Takahashi 7.5mm Ortho on ebay

[Stargazer_00]

I bet this is supreme

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Takahashi-7-5mm-1-25-LE-Telescope-Eyepiece-Mint-/300897783056?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item460ee7cd10

[John]

They are supposed to be pretty good but it's not an ortho as it has 5 elements. It's a longer eye relief design (hence LE).

[Stargazer_00]

thats what i thought. bet it's still pretty good, not cheap for a 52 degree eyepiece but it's probably very good edge to edge. do takahashi make anything bad?

[faulksy]

thats what i thought. bet it's still pretty good, not cheap for a 52 degree eyepiece but it's probably very good edge to edge. do takahashi make anything bad?

i bet they cant make a good cup of tea lol

[russ.will]

Is Othoscopic an actual eyepiece design, or a description of performance these days?

I mean, I know the traditional use of Ortho implies a strict derivation of the Ernst Abbe Orthoscopic design, but you have superbly corrected 'Orthos' like the 5 element Takahashi, whilst there are 4 element Abbe Orthos like the BCOs that extend the FOV to 50deg and clearly don't hit the mark in the outer 10deg of the FOV.

Russell

[John]

You are right Russell - the term really means free of distortion I think. I guess we get a bit lazy and use it to mean a 4 element / 2 group design which we should really call the abbe orthoscopic. There are a number of other eyepiece designs that are orthoscopic in character.

I'd like to try some Takahashi stuff at some point. It seems to command respect wherever it is discussed.

[russ.will]

Indeed, but at that price, I think I'll pass!

Russell

[JamesF]

Yes, I don't think I'd want to pay that much for such an eyepiece.

How come Tak, Tele Vue and Baader all go for the "green and black" thing? Anyone would think there weren't any other colours

James

[Qualia]

How come Tak, Tele Vue and Baader all go for the "green and black" thing? Anyone would think there weren't any other colours

Oh, that's easy James. Green is the colour of harmony and balance, black is of being dignified with other-worldly aims. Might also have something to do with the look on mates' faces when they see a green and black EP collection, and the colour of one's day when one's better half suddenly realises just how much was really spent

[Stargazer_00]

neither colour damages night vision of light is shined on it. Or maybe been stands out well against black under red light?

[Naemeth]

neither colour damages night vision of light is shined on it. Or maybe been stands out well against black under red light?

Bright green is actually what our eyes are most sensitive to at night (red during the day). It's probably for design purposes.

[John]

If I had £150-ish put aside for a 7mm eyepiece I think I'd be looking out for a used Pentax XW 7mm. My 5mm XW was superb on Saturn last night - fully matching the Baader 5mm GO but with that expansive field and comfy eye relief

[Naemeth]

Or, add another £100 ish for a Nagler 3-6mm Zoom, although, I know you don't really get on with them John, optically, they perform well and can allow you to tease out detail that the seeing allows .

[alan potts]

I think I would also go for the spend a few quid more and get a Pentax 7mmXW. Alan

[great_bear]

The common consensus is that this is just the same optics as a Celestron 7.5mm Ultima but in a Tak barrel.

- OK performance but not a good use of your money - at least not unless you're just seeking the re-assurance of the Tak brand.

[Earl]

Tak dont do very good paint...

[John]

The common consensus is that this is just the same optics as a Celestron 7.5mm Ultima but in a Tak barrel.

- OK performance but not a good use of your money - at least not unless you're just seeking the re-assurance of the Tak brand.

I've read that too.

It's expensive re-assurance. There is a 7.5mm Celestron Ultima on UK Astro Buy & Sell at the moment for £34 delivered at the moment.

[Qualia]

Spotted a 7mm BGO in the UK on ebay for around fifty notes.

[John]

Spotted a 7mm BGO in the UK on ebay for around fifty notes.

There is one on there at the moment with £50 as a starting price. It did have a Buy It Now price of £70 but that disappeared once the 1st bid was made. It will be interesting to see what it goes for at the end of the auction.

The Astro Hutech 7mm ortho is exactly the same eyepiece and costs £89 new. On the basis of 70% of the new price £63 would seem a fair price for a used one. We will see though

[alan potts]

One would imagine that the fact Hutechs are now available, it would put a stop to the feeding frenzy of late, even I paid over the top for a 9mm BGO.

If the Tak 7.5 is only a Celstron in a different skirt, that's some branding mark-up. I wonder if the same applies to their scopes?

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

I'm actrually surprised that it's a celestron in drag. I wasn't aware they had anything to do with each other.

[John]

These ranges were both made by a 3rd party manufacturer called Masuyama.

[alan potts]

Graham,

I guess it could appear to be the same without actually being the same. The lenses could be to a higher standard, the coatings could be better, it may even come in a pretty box. I would, like you be very surprised if they were just the same.

There is too much of this sourcing from the same factory going on , if that is what is happening. It would be interesting to know how many places of manufacture their were in relation to how many brand names we have, we have a situation where one eyepiece can be dressed up to be least 4 different brands.

We started off with the famous Meade, ExSc debate, where Meade who marketed these first, the UWA, SWA, and Plossl ranges appeared as ExSc and Bresser to. These were maybe not identical in every way but the lens elements were the same I am sure as were the lions share of the focal lengths. Now we see that Antares is even in on the act with UWA lookalikes at 24mm and 30mm ( TS website), all that seems to be missing is the word Meade, at least ExSc changed the designs and added the waterproofing and by all accounts added better coatings.

One reason I like Televue who as far as I know don't clone or copy anyone. Though there are many similarities with the Delos and Pentax XW range I don't in any way think they are the same as there are only two focal lengths that are the same 14mm and 10mm. The only way they are identical it they are both top quality ranges.

Alan

[rwilkey]

The traditional Ortho is a 4 element design in the form of a triplet and a singlet lens as far as I know, the 3-1 design as it is annotated rather than the 2-2 of the plossl, or 2-1-2 of the Erfle design and so on.

[Dunkster]

If the Tak 7.5 is only a Celstron in a different skirt, that's some branding mark-up. I wonder if the same applies to their scopes?

Come on Alan, where's your usual sense of no fear? You must be in need of a nice 6" apo