TAL no longer available?

[DevonSkies]

I contacted a couple of dealers today (Rother Valley Optics and Harrison Telescopes) who recently listed the TAL 100RS on their websites. Both told me that the TAL is no longer being imported!

Sounds like bad news for anyone looking for one of these highly-regarded achromats. Guess I'll have to save my pennies for a SW 100ED instead.

[Chris]

That's a big shame  I wonder why?

[Fozzie]

I thought this had been on the cards for a while now.. It's a real shame, I know a lot of people who I have upmost respect for on the forum rave about them, Mr Nightfisher for one spent a considerable amount of time in Ingleton last summer talking with great passion and enthusiasm about his..

There are a few other options in the 100mm achro department.. the starwave 100 F11 is a gem (I have one and love it) more frequently skywatcher and bresser do a 100mm F9.8 I believe..

Still though you can pick up an ED100 for circa £350 - £400 SH which is good value.. or you could pick up a 100mm F10 vixen skylight in candy apple red for a similar amount if my last browsing memory serves me well..

Would love to get a TAL and pack it away in the loft for 20 years, wonder what it would be worth then, they are loved now, maybe they would be revered in the future.  (shame about being in the loft for 20 years but heyho, for the story it's a necessity!)

Ta

Fozzie

[DevonSkies]

31 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

I thought this had been on the cards for a while now.. It's a real shame, I know a lot of people who I have upmost respect for on the forum rave about them, Mr Nightfisher for one spent a considerable amount of time in Ingleton last summer talking with great passion and enthusiasm about his..

There are a few other options in the 100mm achro department.. the starwave 100 F11 is a gem (I have one and love it) more frequently skywatcher and bresser do a 100mm F9.8 I believe..

Still though you can pick up an ED100 for circa £350 - £400 SH which is good value.. or you could pick up a 100mm F10 vixen skylight in candy apple red for a similar amount if my last browsing memory serves me well..

Would love to get a TAL and pack it away in the loft for 20 years, wonder what it would be worth then, they are loved now, maybe they would be revered in the future.  (shame about being in the loft for 20 years but heyho, for the story it's a necessity!)

Ta

Fozzie

Yes, the Starwave 102 f11 does look like a good alternative (maybe even better).

I notice Astroboot have a TAL 125 Apo in their Bargain Zone at the moment - out of my price range though! Optical Vision (the importers) still list the 125 on their website, but maybe they are just clearing out remaining stock.

[John]

I think the importer (Opitical Vision Limited) might have lost enthusiasm for bringing TAL stuff into the UK. I don't know if it's still being made although I did hear rumours that the priorites of some Russian manufacturers such as TAL had been re-directed back towards state / military production again ?

The TAL 125 refractors seem like a really nice prospect but there have been a lot of quality issues (optical) with the few scopes that have been around, some of which have been reported on here.

 

[Fozzie]

10 minutes ago, DevonSkies said:

Yes, the Starwave 102 f11 does look like a good alternative (maybe even better).

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, they'll be a lynching by folk brandishing TALs instead of pitchforks if you say that out loud! (even if your right! )

I've been told that optically the starwave and TAL are very very evenly matched.. would like to have an evening with one, someday...

Edited February 10, 2016 by Fozzie

[Stu]

I was wondering if the 125 on Astroboot was in fact the unit Marki sent back?

[John]

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

I was wondering if the 125 on Astroboot was in fact the unit Marki sent back?

I'm afraid that crossed my mind as well ........

[Fozzie]

seconded... seemed a bit coincidental didn't it..

[Chris]

It claims to be an ex-showroom model in the blurb?

[Stu]

44 minutes ago, Chris Lock said:

It claims to be an ex-showroom model in the blurb?

Yeah, but that's just marketing innit? ?

Obviousky I've no idea Chris, just seemed like a bit too much of a coincidence.

[John]

The TAL Apolar is a great concept but delivering optical consistency in a 6 element in 3 groups spaced along the tube design is a tough ask especially when they are shipped overland from Siberia. If you get one that is out of collimation then it's a complex job to sort it out to say the least.

When I tested the scope, the 1st one was delivered with a smashed internal lens group and a 1cm scratch across the outer objective element. The 2nd one was in much better shape but, being critical, the star tests showed egg shaped airy disks rather then the nice tight circular spot that we all like to see.

 

 

[AndyH]

Quote

Tal (the brand name of astro products made by NPZ Optical Factory in Novosibirsk) was taken over or merged(not sure which) with Schwabe. I think this is a holding company of a giant Russian Tech conglomerate? I think all this happened early 2015.

A post in a thread on a large Russian astro forum, by long time designer Lev Parko, mentioned that the only products that were being produced (as @ May '15) were the TAL-65 newt, the TAL-75R frac, TAL-1 newt, 2" diagonal, 15mm UWA eyepiece and their 12.5mm astrometric eyepiece. No idea if this will continue.

As has been the case, since forever, don't expect to see anything coming outside of Russia for the forseeable future, if at all. 100RS owners should know that for a couple of years you were buying the scope for less than the factory list price, which I think was thanks to a long time deal OvL had with Tal.

Andy

Regarding Tal - The above I posted back in October. Not much has changed since then and if anything things have probably got worse. ie: sanctions, bans on exports(or at least it's really difficult to import from Russia), the Ruble is still in the toilet etc etc etc....

Here's the last known pricelist ....

Розничный Прайс 2015 Телескопы.pdf

 

If you want to fantasise about buying probably non existent items, 1000 Rubles is about £10. Therefore move the decimal point(or comma in the lists) to the left two places to see what you would pay if

a/ item was in stock

b/ you could walk through the back of a cupboard into the factory showroom/sales desk and hand over some currency.

I think I'd buy a x2 barlow(£18-98) & ext tube to turn it into a x3(£5-93). then 1 each of their 1.25" & 2" diagonals(£24-15 & £32-20)

The things you do went it's cloudy . Mind you, looks like it's going to be clear for the 2nd night in a row. What?!?!

 

Andy.

[Mr Fiery Jack]

I had a TAL 100RS, I liked it very much. At the time they had almost a cult status, that seems to have wained somewhat. Watch the sudden interest and rise in secondhand prices should that news be confirmed. Personally I would only buy a new one from FLO, they do a bit of a clean up on the optics before they send them out I seem to remember. Quality control means nothing in Russia it seems.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Mr Fiery Jack
missed the t off the

[Jim Steele]

I bought my Tal a couple of years ago and then only a hat full of vendors had stock.. It shipped directly from ovl but I suspect the stock was just being wound down.

A great shame! They are such a wonderful enthusiasts scope great to use and very scientific in feel.

[nightfisher]

15 hours ago, Fozzie said:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, they'll be a lynching by folk brandishing TALs instead of pitchforks if you say that out loud! (even if your right! )

I've been told that optically the starwave and TAL are very very evenly matched.. would like to have an evening with one, someday...

Fozzie we shall make this happen one night

[Jim Steele]

 

2 hours ago, nightfisher said:

Fozzie we shall make this happen one night

TAL pitchforks at dawn, now that I would like to see ;-)

Optically they can't be much between the Tal and the starwave I can't imagine it is worth the extra cost. I would like to do the comparison but my Tal isn't going anywhere unless prised from my dead corpse.

[John]

I guess the TAL 100's will develop a sort of legendary / mythical status if they no longer available 

Having owned a couple (I've still got one in a cupboard somewhere) I think they are good 4" F/10 achromats. Probably optically a bit better than most of the chinese 4" F/10's and very similar in performance to the Japanese Vixen SP102's (one of which I owned before I got my 1st TAL 100). For the original cost and current used costs, good buys. If their price rockets then they won't make so much sense IMHO.

The reviews I've read comparing the 102mm F/11 achromats (such as the Lyra Optical one) seem to show that the F/11's are slightly better in optical performance and the build is nicer. You pay somewhat more for the F/11's though.

 

 

 

[Moonshane]

Personally I'd go for a 100ED Skywatcher over a Tal any day of the week. The Tals are good value but in my experience even a good achromat is bettered by a good ED. I really don't like CA though.

[Stu]

I'm part way through doing a somewhat unfair comparison between a TAL 100RS and a Tak FC-100D. I've actually got a couple of TALs currently and will also compare them to see if there are any variations, I think they have different coatings.

I need some time and clear skies to complete this, but as Shane says, from what I can see so far, I'm not totally sure why the TAL has such an amazing cult status, given that a 100ED would not be a million miles away from the Tak it would make much more sense. Having said that, I picked up both the TALs for the price of one 100ED so they are currently pretty cheap.

[Blazar]

or just buy from the states.....I picked up my Barlows when I was on holiday over there a few years back ;-) 

http://talteleoptics.com

 

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

Pleased that I bought mine when I did (Dec '14).

And one of my first accessory purchases in early 2012 was my Tal x2 Barlow.

Edited February 11, 2016 by MAN or ASTROMAN
typo

[moriniboy]

My TAL100R PST stage 2 mod is going nowhere, it's a cracking scope and I love the objectives purple coating.

[mikeDnight]

Its a shame the Tal is no more, though I have to admit I had a real preference for the early Tal refractors. They were optically excellent and mechanically decent. As far as their finish though, they were as rough as rats, but I liked that about them. They were tough and utilitarian. The later Tals came with plastic lens cells which never quite did it for me. Don't mourn them for too long though, the SW EDs are still available and they really are outstanding refractors. Mourn the EDs if the politicians fall out with China.

Mike

[nightfisher]

The simple reason why you would choose a Tal 100 over an ED100 is price, £250 for the Tal new, and over £600 for a new ED, while I am a big fan of the Tal, i would never suggest it to be better than a nice ED100, but if buying new the price would dictate some what, an extra £350 just to get rid of a tiny bit of blue tinge on bright stars, and lets face it, a star on its own is sort of boring whether it has a blue tinge or not