TeleVue Price Increase

[Alan White]

Just window shopping again at Telescope House and note that TeleVue has had an uplift in Price.
The 3-6mm Nagler zoom is now £406, it only feels like moments ago it was £299 or so.
Is this exchange rates or a mid year uplift before astro-season re-ignition?

[John]

The zoom might have popped up a bit but the other TV ranges still seem to be what they were increased to several months ago as far as I can see

 

[Alan White]

Odd increase, the Pan 24 looks to have had a creep up as well John.
 

[John]

Perhaps old stock has run out and new stocks have arrived at higher prices ?

[alanjgreen]

Yep, some of the delos (330 -> 345)  & delite (246 -> 257) range are up too. "New" stock must be for sale at a higher price than "existing" shelf stock.

Alternative is always to look for a "used" bargain instead... Although used prices seem to factor in the latest new price too...

or try all the vendors. If you phone up then they usually price match each other!

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Just window shopping again at Telescope House and note that TeleVue has had an uplift in Price.
The 3-6mm Nagler zoom is now £406, it only feels like moments ago it was £299 or so.
Is this exchange rates or a mid year uplift before astro-season re-ignition?

It's a thieving rip-off, that's what it is! 

Its a cute eyepiece, but there are plenty of quality eyepieces on the market that will give superior performance to the Nag zoom at a fraction of the cost. 

[Stu]

Won't be selling mine anytime soon then, would never afford another!!

[Piero]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

It's a thieving rip-off, that's what it is! 

Its a cute eyepiece, but there are plenty of quality eyepieces on the market that will give superior performance to the Nag zoom at a fraction of the cost. 

I agree with you. TV eyepieces are nice, but they are overpriced in my opinion. 

- TV Delos borrowed many features from Pentax XW, and the latter are £100 cheaper. Optically? likely a match..

- TV Ethos 13mm costs nearly as much as the Docter UWA 12.5mm. The Docter shows some AMD (and less RD at the edge, something I actually prefer) and to my eye is sharper than the Delos 12mm, suggesting that it may be also sharper than the E13.. 

- Nagler Zoom 3-6 costs 2/3 of a Zeiss zoom 25.1-6.7mm. The latter has also a wider field of view and can be integrated with a high quality barlow. 

- Powermate 2.5x costs about as much as the Baader VIP 2x. The latter is way more customisable, and to my eye noticeably sharper.

Just four examples of other brands. Let's not even consider the Chinese competitors 

 

I am not saying that they should decrease the prices at ES levels, but their prices are approaching the top class, whereas their quality remains the same..

[newbie alert]

27 minutes ago, Piero said:

Powermate 2.5x costs about as much as the Baader VIP 2x. The latter is way more customisable, and to my eye noticeably sharper.

So you're saying the baader is better than the powermate?

Didn't think there was anything near as good unless you go even more stupid price

[John]

Oh, lets not have a Tele Vue bashing thread - so dull and predictable

If you don't like the products / prices, don't buy them !

Plenty of other options around today

 

[Chris]

4 minutes ago, John said:

Oh, lets not have a Tele Vue bashing thread - so dull and predictable

If you don't like the products / prices, don't buy them !

Plenty of other options around today

 

I'm sticking to my generic modified achromat eyepieces. Nothing better as long as you don't look through any other eyepiece  

[scarp15]

A factor of a weak pound strong dollar, requires an adjustment in costs as new stock takes over. Sterling is downwards, routine stationary equipment I purchase for work has increased by quite a margin, commodities in general are just getting more expensive. I place value and feel grateful with my own TeleVue collection, just becoming too out of reach at retail really but not a direct fault of TeleVue. Second hand TV plossls would be good consideration.

[Alan White]

I certainly did not post to start a knocking thread, I like quality so I like TV as well as many others.
This was a heads up, prices have changed post, may also apply to Chinese items as well soon as its all no doubt traded in Dollars.

As to used TV Plossls, that's my route in at present but not only TV.
 

[spaceboy]

Still glad I got my 3-6 zoom when it was 15% off. This was just after the brexit vote and I paid £278 so back in the 23 June 2016 they cost roughly £315. I know not long after the £ crashed other retailers like widescreen centre put their prices straight up, but even so I don't think the 3-6 zoom was more than £370 something??

I have nothing against TV as I did like the T5 & T6 Naglers I once had but I don't think they are worth what their new prices are these days.  

[Piero]

Possibly my opinion here is dull and predictable; I wonder how though as few people talk about comparisons against Zeiss, VIP, Docter, etc.., whereas 3/4 of astro forums on the net is about TV against lower brands.. 

Posting pictures of cases over cases of the same TV eyepieces seems to be an interesting and non-trivial topic for many. Possibly I do find it boring, but I certainly don't ask people to stop posting pictures of their TV eyepieces because this would be a lack of respect. If it is boring for me, it might not be for them.

[Paul73]

My eyepieces are predominantly of the green & back flavour. They are getting to be a bit rich for my wallet. But, TV don't have the monopoly on making decent eyepieces. If people are happy to pay the extra and it is a stustainable business model. Then they should fill their boots. 

Even if the rise was purely to allow Mr Nagler and Co to drive Porsches, why not?? They've worked for it. Why should they charge less than the market will bare?

That doesn't mean that I'm happy about it. But that is the way the world works.

Paul

[niallk]

FWIW, it looks to me like prices for T6 Naglers and also Ethos are now higher than I remember from a year ago on TS in Euro... I don't know if Pentax or other brands have crept up too??  I reckon that the 9T6 was €295 for a very long time, and now it is €356.

[Charic]

4 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

It's a thieving rip-off, that's what it is! 

Its a cute eyepiece, but there are plenty of quality eyepieces on the market that will give superior performance to the Nag zoom at a fraction of the cost. 

...if not superior, as good as, but as always, its a personal thing when it comes to eyepieces.

I don't have any Tele Vue  EP's in my collection anymore,  so not a real issue for me and my wallet, but maybe one day I may just regret selling the Delos collection!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

3 hours ago, Piero said:

Possibly my opinion here is dull and predictable; I wonder how though as few people talk about comparisons against Zeiss, VIP, Docter, etc.., whereas 3/4 of astro forums on the net is about TV against lower brands.. 

Posting pictures of cases over cases of the same TV eyepieces seems to be an interesting and non-trivial topic for many. Possibly I do find it boring, but I certainly don't ask people to stop posting pictures of their TV eyepieces because this would be a lack of respect. If it is boring for me, it might not be for them.

My problem with the VIP Barlow (despite its many superb qualities) is that is is not to the best of my knowledge a telecentric lens, just a very good Barlow. For imaging, I much prefer a telecentric design (like the Baader TZ-4 I have, but also a PowerMate 2.5x, and a pair of Meade S5K TeleXtenders 2x and 3x). The latter have very similar performance (and price) compared to the PowerMate. I have a mix of XWs and Delos EP, and they are very, very close indeed. The former were actually more expensive here than the latter, so TV is hardly overpriced on that front over here. I would love a look through the Doctor, and thought it might be a great replacement of the Nagler 12T4, which is the weakest of my Naglers.

[John]

4 hours ago, Piero said:

Possibly my opinion here is dull and predictable; I wonder how though as few people talk about comparisons against Zeiss, VIP, Docter, etc.., whereas 3/4 of astro forums on the net is about TV against lower brands.. 

Posting pictures of cases over cases of the same TV eyepieces seems to be an interesting and non-trivial topic for many. Possibly I do find it boring, but I certainly don't ask people to stop posting pictures of their TV eyepieces because this would be a lack of respect. If it is boring for me, it might not be for them.

Fair points Piero.

My earlier post was probably a bit of a "knee jerk" reaction which I should have qualified more. Sorry about that.

I agree that it is interesting to read about, and if possible, try out other quality optics as well as the "well known faces".

In all honesty I'd have never have known about the Baader VIP barlow unless I'd read about it on a forum.

 

[Cjg]

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

It's a thieving rip-off, that's what it is! 

Its a cute eyepiece, but there are plenty of quality eyepieces on the market that will give superior performance to the Nag zoom at a fraction of the cost. 

A little harsh Mike; didn't Explore Scientific clone some of the Televue Designs so not had any associated r&d costs in producing?  

Look at the exchange rate of the pound vs other currencies recently, suspect that you'll find other manufacturers upping their prices too...

Chris

[F15Rules]

I noticed recently that Baader's Morpheus has also gone up from £169 to £199, a significant rise and the second since they were launched a couple of years ago at £149 (I bought my much missed 14mm at that price new).

So it's not just TV products. I respect TV's quality and innovation, but I don't have any in my case these days. I genuinely prefer my Pentax and LVWs (and more recently my pair of Tak LE's, which oddly remind me a bit of TV plossls with their green and black design and small but solid build).

I think we are stuck with price increases until our government gets its act together and sorts out the Brexit deal asap!

Dave

[Alan White]

Dave

Fully agree on your conclusion, probably brexit playing its part.

 

[mikeDnight]

10 hours ago, Cjg said:

A little harsh Mike; didn't Explore Scientific clone some of the Televue Designs so not had any associated r&d costs in producing?  

Look at the exchange rate of the pound vs other currencies recently, suspect that you'll find other manufacturers upping their prices too...

Chris

Hi Chris,

I was speaking specifically about the 3-6 zoom and iimmediately went into Victor Meldrew mode when I read that it had increased to £406, and although its a very nice eyepiece, its sincerely believe its not worth that kind of money. Its not that i feel they dont perform well, its just that there are so many better non-zoom alternatives available. Televue as a company have probably done more for the modern astronomer/stargazer than any other manufacturer ever, but they are no longer the only ones worth considering. Sadly, high end names don't always deliver high end performance. Takahashi is a case in point! Their eyepieces are grossly overpriced and their performance is mediocre. The Tak LE's are poorly designed and many suffer from stray light washing out the view when a bright object is outside the field. Their long focal length LE's and ortho's look nice but the eye lens is set a third of the way down the eyepiece body, forcing the observer to push his eye into the eyepiece so as to get the full field of view. I love Tak scopes but their eyepieces are not worth half the list price. 

[jetstream]

The little 3-6 Nagler zoom certainly has its role- in low focal length scopes it proves itself very well IMHO. To my eyes large aperture scopes in good seeing can start to reveal its limitations. The Tak LE's can be a bit "softer" than other designs but they maintain a good following it seems, including BillP if I'm not mistaken.

To each his own...

Many things are getting more expensive and for us here in Canada our prices are directly related to exchange rate as most things we buy are from the States.