New Takahashi eyepieces announced

[IB20]

I don’t think at these FLs I’d be overly tempted. The only one I might look at is the 12.5mm. I have a beautiful Celestron Ultima in that length which would make an interesting comparison. I’d like shorter FLs but I suppose that would come with lot tighter eye relief.

Guess I’m still dreaming for those 5 & 6mm TOEs…

[Roy Challen]

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Clearly a yes, they would not expend time and resource otherwise, it say Tak on the side, it will sell.

Yes, I suppose. I guess I should have asked 'what will these offer other than a premium name and price?' 

[bosun21]

Am I right in assuming that they are not actually made by Takahashi but made under license by Starbase? Just like the recent achromatic refractor released?

[Highburymark]

My first reaction wasn’t so much a problem with the AFOV - people buy Plossls and abbés at all focal lengths and don’t moan about the narrow view. My concern was that it sounds as if only half of that fov will be sharp in faster scopes. If so, it will be a very specialist eyepiece.
But it will be interesting if they can deliver on-axis benefits over the LE and abbé ranges. The Pentax XO is a plossl-type design, and they succeeded in making an EP with clear, on axis improvements over other eyepieces. The Starbase ‘orthos’ are actually Plossls, so the new range should be a step up from those.

[mikeDnight]

14 hours ago, Alan White said:

But David Nagler insisted I was wrong suggesting such a thing, flat refused to believe me that the undercuts were an issue….

There are none as blind as those who won't see!

[Louis D]

39 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

The Pentax XO is a plossl-type design, and they succeeded in making an EP with clear, on axis improvements over other eyepieces.

Plossl in that the image forming section is two doublets.  Beyond that, it is a highly optimized negative/positive design of 5 or 6 elements:

[Louis D]

14 hours ago, Alan White said:

But David Nagler insisted I was wrong suggesting such a thing, flat refused to believe me that the undercuts were an issue….

It's your focuser that is the problem for having a compression ring to snag in an undercut according to him.

[Highburymark]

7 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Plossl in that the image forming section is two doublets.  Beyond that, it is a highly optimized negative/positive design of 5 or 6 elements:

Good point

[Highburymark]

18 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Looking forward to you testing them and reporting back @Highburymark 👍🏻

I’ll sit this one out thanks Jeremy. 

[johnturley]

16 minutes ago, Louis D said:

It's your focuser that is the problem for having a compression ring to snag in an undercut according to him.

I don't find undercuts a problem with the Baader Clicklock system.

John

[Deadlake]

8 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I don't find undercuts a problem with the Baader Clicklock system.

John

The curse of the undercuts stopping any thread on SGL or CN....

[Highburymark]

10 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

The title of this thread is pure clickbait, the reality is somewhat underwhelming. Is there really a market for what seems like a plossl variant when there are plenty of good equivalents already available at much lower cost?

Maybe: “Pointless, overpriced eyepieces announced - nothing of interest here (apart from lack of undercuts)” would have been better?

[Deadlake]

5 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Maybe: “Pointless, overpriced eyepieces announced - nothing of interest here (apart from lack of undercuts)” would have been better?

Actually do any Takahashi EP’s have undercuts?

[Louis D]

7 hours ago, johnturley said:

I don't find undercuts a problem with the Baader Clicklock system.

John

Because they use a wide collar, not a narrow compression ring, that avoids snagging in undercuts.  The Antares 2" to 1.25" Twist-Lock adapters are similar:

[The Lapwing]

On 14/07/2023 at 22:51, Alan White said:

But David Nagler insisted I was wrong suggesting such a thing, flat refused to believe me that the undercuts were an issue….

TeleVue products all work together within their own ecosystem best. I use my TeleVue eyepieces in a 2 inch TeleVue Everbright diagonal and have never had any snag problems at all. 

[Alan White]

18 hours ago, Louis D said:

It's your focuser that is the problem for having a compression ring to snag in an undercut according to him.

But they make kit with compression rings …..

Anyway back to the Takahashi ep, if they are special, then they may have a place in some folks cases, but a tracking mount might be advisable.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Alan White

[MalcolmM]

I really really like the Abbe range. If these were a visible improvement I'd be very tempted, though I suspect my eyes would not be up to seeing a small difference. I do like the ergonomics and weight of these.

Malcolm 

 

[vlaiv]

On 14/07/2023 at 22:35, Louis D said:

So, excellent on axis, terrible off-axis?

How did you conclude this?

Aberration is kept within this circle of 4 micro radians even at 22 degrees off axis

If I'm not mistaken, 4 micro radians is equal to 4 * 10e-6 * 180 / PI = 0.00022918 ... degrees or 0.01375... arc minutes or 0.825 ... arc seconds.

Humans can resolve about 1 minute of arc, so this aberration is about 60 / 0.825 = ~x73 smaller than we can normally resolve (20/20 vision)

For comparison F/10 4" objective will have size of airy disk at 221.6" or 3.7 arc minutes - about x287 larger circle than presented in the image.

It might be visible in some sort of afocal imaging method, but I'm doubting it will be seen visually by observer. As far as our vision go - this aberration is non existent.

As for the eyepiece being glorified Plossl - have a look at spot diagram of a plossl eyepiece in F/10 beam (granted, we have no idea what F/ratio is above for TPL-12.5 - probably for ideal beam because it just shows EP aberrations not combined):

So 10mm plossl at 0 degrees, 14.5 degrees and 20 degrees of axis - circle is e line airy disk for F/10 optics.

Edited July 16, 2023 by vlaiv

[Don Pensack]

On 15/07/2023 at 02:43, bosun21 said:

Am I right in assuming that they are not actually made by Takahashi but made under license by Starbase? Just like the recent achromatic refractor released?

I think it might be consensus that Takahashi doesn't actually make eyepieces, but sub-contracts them to an eyepiece maker.

Whether or not they own or partially own said company or companies would be pure speculation unless you are a Takahashi insider.

These new eyepieces say "Takahashi" on the outside, not Starbase.  Starbase eyepieces are made by Dai-ichi Kogaku.

 

Whether these new ones will be made there is unknown.

Takahashi is just realizing that the owners of Takahashi scopes are either astrophotographers or lunar/planetary/double star observers.  Hence the 48°, and a disinterest in glasses-friendly eyepieces.

Their 90° eyepieces lasted only a minute, though there are still a few of them out there in dealerships.

[John]

It is always interesting when a brand such as Takahashi launches a new product but, for me personally, the specifications of these new eyepieces don't offer much attraction. 

They probably will do what they do very nicely though 🙂

Edited July 16, 2023 by John

[JeremyS]

Now listed at FLO: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/takahashi-eyepieces/takahashi-tpl-plossl-eyepieces.html

[Mr Spock]

200 quid for a Plossl - somebody’s having a laugh. Makes Televue Plossls look like good value for money. 

[Sunshine]

On 14/07/2023 at 14:42, JeremyS said:

Looking forward to you testing them and reporting back @Highburymark 👍🏻

Jeremy is smart, he waits for word from the scouts 😂

[dweller25]

I wonder if my superb 12.5mm volcano top Ortho would give the Tak 12.5 TPL a run for it’s money ?

And “NO” @JeremyS I am not spending £200 to find out 🤣

[F15Rules]

9 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Jeremy is smart, he waits for word from the scouts 😂

That's SGL speak, loosely translated in normal parlance as  "he's a tight old...." (insert your preferred adjective😉☺️😂)

Dave