Nagler - still rated ?

[astronymonkey]

Hi all,

Having not done any observing for a number of years I was wondering if TV Nagler eyepieces were still considered in they same way as they used to be .

I know Ethos stole their crown, then Delos followed by Delite bur what are your thoughts on the dear old Nag ?

Cheers,

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I still have my Nagler 22T4 and 31T5. I don't see them going anywhere soon. Brilliant EPs. I did sell my 17T4 and 12T4, and replaced them with the ES 92 deg counterparts. I always felt the 12T4 was ever so slightly less crisp than the others, so when an ES 12mm 92 deg came up I snapped it up and found it had an edge over the 12T4 both in sharpness and in FOV. A little later an ES 17 mm 92 deg came up, so I added that. I cannot say the ES 17mm 92 deg is clearly sharper than the Nagler 17T4, it just has a wider FOV.

[bomberbaz]

The only reason my 31mm Nagler got moved on was exit pupil size. Had it not been to big it would still be sat in my case.

[Stu]

I have a 31mm T5 which is not going anywhere unless the financial wheels totally fall off! Wonderful eyepiece, nothing to match it. I did have 17 and 22mm T4s too, aswell as 2.5, 3.5 and 7mm T7s and thought they were excellent. Particularly the T7s, hard to believe there is an 82 degree afov in such compact eyepieces.

[Stu]

Just now, bomberbaz said:

The only reason my 31mm Nagler got moved on was exit pupil size. Had it not been to big it would still be sat in my case.

Yep, I mainly use mine in refractors.

[Don Pensack]

TeleVue still offers the Naglers for sale in

31mmT5, 22mmT4, 16mmT5, 13mmT6, 9mmT6, 7mmT6, 5mmT6, 3.5mmT6

In the last few years, , the 26mmT5, 20mmT5, 17mmT4, 12mmT4, 11mmT6, and 2.5mmT6 were discontinued, to joint the originals, and type 2s in history.

[jock1958]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

I have a 31mm T5 which is not going anywhere unless the financial wheels totally fall off! Wonderful eyepiece, nothing to match it. I did have 17 and 22mm T4s too, aswell as 2.5, 3.5 and 7mm T7s and thought they were excellent. Particularly the T7s, hard to believe there is an 82 degree afov in such compact eyepieces.

Bought my 31 T5 a few years ago off a fellow SGL’r who was offloading all his gear and mighty glad I did, it’s a fantastic eyepiece and like you Stu would have to be really skint to sell it. 
Initially I did have a few issues with kidney beaning / eye placement but solved that with the addition of a TV eye guard extender. 

[Zeta Reticulan]

I have some Naglers. Although my ES get more use. I really should get these out more. The 16mm was the first Nagler I ever owned. I've never understood why people worry about the 'ring of fire' thing with it. I don't think it was ever intended to be used to look at the Moon. It's basically a conveniently small wide-field EP IMO. 

[JeremyS]

The 1.25-inch Naglers are high performance eyepieces, with wide apparent field of view and  are remarkably compact and light. This is my  set (+ a Panoptic that slipped in 😊). The 2-inch  anglers are good too (I have 17, 20 and 26mm). Only downside is the undercuts 

 

[HollyHound]

I’ve had a few Naglers, all were very good, but I discovered Ethos (for the Dob) and XWs (for the rest) and so these form my two main sets 👍

However, I tried a Nagler 22 alongside the Ethos 21, and subsequently sold that Ethos, so yes, still excellent and relevant 😀

[Dan_Paris]

The form factor and low weight of the T6 Naglers are a big advantage over Delos and Ethos for travel dobsonians. And personally I don't like too much eye-relief, my 13mm T6 ergonomics are perfect for me.

[astronymonkey]

I've got the full T4 set and went to Delos for the higher powers. I wear glasses so the longer eye relief of these eyepieces are an advantage.

In my f4.5 dob the cope well, much better than the stock eyepieces.

 

[badhex]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

The 2-inch  anglers are good too (I have 17, 20 and 26mm). Only downside is the undercuts

Seems like even fishing cannot escape those dreaded undercuts! 

[Zeta Reticulan]

17 minutes ago, badhex said:

Seems like even fishing cannot escape those dreaded undercuts! 

They're not a good catch!

[StevieDvd]

11 hours ago, Zeta Reticulan said:

They're not a good catch!

A 2-inch angler must be fishing for very small fish!

[Zeta Reticulan]

5 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

A 2-inch angler must be fishing for very small fish!

A 1.25" angler is just a tiddler.

[Paz]

I still have the 31mm and 22mm and I intend to keep them for as long as I am observing, with Delos covering the 1.25" bases. I am retired from the eyepiece ratrace!

[Cjg]

The 9mm is my second most used eyepiece, after the 24mm Panoptic .  It’s a few years old now, but the views are just superb. 

[rl]

I still have my 4.8, 7, 11mm MK1 Naglers. I even use them sometimes over my Ethoses just because of their lighter weight. The 4.8 is the perfect planetary eyepiece for a 6" f/5 Newt and the 11mm still has very good transparency compared to some more modern offerings once you've learned to master the eye positioning. Those three will probably go in the coffin with me..

[bosun21]

On 22/08/2022 at 17:40, Don Pensack said:

to joint the originals, and type 2s in history.

Were the type 2 an inferior eyepiece in some way? Did it have an inherent fault? I ask because I was considering buying a 12mm type 2. Thanks Don.

[Zermelo]

7 hours ago, rl said:

Those three will probably go in the coffin with me

If you end up doing that, don't forget to post a picture:

 

 

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Were the type 2 an inferior eyepiece in some way? Did it have an inherent fault? I ask because I was considering buying a 12mm type 2. Thanks Don.

Tighter eye relief than the 12mm T4, larger than the 13mm/11mm T6, older coating technology.  They're still popular over here in the astro classifieds.

[niallk]

My Naglers:

13T6 and 7T6 are excellent EPs: remarkable performance in compact lightweight form factors.

31T5 also a stunning ep.

I also have Ethos which are great, which I use now in my 15", but they come with additional weight, cost (plus greater afov ... helped to convince me to purchase a Paracorr II: => even more cost & weight!).

Edited August 25, 2022 by niallk

[markse68]

15 hours ago, rl said:

I still have my 4.8, 7, 11mm MK1 Naglers. I even use them sometimes over my Ethoses just because of their lighter weight. The 4.8 is the perfect planetary eyepiece for a 6" f/5 Newt and the 11mm still has very good transparency compared to some more modern offerings once you've learned to master the eye positioning. Those three will probably go in the coffin with me..

I still love my 4.8 and quite new to me 7. So compact but very sharp and the tight eye relief isn’t a problem yet. And no undercuts  

Mark

[TheycallmeRiver]

The only Nagler I've used so far is the 16mm, and I absolutely love it.

I bought the 3-6 zoom earlier this week but I haven't used it yet, and I'm hopefully picking up a used 31mm T5 tomorrow morning for £400.  Really excited.  Should complete my eyepiece collection.