Nagler 31mm

[cyborg421]

Hi All,

Has anyone any experience of a Nagler 31mm T5 in a 10" Skywatcher scope? I have just acquired a 22mm T4 which is a wonderful eyepiece. I just wondered if the 31mm would be a useful addition.

Simon

[rwilkey]

Hard to imagine that the 31 T5 would give you that much extra sky, but I like the wide sky views and I would be very tempted. But get some quality time on the 22 T4 first and appreciate its significant views.

[cyborg421]

Thanks for that Robin. I still have an image of M81 and M 82 in the same field of view with the T4 in my mind. Awesome! I can't wait for the darker skies of winter. I have no wish to spend £500 + unless it will add something different. I was looking to see if it is a Christmas present I might aspire to.

Simon

[Moonshane]

I feel that the exit pupil might be a little large at 6.5mm with the 31mm Nagler. It's a fabulous eyepiece and would provide an extra 0.5 degrees (i.e. 2.0 degrees vs 1.5 degrees in the 22mm) but I don't really feel that's essential. I had a 35mm Panoptic and sold this to buy a 26mm Nagler which provides 1.3 degrees of sky (1.1 degrees with the paracorr) in my 16" dob and this is more than adequate. I am now arguing against myself though as it also has an exit pupil of 6.5mm (reduced to 5.7mm wth paracorr). for me the 26mm provided an ideal compromise and I feel the 2mm will for your scope.

[brantuk]

Can't bear the guilt lol

[swamp thing]

I have a home made 10" f/4.5 Dob and the 31mm T5 Nagler. TBH it's not a combo I use much. Make no mistake the 31 Nagler is huge and very heavy it requires extra counterweights. Very few objects are of the size where the sort of field it offers is needed in a 10" scope. As Shane pointed out the exit pupil is also getting very big, so unless your sky is very dark you won't get the best out of it. I find from any sort of LP sky mine is very limited.

I have the 20mm T5 and this spends far more time in the focuser. It can get both M81 & M82 in the same field so your 22mm will do it fine.

IMO the 31mm Nagler isn't the best option for your scope. For how often you willl need it a much cheaper eyepiece would be a better investment.

[Mr Spock]

When I had a 250mm f4.7 I found a 22mm T4 was the widest I wanted to go. The scope had significant coma at that and the background wasn't as dark as I'd like.

My main eyepieces for galaxies and nebulae was a 13mm.

[umadog]

You could see what uncle Al has to say:

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3_page.asp?return=Advice&id=96 And also run through the eyepiece calculator which will tell you how much extra sky you'll get: http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3_page.asp?return=Advice&id=82 Guesstimating the numbers for your scope it looks like you'd get about 0.5 degrees more sky with the 31 mm (2 degrees compared to 1.5 degrees with the 22 mm). Personally, I think a 6.5 mm exit pupil is very reasonable. So long as your skies aren't absurdly light polluted you will probably find it useful.

Yes, it's a very heavy eyepiece but it is nice. Yes, it'll need counterweights. If you're concerned about the money (who wouldn't be?) then consider the Explore Scientific 30 mm 82 degree. Offers pretty much the same performance but costs $250 from the US right now. It's what I went for in the end. Couldn't justify the extra expense.

[spaceboy]

I've had both 22T4 & 31T5 in my 250PX. I went with the 31T5 as I found it at a very reasonable price and I have other scopes where the exit pupil was more likely to best suit my eyes but found the 6.5mm on a whole in the 250PX to be perfectly useable in most cases in the 250PX. Yes the sky will be washed out under LP but under dark skies and fully adapted eyes & OIII the view of the veil were simply breath taking. Again you have to consider that each individuals eyes are different and what may work for one person will not necessarily work for the next. This said I think your money would be better invested else where as unless you have other scopes you could use it regularly in it is unlikely it will see the amount of use the cost warrants. Another thing you need to consider is as others have mentioned.... the 31T5 is heavy and in a dob this can be a pain in the butt. For one you will need a counter weight and two depending where the scope is pointing it will require constant adjustment of the counterweight up and down the OTA as the centre of balance shifts.

[cyborg421]

Hi All,

Sage advice as usual. My scope is counterweighted and I haven't found an eyepiece that was a problem yet. My most used eyepiece so far is the SW Panaview 32mm and I suppose I was looking for something with a little bit more quality to replace that.

Simon

[John]

I have the 20mm and 31mm Nagler T5's. As per Steve (swamp thing), I use the 20mm more than the 31mm in my 10" Orion Optics F/4.8 newtonian although the big Nagler does show great views in that scope when the skies are really dark. With my 4", 4.7" and 6" refractors the N31 gets lots of use - it shows nearly a 4 degree true field with the 4" refractor so superb for those extended DSO's such as M31 and the Veil Nebula.

I got my N31 at a bargain price (less than the 20mm T5 in fact !) but I might have thought twice about splashing out the full new price for one - I guess an ES 30mm 82 or a Nirvana 28mm would work very nearly as well in my 'fracs and would cost a fair bit less.

I had the T4 22mm for a while and that was a really good eyepiece too. Tele Vue do have some real "objects of desire" in their range, don't they

[John]

..... My most used eyepiece so far is the SW Panaview 32mm and I suppose I was looking for something with a little bit more quality to replace that.......

Well the Nagler 31 will certainly have more than "a little bit more quality" than a Panaview but to be fair the ES and Nirvana's I mention in my previous post would too.

[Nevy]

I use the 31 nagler in my 12" sky watcher and it works really well , m31 is really nice with it the veil is nice too , you can see both sides of the veil with just a short nudge from one side to the other ( with 03 filter ).

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[pvaz]

I had the 31mmT5 and used it on my 8". I really liked it but decided to sell after I bought the Ethos 21mm. They are too closely matched.

To be honest I think you would be better off selling the 22T4 and get a 21mm Ethos. That would give you the best of both worlds for about the same price (I mean the price of those 2 Naglers).

Just bare in mind, with the Ethos it's very hard to see the edge of the field of view, some people like to see a well defined circle around the view but 100º is just too much for that. You'll also have less eye relief. As a plus, the Ethos seams a tad sharper, it shows a darker sky with the smaller exit pupil and it barlows very well. Coupled with an Antares 1.6x barlow I get a 13mm Ethos out of it and, on most nights, those are the only 2 items I get out of the EP case.

[Nevy]

I have the nagler 31 & 26 & ethos 21 , although some people say one makes the other redundant I use all 3 and would never sell any of them , it's not all about field of view for me , each one provides a different magnification and when you've got a few different telescopes then one might be prefered over the other on different objects.

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[rwilkey]

Hi Simon, I have the SW PanaView 32mm as well and it is a cracking ep for its price and light weight, I don't see how you could justify a 31T5 over the PanaView, taking into consideration about what others have said about justifying the cost.

[cyborg421]

Hi Robin,

I managed to find a ES 30mm 82 degrees for about £130 on a US site and my brother lives over there. Has anyone used ES 28mm on a 10" Dob?

Simon

[cyborg421]

Oops sorry £130 applies to non waterproof, non nitrogen purged model although I don't know the difference.

Simon

[Nevy]

Hi Simon, I have the SW PanaView 32mm as well and it is a cracking ep for its price and light weight, I don't see how you could justify a 31T5 over the PanaView, taking into consideration about what others have said about justifying the cost.

I had a 26 sw panaview , I liked it alot , it was very nice and comfortable to use it was really cheap at £70 but the edge performance was shocking ( loads of seagulls) so I sold it and bought naglers , yes they are alot more money but you get what you pay for ( wide views that are usable right to the edge).

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[LDUNN1]

I have a Nagler 31 which I use mainly in a 6" f9 refractor, but we have tried it in a Sw 12" dob in one of my observing groups & it was universally liked.

The Nagler 31 is my favourite EP, it seems to give such sharp contrasty views. I also have the Ethos 17 & 8mm. I have even barlowed up the Nagler 31 & to my eye's it performed very well.

I must say that I am relatively inexperienced observer however.

For info, we also tried a Swann 40 in the SW 12" dob & that was less successful - a definate darkening in the center - of lightening 'halo' around the center - think the secondary mirror was starting to become evident with the WO swann 40mm, that was not obviously present with the Nagler 31.

If I had to replace my eyepiece collection, I'd probably start with the Nagler 31.

[LDUNN1]

just read Paulo's post above - I love the 'space walk' feel of the Ethos eyepieces, and I can understand when people say they are almost too wide - you can't take it all in at the same time, & you do have to really push your eye into the rubber cup surround to get the full fov (or observe with cap rolled down). The Nagler Fov seems to be a good balance between seeing it all but not feeling like you are looking down a tube.

As a novice, the thing I like about these wide Fov EP's is that you get a higher magnification AND a wide patch of sky which makes locating your target easier than the 'looking down a toilet roll tube' view you get with narrower FoV EP's.......but maybe this 'like' is just because of my inexperience. I just feel I have to do less eyepeice swopping as I don't need a 'finder' eyepiece & then swop it for a higher power eyepiece - one EP really can cover both to a degree. As a result, I often don't feel the need to use a finder scope.

[rwilkey]

The green & blacks are well out of my budget I am afraid, but I'd love to try one sometime, I am sure the extra expense is well worth the money. I think I would start with the 31mm if I had the choice.

[Charon]

Though not a 10" telescope, I use the 31mmT5 in my CPC800 and I am very satisfied with the views I get with it. I am very lucky in the fact I have very little light pollution.