27mm Panoptic or 26 mm Nagler

[Dunkster]

I don't mean to heckle with the E-word, but it's pretty much the same FOV as the 26 Nag and if you're worried about LP the higher mag is the way to go....

And looking at your sig, you can't hate the 100 degree view, so maybe they need a bigger badder 21mm brother

[jabberwocky]

I have considered the 21mm ethos but that is big big money for one eyepiece. I'm now starting to go round and round in circles, I'm now thinking about the 30mm ES 82, but apparently that makes the 31 nagler look tiny, ill have balance issues with that in my dob, plus its would be an interloper in my green and black collection. I could get the 27 panoptic and have money for a 6mm Delos for planetary.

or I could get a PST which I have been toying with for a while now. Decisions decisions!

[Damo636]

The 30mm ES really is a cracking ep and I can honestly say, if it hadn't been for the dodgy filter threads, I would have kept it & sold the Nagler. Its actually the smallest of the three biggies.....

The 21E is a lot of money for a single ep but it is noticably optically superior to the others.

[jabberwocky]

Damo cracking picture, how does the ES compare optically to the nagler?

[Dunkster]

Wow! The ES82 30mm is a BABY :D

[alan potts]

Jabberwocky,

There is a very good review on the Meade 30mm and the 31mm Nagler on Cloudy Nights, I would make you a link to it if I knew how. This is one reason why I bought the Meade, I could have afforded the Nagler so this was not a factor. I though would still buy the 26mm Nagler which is what you were asking in the first place.

Alan.

[Moonshane]

my view is that the very nature of these discussions is an indicator that all of the eyepieces discussed are superb, will never disappoint and will all provide stunning views with extremely subtle differences. The right one (or two!) for any one person depends on their personal preferences, eyesight characteristics and current / future scope considerations.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I agree the 26 Nagler might be more future-proof, if you get a bigger, faster dob later, but the 31T5 or the ES30 or the WO or Nirvana 28 will work well in his current scope, and will continue to work well if he gets a wide-field refractor as well as a faster bigger Dob (never assume you will restrict yourself to just one scope )

[Damo636]

Damo cracking picture, how does the ES compare optically to the nagler?

They are so close its barely possible to tell them apart, at least to my eyes in an f5 scope. IMHO, you would need to be a proper hardcore Televue fanatic to justify the difference in price. Shanes right though, any one of these eps will be fabulous in your scopes and at this level its as much a matter of personal taste as much as anything. Going back to your original two, I have never used the 27 Pan but I have owned the 26 Nagler and its nothing short of superb!

[John]

If the OP is willing to look at other brands I guess the 28mm UWAN / Nirvana is also worthy of consideration too in this niche. Another eyepiece that performs very close indeed to the Naglers.

I don't recall seeing a UWAN / Nirvana / ES 82 comparison as yet - it's possible that they would be very similar indeed, performance-wise.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have tried many EPs over the years and I now believe that I have a good selection so I recommend that you purchase the 26mm Nagler because it is brilliant in all my scopes and provides a good FOV and exit pupil. I have a 3-6 Nagler for doubles and planetary/lunar - 8mm Ethos, 13mm Ethos, 20mm Nagler, 26mm Nagler and the 38mm Panaview for use only on my fracs for wide views of clusters etc.

I have put the 38mm Panaview into my f4.7 Dob and its not the best although fine in my 4" APO frac. I also believe that the 31mm Nagler is a great EP but again the exit pupil is a little too much - 6.6 on my Dob

You might find this website from Televue useful in making your final decision but in the end I think your decision will be either a 21mm Ethos or the 26mm Nagler.

http://www.televue.c...LCULATE#results

Finally, I have tried out the ES EPs and they are very, very good although I think the Ethos and the Naglers had slightly darker backgrounds and contrast but it is marginal and my eyes now belong to an OAP.

Mark

[swamp thing]

I would guess it depends on what FOV you feel comfortable with. The 27mm Panoptic came out as one of the best TV eyepieces in a CN thread. With many experienced observers voting it right at the very top. If you are happy with the 68deg field then this eyepiece will give nothing away to the Nagler it's that good. However if you feel you want the larger 82deg field then the 26mm Nagler is a great eyepiece too.

I've owned the pan and have looked through the Nagler many times. Both work superbly. You can't go wrong with either IMO.

[scarp15]

You can't go wrong with either IMO.

My feelings to, I have a 27mm Panoptic and it is quite superb, it works at 56x in my 12" 1500mm FL scope and 75x in the 8" 2032mm FL scope. At this power, I feel that the 68 degrees creates a large enough field of view. I also use a 20mm Nagler T5 which is excellent. As you mentioned, the Pan may permit you to fund for an additional high power EP.

[jabberwocky]

Thanks for all the replies guys, very helpful. I've made a decision and I've gone for the 30mm ES 82. I'm trying to maximise fov whilst keeping the highest optical quality I can at a good price.

My current widefield ep gives a fov of 2.2* at x31 but optically is pretty ropey

The 30mm es82 gives a fov of 2.05 at x40 but optically should be in a different league optically and should give a slightly darker background

[John]

Thanks for all the replies guys, very helpful. I've made a decision and I've gone for the 30mm ES 82. I'm trying to maximise fov whilst keeping the highest optical quality I can at a good price.

My current widefield ep gives a fov of 2.2* at x31 but optically is pretty ropey

The 30mm es82 gives a fov of 2.05 at x40 but optically should be in a different league optically and should give a slightly darker background

Congratulations - I'm sure you will be delighted with it

As well as the improved edge correction the 82 degree 30mm eyepiece will deliver a more efficient exit pupil and a darker sky background so you should really notice the difference.

[alan potts]

Congratulations on you 30mm, I am sure it will be almost the same if not exactly the same as my Meade UWA, this I find give super views in all of my scopes, I have even put it in my 70mm ED which is on the LX 200 which gives a massive FOV. It is a fine eyepiece as I am sure yours will be. At this moment I have avoided going TV at this F/L, I think it is the 500 plus they cost and the fact that few ever seem to come up S/H that is to blame. I hope the weather gets itself sorted for you.

Alan.

[John]

.... At this moment I have avoided going TV at this F/L, I think it is the 500 plus they cost and the fact that few ever seem to come up S/H that is to blame......

I would be very happy to have the ES30 or the Meade equivalent but I managed to get my Nagler 31 for the ridiculous price of £205 delivered (!) a couple of years back. Needless to say the decision to buy did not take long to make

[Dunkster]

That is certainly a bargain John!

[Damo636]

Jeez, thats not a bargain, thats a giveaway

[Damo636]

At this moment I have avoided going TV at this F/L, I think it is the 500 plus they cost and the fact that few ever seem to come up S/H that is to blame.

Never say never Alan, there just might be a mint 31 Nagler coming on the market in the very near future

[Dunkster]

I'm just looking up the nuances of the term 'heathen' to see if its too close to inappropriate

[Damo636]

[alan potts]

That is really good value John, I paid more for my Meade UWA 30mm. Was it some time back you got this before various price increases?

Alan.

[alan potts]

Damo,

That is always on the cards. I am sure I will end up with wall to wall Televue. I think I would only get 4 more, 3.5mm Delos, 5mm Nagler, 21mm Ethos and of course the 31mm Nagler. I did try to buy one from a site member but he ended up selling it to a club member, which I can understand.

I am waiting for you to sell me the 21mm as I am sure you will get the bug to want to go back to where you are now.

Have you had the scope out yet?

Alan.

[Dunkster]

The only appeal of the 31T5 over my ES82 30mm is that TeleVue claim it's parfocal with the 17mm Ethos, but then I've not noticed much focusser fiddling anyhow. The 31T5 also shows twice as much sky as the Ethos 17. Perfect mathematics

As Damo has posted in the past, the two ultra wides sound a little too close to call, so I wouldn't expect the scenario to be different with your UWA Alan given you have the LX200 (me the C11), I reckon that TeleVue are right with the Ethos 17mm and 31mm (or 30mm in our case ) combination. Save your money, get yourself the 17mm while the sale is on