8mm Televue Plossl vs 8mm BST Starguider

[Littleguy80]

I'm considering swapping my 8mm BST Starguider for @JOC's 8mm Televue Plossl. So smaller AFOV, 50° vs 60° with the BST and shorter eye relief. I have a 6mm BGO so I know short eye relief isn't a problem for me. I have to admit that I'm being taken in by the reputation of Televue. There's a line in the Televue blurb on the Plossl's that says:

"The faster the focal ratio of your telescope, the greater your visual reward for using Tele Vue eyepieces."

My scope is near enough F7 so I'm wondering whether that's too slow to really take advantage of the TV?

Would appreciate any thoughts, especially from anyone who's done a side by side comparison of the two.

[Star Struck]

I cannot comment on the BST as I have never looked through one.

I do have a TV 8mm plossl and it is an excellent eyepiece. I use it in a range of scopes from an F6 8" dob to a F7.5 120ED refractor and it always delivers high quality views.

Since you are not bothered by the eye relief I would say go for it, but beware it will lead you to wanting more TV plossls as they give excellent value for money.

 

Tony

[JOC]

I've found the thread Littleguy80.  FWIW my scope is a F6, you could always try it and re-list it if it doesn't work.

[John]

I've owned many TV plossls and an 8mm BST Starguider / Explorer. Not at the same time though so I've not been able to compare them directly but, despite being a very big fan of Tele Vue eyepieces, I'd probably take the slightly larger field of view and more comfortable eye relief of the BST over the TV 8mm plossl in an F/7 scope. In terms of pure optical performance there may well be little or nothing between them in an F/7 scope.

 

[Chris]

I've had both and can't get on with the TV 8mm Plossl, Short ER on ortho's is one thing, but short ER on a Plossl with an eye cup is another I found. However, if you plan faster optics than your f/7 in the future, say f/4 or f/5 it might be worth getting used to for the edge correction, otherwise at f/7 I can't quite see the point from a practical point of view. 

I did really like the 15mm TV Plossl, but you've got the ER with that one.

[Charic]

I compared the TV8 with the Starguider, I still have the Starguider.
Yes the TeleVue built their business from their modified Plössl design, but its nowhere near as comfortable to use  as the BST.
 

I even compared the 8mm Delos, and apart from the wider field of view, and longer eye-relief, its still an 8mm, the target image looks the same, is the same, just more space around it. You could buy 6 BST's for less than a new Delos, its down to the end user. The Televue Delos is good, but no better on my f/6, the Starguider wins for me.

I have also just bought a 15mm TeleVue Plössl, thinking I should try them again, this time from the longest focal length, but no, selling it. 

[Littleguy80]

Thanks all for the comments. I decided to stick with the Starguider in the end. It sounds like the Televue Possl is not a good match for my scope. Thanks also to @JOC for the patience and understanding while I made up mind!

[Charic]

3 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

It sounds like the Televue Possl is not a good match for my scope

The TeleView Plössl is personally tested down  to f/4, ensuring a flat field for most users, and is probably good or as good as it gets, but will only show better performance where correction is needed on a faster scope, whereby our f/6 - f/7 scopes  won't bat an eyelid, no matter what you place in the focuser.

I wanted to feel that the TeleVue brand was better, if not by  name alone,  based on their history and performance, but is the performance benefit only viable on  the fastest scopes?  I find TeleVue very expensive new, but  found great value second hand, that's the nature of the brand,  and they keep on selling, but even then, I still limit my budget to what I think their worth, and pay no more, and I've had some real bargains, But if their so good, why is there such a good supply of seconds?  I think the only way to asses them is to try them yourself, if you like them, you keep them, if not, you sell them! You'll only know how good/great an eyepiece is after you have tried one.

[Littleguy80]

Interesting points, Charic. Based on the advice, it felt like the Plossl wouldn't give me the jump performance to offset the loss in AFOV. If/when I end up with a faster scope then I'll no doubt have another look at the Televue eyepieces. Having said that, the Vixen SLV seem to be popular at the moment as a good value high quality eyepiece. 

I think this has helped reaffirm that I have a good set of eyepieces for my scope. No need to change anything until I upgrade the scope itself

[John]

28 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

...I think this has helped reaffirm that I have a good set of eyepieces for my scope. No need to change anything until I upgrade the scope itself

I agree. Your current eyepieces are pretty good. They would also work well in larger scopes too - I have owned all the ones you have and they worked nicely in my 12" F/5.3 dobsonian as well as my refractors