Televue Parracor would perform on a Newt?

I have 2 naglers , 22mmt4 and a 9mmt6 , must admit i had to take a deep breath before taking the plunge but i havent regreted the decision , they have proved to be simply excellent tools .