Jump to content

Narrowband

Televue worth the $?


amgray04

Recommended Posts

I've gone down the bino route three times and just can't get them to work. I think it's my eyes or the shape of my face but I just can't get comfortable with them. The good news is that saves me a small fortune in a second set of TVs :wink:

I am pretty sure it's the shape of your face Derek [emoji4]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 70
  • Created
  • Last Reply

This. TeleVue is a small company that stuck its financial neck out for the R&D needed to bring a new product to a small niche hobby. If we don't reward the innovators they will go away.

Really agree - ever see the X-ray pic of an Ethos beside an ES 100°?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just the high quality design. TeleVue slow-polish their lenses. That takes about twice as long as standard polishing. The result is  two extra smooth surfaces to each lens. They also inspect and tests every single eyepiece before they pack and ship it. Anything that does not meet their high standard is rejected.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just the high quality design. TeleVue slow-polish their lenses. That takes about twice as long as standard polishing. The result is  two extra smooth surfaces to each lens. They also inspect and tests every single eyepiece before they pack and ship it. Anything that does not meet their high standard is rejected.

....becomes a Starguider! :grin:

I believe any good telescope that is fully collimated, under perfect viewing conditions may under perform, ie. not give its best, if it has an  eyepiece fitted, that is not suitable for the task? Even a Huygen eyepiece can work wonders given the right telescope, but will a good  premium eyepiece better your telescope? I doubt it?  It can only give as good as the telescope itself can provide, remember, the eyepiece only magnifies the image formed by the scope. If its a bad image, then you magnify a bad image, if its a good image, then that's what you get, but no better detail, at least that's what I assume! and again, all that depends on the optical quality of the scope, under perfect conditions, so finding the correct eyepiece, telescope combination is not necessarily about  just having the most expensive eyepiece on the market.
With so many variables and numerical differences, Its almost impossible to have a totally flawless system, that satisfies every user, otherwise we would all be using that same telescope/eyepiece combination, cost permitting?
Finding a balance is what its all about. I probably have some of the cheapest individual eyepieces on the market in use on my system, and I love them all. I'm still playing games with the Plossl, as I still want to own a full Plossl set, in addition to my Starguiders.
Soon I will be be popping similar, if not identical focal length eyepieces into a bag, and I'll keep swapping them about, and the one I feel is most comfortable to use, and produces the best image for my eyes, not just  from technical data will win my vote, and I'll build the rest of the set from that eyepiece. I know the quality that TeleVue provides, but I'm still not sure I need TeleVue optics to get the job done, using my eyes, my scope, my location, my conditions.
My Plossl set will be either the Revelation(GSO), TeleVue or Meade 4000 variants, and from earlier tests, TeleVue were not top of my list, yet on spec, and on reading so many reports out there,  they should trash the other Plossls in my collection, yet I felt more comfortable with a 9mm Revelation over an 8mm TeleVue. Thats just an individuals personal choice based on a quick test, yet TeleVue's Delos and Panaoptics are top of my list for when/if my telescope gets faster than f/5?.
For what ever reasons, and I'm a believer too, TeleVue are up there for a reason, based on their quality and valued customer base. I've yet to even peer through a Delos, let alone buy one! but do I need one. Only testing will tell?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dark, transparent skies cost $$$$$

Objective/Mirror quality cost $$$

Observers experience cost $$$

...................................

...................................

TV eyepiece(s) cost $ :grin:

If you have dark, transparent skies I agree, even any decent plossl (Celestron, GSO) or *lesser* wide angle eyepiece (BST Explorer? :grin: ) on a reasonably small scope (e.g. ~100mm) will show you a lot. If you have LP poor quality skies, whatever eyepiece, TV or not will show you much much less even on a large Dob. If you can't *buy*  dark skies than buy a larger scope. If you are not planning on buying a  better, larger scope, than the TV eyepieces would be a good option and worth it. Everything is just my subjective opinion, I'm OK if others mileage will vary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tend to agree with Charic, I've seen some amazing observations made by very modest equipment, its the quality of the observation which gets my attention and not the equipment used.

In a bizarre way I really do believe that someone with a £15 Plossl can see more than someone with a £££££ TV, don't believe me then just look back through history...

After saying that I will carry on with my search for eyepiece nirvana and I'II eventually get back to my perfect set of EP's which are all Tele Vue.

If you have an expendable income and can afford quality equipment then brilliant, go for it and enjoy it but sometimes having 'the best' doesn't mean your seeing more! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, Charic, more than half of my eyepieces are not by TeleVue. But the OP wanted to know why the TVs are so expensive, so that's why I answered as I did above.

I have an F/5 refractor and I observe the sky for its beauty. Some eyepieces that work just fine in that scope are the MaxVisions. I used the 34mm exclusively for the lunar eclipse. It gave a truly beautiful view of the event. It showed some 20 stars around the Moon. What a joy!

Also, I really like my 16 mm Sky-Wacher Nirvana (same as WO UWAN) and would never consider a Nagler to replace it. The Nirvana is the most comfortable 82° eyepiece that I've ever looked through and I've never seen a better Jupiter than through that eyepiece. (Barlowed in the NexStar SE6) 

And the Morpheus I just bought is a fine piece of glass indeed. It's centre 72° is just as good as the Delos (I have two of those) and I shall gladly forgive Baader for not getting the field stop razor sharp. Beyond the centre 72° the Morpheus is infinitely better than the Delos since the Delos shows nothing there.

But, the OP wants to know why the TeleVues are expensive, and all these other remarks are besides the point.

---

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 if you are lucky enough to be able to afford them, they are absolutely worth it.

And I whole-heartedly endorse their value and worth, however, this for me is the bottom (or top! :D) line!

Makes no odds to me how good they are, everything but the second hand plossl is a too pricey for me.

And before anyone says, "you can always save up for the secondhand offerings." I know, it's how I have the EPs I own, and that's taken years.

BTW, TV may have tweaked it enough to get a patent, but I'm not sure you can say they "invented" the plossl, otherwise that would be called the Nagler and the Nagler something else! ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everybody will have different financial constraints and Tele Vue, Pentax, Zeiss, Leica and their like are expensive items which many will decide that they can't justify. Fortunately:

- there are lots of other choices around offering lower cost options that are still very rewarding to use.

- there is plenty of information available on how these top end products compare with other options.

From my experience, the above situation is found in virtually every hobby that uses equipment of one sort or another. Certainly with golf, fishing, cycling, archery, birdwatching and the other pastimes that I've tried. There have always been a wide range of price and quality options available so you experiment a bit, do a bit of research, pick the best you can get for your budget and then get on with using it to the best of your ability :smiley:

I do think that the availability of top of the range stuff and companies that are prepared to innovate drives the standards up, over time, across all price ranges though as well as establishing a demand for high quality and high performance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think all the relevant points/answers have been given above and, as ever, there are as many (all valid) opinions as there are SGL members.

As someone whose main eyepieces are not Tele Vue (I've actually just bought a mint T6 Nagler 13mm today as I had one a few years back and had to sell it for financial reasons - best eyepiece I have ever used, bar none :laugh: ), I have always wished the company well, as they have driven up standards and expectations for all of us whether we realise it or not.

I will never own a 5" Tele Vue refractor or a whole set of Ethos', but because they invented them and some other fortunates bought them, I can now modestly buy my Nagler T6 13mm in good used condition at a price I can afford. And when I can afford another I will probably buy one. In the meantime, I can buy cheaper eyepieces that give 90% of the performance of the TVs, but I can do so because the quality of TV drove other manufacturers to make better products, at affordable prices. So to me, that is a virtuous circle.

If TV stay a small-medium profitable company, there will always be people who can afford to buy their products new, and so create a further used market for those who cannot. And by their rigorous QC approached that many have commented on, they will remain an aspirational brand that many of us will want to buy into as and when we can.

Now, where do I sign up to the TV owners club??- should have the ep by middle of next week :cool:  :grin:

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never regretted buying any TeleVue EP's (I have all of the 1.25" Plossls except the 40mm) although I think that the 8, 11 and 15mm Plossls have less eye relief than I prefer. The 15mm Celestron Omni Plossl has at least 2mm above the 10mm of the equivalent TV Plossl. The only thing I really dislike about the 16mm Nagler T5 is the 10mm eye relief. Although I can use it easily enough. Admittedly TV aren't inexpensive, but there's no denying the quality. My most used eyepieces at the moment are the T5, the 32mm Plossl and the 24mm Panoptic. I could probably just rely on those and the 2.5x Powermate with my small Mak if I had to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought 2 of them at £212.00 each from the Widescreen centre, for my Bino's........... :grin:

I'm planning on getting a bino soon, most probably the William Optics one they have on FLO, I have two 19mm Panoptics ready for it. I'd like the TeleVue bino, but at a grand in cost, I'll get the WO's first I think. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm planning on getting a bino soon, most probably the William Optics one they have on FLO, I have two 19mm Panoptics ready for it. I'd like the TeleVue bino, but at a grand in cost, I'll get the WO's first I think. 

Not everyone gets on with Bino viewing, but it  has transformed  the way in which I observe.

I find the views on the moon/planets  stunning, with real 3D perception.

Viewing The Sun in Ha is a game changer, to the point where I am selling my 50mm Ha second Etalon, as I get as much detail with Binos only.

The best solar eyepieces for me are the D21s from Denkmeir.

The best  Planetary eyepieces are the Docter 12.5mm.

Please bear in mind these are my preferences, others will have theirs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not everyone gets on with Bino viewing, but it  has transformed  the way in which I observe.

I find the views on the moon/planets  stunning, with real 3D perception.

Viewing The Sun in Ha is a game changer, to the point where I am selling my 50mm Ha second Etalon, as I get as much detail with Binos only.

The best solar eyepieces for me are the D21s from Denkmeir.

The best  Planetary eyepieces are the Docter 12.5mm.

Please bear in mind these are my preferences, others will have theirs.

OK, thanks. I thought that the Moon and planets would be good objects for bino's, I suppose I'll have to experiment. I observe them a lot with my Mak anyway. The Docter 12.5's look brilliant. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.