Celestron Luminos - anywhere near as good as TV Nagler?

[crazyjedi]

I have been considering my next purchase having just filled my mid/low power slot with an explore scientific 68 degree nitrogen purged Bla Bla EP which I hope will live up to expectations (when the sky clears) Now I'm looking to get a decent EP to replace my standard SW 10mm plossl. How do we think the Celestron luminos 10mm stacks up against the TV Nagler 9mm. I'm not sure the 10mm Luminos has been released yet but it would be good to know which way to go. The Celestron is around £100 cheaper buit is it £100 less good??

[John]

...... The Celestron is around £100 cheaper buit is it £100 less good??

I don't know how you put a precise value on a slight difference in performance, which is all there probably is going to be ?

I guess the answer is it will be worth it to some but not to others.

I realise that doesn't help much but the performance differences are likely to be quite slight, as they are between the Nirvana / UWAN's and Naglers.

[crazyjedi]

It depends how slight is slight when it comes to differences. I have a fast scope so I know what to avoid but it seems that when you get to the top of the pile the differneces become smaller and smaller but the price seems to just keep climing.

I guess if the difference is very small then thinking sensibly I can get a Luminos 10mm and 15mm for £300 where as it will cost well over £500 for the equivilent TV Naglers.Which is a large difference representative of another eye piece. I have been tempted by the Nirvana 16mm too but I'm likely to end up with a very mixed bag of premium EP's. Good for comparable reviews but somewhat negating the effort the manufacturers have put in to make their range parfocal.

I've always cherry picked my EP's as I've upgraded but It would be nice to head towards a bag of at least similar EP's.

Am I being pedantic?

[John]

I've not tried a Luminos but I've owned many Naglers and some of the UWAN / Nirvana's and can say that the latter offer around 90% or more of the Naglers performance. I moved from a UWAN 16mm to a 16mm T5 Nagler and found little performance difference for the extra £80 or so that I had to invest in the Nagler. The eye relief of the UWAN was actually slightly better but the Nagler was sharper to the very edge of the field of view, even in an F/5 scope. Really not much difference in use though to be honest.

For quite a while I used a set of Nagler type 6's (13mm - 3.5mm) and their matched weight, size and focal point (parfocality) was very nice. Having moved now to a mix of Ethos, Naglers, a Nirvana and a Pentax XW I've lost those advantages but the adjustment was pretty easy and I'm very happy with my current set.

A recent thread on here showed that "cherry picking" from different ranges / brands was very common practice. More so I think than sticking to a single range:

[alan potts]

This is an new one on me, would some one expand on the LUMINOS, Ep's so I can enjoy the posts.

Alan.

[alan potts]

I've not tried a Luminos but I've owned many Naglers and some of the UWAN / Nirvana's and can say that the latter offer around 90% or more of the Naglers performance. I moved from a UWAN 16mm to a 16mm T5 Nagler and found little performance difference for the extra £80 or so that I had to invest in the Nagler. The eye relief of the UWAN was actually slightly better but the Nagler was sharper to the very edge of the field of view, even in an F/5 scope. Really not much difference in use though to be honest.

For quite a while I used a set of Nagler type 6's (13mm - 3.5mm) and their matched weight, size and focal point (parfocality) was very nice. Having moved now to a mix of Ethos, Naglers, a Nirvana and a Pentax XW I've lost those advantages but the adjustment was pretty easy and I'm very happy with my current set.

A recent thread on here showed that "cherry picking" from different ranges / brands was very common practice. More so I think than sticking to a single range:

http://stargazerslou...ne-of-eyepiece/

John,

I have a alot of eyepieces, you seem to me to be a mine of knowledge on all Ep's, how many eyepieces would you have if you had not sold any. If your wife reads your posts then you had better not answer.

Alan.

[John]

I've been in the hobby since the early 1980's so I've had plenty of time to try quite a few. I've lost count how many I've owned to be honest.

I've said many times here that I am a bit of an "occularholic" but I've got a grip on it now and I've not bought one for over 6 months now

John,

I have a a lot of eyepieces, you seem to me to be a mine of knowledge on all Ep's, how many eyepieces would you have if you had not sold any. If your wife reads your posts then you had better not answer.

Alan.

[alan potts]

I think it would be not to have a handful of different models with good seeing and just swap one for the other and compair. Sadly it is something that I do not get a chance to do. I wish that there were some clubs near by. Dani the Meade dealer runs a club but they meet what is 220 miles away from me. I am thinking of making a star party here on my land. If I cut down a few trees I have room for about twenty scopes and tents without being on top of each other.

Alan.