Shootout tonite

[CHASLX200]

Here are the players. 12mm Delos, 13mm T6 Nag and a mid 80's Circle NJ Tele Vue 13mm plossl and the same year 1.8x NJ barlow.

[John]

If the Delos looses out the folks at Tele Vue will wonder what they have been doing for the past 20 years !

Hope it's a good experience and I'll look forward to reading the results

[Damo636]

I've had the pleasure of owning two of the three pictured above, & it's the one in the middle I'd have again in a heartbeat. It was my first Nagler and I have very fond memories of it. Yes the Delos is the latest and greatest (and they are great!),but I still find the older Nagler design remarkable. I mean, it's barely bigger or heavier than a mid range plossl, yet packs a superbly corrected 82° afov. Good luck with the shoot out!

[CHASLX200]

The Delos comes out the winner.  I have loved the Nags and Radians, but the Delos works great with my glasses.  S

[Damo636]

No surprises there then  . 

[alan potts]

Like Damo I have had two of them and I will be dumbstruck if the Delos comes anywhere but first. I have in the past though seen differences in rendition of planetary details between Plossl and Delos with the former coming out on top, only to reversed two nights later using the same scope.

Alan

[bingevader]

This shoot out isn't going to add much to the great EP debate. 

[Star Struck]

The more you pay, the better performance you expect.

There would have been a lot of unhappy people on the forum if the Delos had not come first.

I wouldn't know from experience as the only Televue eyepieces I own are all plossls.

[John]

The more you pay, the better performance you expect.

There would have been a lot of unhappy people on the forum if the Delos had not come first.

I wouldn't know from experience as the only Televue eyepieces I own are all plossls.

The Nagler costs about the same as the Delos.

There is not a lot of difference in pure optical quality terms when you get to this level. It's issues like viewing comfort, field of view preferences etc that will decide which each person goes for.

The TV plossls present a view which is optically excellent but over a 50 degree field and with tighter eye relief due to the plossl design. It's when you want that quality with a larger field of view and more eye relief that the £'s start to mount up.

[Star Struck]

John,

I understand what you are saying.

Maybe, one day, I will have the funds to find out what joys can be found with Naglers, Delos and DeLites.

[swamp thing]

John,

I understand what you are saying.

Maybe, one day, I will have the funds to find out what joys can be found with Naglers, Delos and DeLites.

Going to star parties is a nice way to compare kit. Often on clear nights ( so it's rare) we are all walking about with pockets full of eyepieces, filters etc to try in one another scopes.

All good fun.

[Star Struck]

That is an excellent suggestion and I will take steps to follow up on it.

After all, it offers a good way to find out how they work with your own eyes as well as getting the thoughts of people who already own them.

[Stu]

Going to star parties is a nice way to compare kit. Often on clear nights ( so it's rare) we are all walking about with pockets full of eyepieces, filters etc to try in one another scopes.

All good fun.

So that's why my trousies keep falling down!! [emoji12]

Delos certainly are lovely eyepieces. I don't have any currently but have had a few in the past. I may revisit in future [emoji3]

Note to self: use coat pockets not trouser pockets!

[John]

I could just about fit a 21mm Ethos and a 31mm Nagler in the pockets of my loosest pair of trousers ....... but I would not want to walk in any sort of hurry !

Apologies CHASLX200 - this is slightly off-topic

[wasteland]

So the Delos is supposed to be sharper than the T6 Nagler line?

[John]

So the Delos is supposed to be sharper than the T6 Nagler line?

Not sure whether sharper is quite the right term. I think the Delos and Ethos (the former is based on the latter) have slightly better light transmission and a more neutral tone than Naglers. The Delos has more eye relief.

These are all "top of the line" eyepieces though - the differences are somewhat subtle and might not be apparent under all condtions / target choices / scope types / user experience levels.

As the OP wears glasses then I'm not surprised that the Delos was more comfortable for him. That may well have been the principle difference between them for him ?

Maybe he could give us some more feedback on the shootout and the results ?

[wasteland]

I find it especially remarkable that the Delos allows for the eye relief to be adjusted within a certain range with a mere twist according to the observer's needs. I am not sure how technically difficult (and expensive to do) that is, but it should definitely become a must-have feature for the next generation of eyepieces, TV or everybody else's. 
 

It's probably not a cheap extra to build in your eyepiece, though 

[John]

The Delos eye relief stays at 20mm. What can be varied is the distance between the eye cup and the eye lens so that the owner can fine tune his / her "sweet spot". Many eyepieces have this feature these days but the Delos implementation of it is rather well done.

[wasteland]

Right, that was probably my inexperience-driven enthusiasm talking. As a physicist I'd love to know which features of the optical system affect the most. Just for fun, everything is better when you know how it works, which is why I love seeking out eyepiece schematics on the internet

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would be interested in a comparison of the Delos 12 and Nagler 12T4. I compared my 12T4 with Olly's 13mm Ethos, but conditions were mediocre, seeing wise, so differences is sharpness were hard to assess. The 12T4 won hands down on eye relief for me with my glasses. I have a Delos 8, and that is lovely, so I do not doubt the 12mm will be great.

[CHASLX200]

So the Delos is supposed to be sharper than the T6 Nagler line?

I don't notice them being sharper. I do seem  to see more of a wider WOF with the Delos compared to the Nag. I don't have to dig in as far like i do the with the T6 Nags as the ER is much better on the Delos. Now i did have the 22 and 17mm T4 Nags years back that worked great with my glasses, they were all time fav Nags.  I also had a set of Radians that i loved and worked well with my glasses.

I will need to try out a Delite as i can live with a 62 dergee FOV just fine.