Tal eyepiece range, reviewed by Bill Paolini

[AndyH]

Just noticed the following reviews this morning, on this thread on Cloudy Nights -

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6155040/Main/6154416#Post6155040

Thought it would be of interest, as there hasn't been such a comprehensive set of reviews on the Tal range before. There are many snippits scattered about the web about individual eyepieces, but none quite as in depth as these.

The following reviews in pdf format are to be found at the US importer/dealer of Tal gear, here,

http://www.talteleoptics.com/reviews.html

For convenience, here are the pdf's.

A selection of the plossl range, reviewed -

TAL Super Plossl Review.pdf

A selection of the SWA & UWA range, reviewed -

TAL SWA-UWA Review.pdf

As always, an easy and enjoyable read. I like Bill's style of writing.

Andy.

[Mapk]

Hi Andy,

Yes, that was an excellent review of the TAL line of eyepieces - really appreciated the thoroughness. I have to say that my individual observations of TAL EP's has been nearly identical, but not having directly compared them to the others that Mr. Paolini did. I've done my own comparisons, and these have performed in a superior manner to other EP's.

There is not a single TAL eyepiece from which I desire to part.

Cheers,

Mapk

[YKSE]

Thanks for sharing, Andy.

[cotterless45]

Get ahead ! Get a TAL !

[BillP]

Andy,

Thanks for posting them here.  Is there a general review section here or do things like this stay in threads?  I'm too new to this board.

-Bill

[AndyH]

Hi.

 In the 'Equipment' section, theirs a sub-section caled 'Member equipment reviews'. I'd guess that's the best place for them.

Andy.

[bambuko]

One thing that puzzles me is that it quotes 45deg AFOV, yet factory webpage  (http://www.telescopes.ru/accessories.phtml) states 52deg (which I would have thought would be more "normal" for super Plossl?).

What am I confusing?

[AndyH]

http://www.npzoptics.com/

 is the official factory website. The telescopes.ru one is a decade old, or so, defunct one.

No idea why they quote 45 degrees. Defo in the 52ish range. Crazy Russians doing their thing differently, I guess. There was an explanation years back in their(russian language) forum where it was explained, but haven't found where it is as yet.

Andy.

[AndyH]

Just a heads up - When surfing through their site it pays to do so in the Russian format, using a toolbar translaor thingy, as you get more tech info, than using their English pages.

Same goes for the forums. The English one is quiet, with little to zero input from factory staff. The Russian forum is far far busier. Questions are always answered, often by one of the developers/designers, at least mine have. I'm sure my attempts at Russian are probably laughed at, during lunch breaks.

Andy.

[bambuko]

Thanks for the webpage details Andy, my russian though rusty is just about OK to read the webpage with the help of google translate to cheat a bit (wouldn't attempt to inflict on anybody though, since the last time I used it seriously was about 40 years ago ).

I must admit I am utterly confused by the quoted AFOV numbers...