Televue 8mm Plossl v 8mm Radian

[dweller25]

I am a visual planetary observer who wears glasses.

I currently use a x2 Celestron Ultima Barlow plus a Televue 8mm Plossl in an F/8 refractor. This is a very sharp combination but eye relief is not good.

I am looking to upgrade the above combination with a Televue 8mm radian which will give much more eye relief.

Will the Radian be as sharp as my Plossl ??

[nicnac]

my research says yes, i have been looking at these for a while

[brantuk]

The radians are razor sharp and the eye releif is adjustable. I have the 12mm 8mm and 5mm and totally recommend them

[John]

Actually I think it would be a tough call - the TV possls are very sharp eyepieces and the Ultima barlow is a superb optic.

If it was me, I'd want to try them back to back in my scopes with my eyes before committing to one or the other.

[Moonshane]

although I have never used a TV plossl, I tend to agree with John that they will be of equal sharpness based on the information I have seen online.

Like John, I am a TV fan and I am sticking to them. For me, you don't buy TV Radians over TV Plossls for differences in sharpness (either on or off axis) as from what I read, they are probably the same in this respect.

If you love the sharpness of plossls but hanker for more comfortable viewing in a number of ways - better, adjustable eye relief, larger eye lens and wider, all over sharp field, then you will definitely love the Radians. I have two (see below) and they are great on their own or with the Powermate. This sounds like a Tele Vue ad:rolleyes: but my comments are genuine and off the cuff. You can get them used for about £100 and I for one also strongly recommend them. Some people say they are like a wide field Ortho. Not too heavy either.

Don't worry about the 'instajust' either. It's great once you are used to it - after about two uses.

all that said, I agree with John that if you can afford it, try them together. use the plossl one night (or for a bit) then the Radian and then the Plossl again. I personally cannot get used to plossls and hate the narrow field - I will predict you'll never look back once you have tried the Radian.

[NGC 1502]

Hi, I have two Radians, 18mm & 10mm for my 6" F4 travel scope, they give excellent sharpness, even towards the edge of the field of view. F4 optics are a tough test of any eyepiece. The 20mm eye relief is great, even if you don't wear glasses, and the instajust tension can be easily made looser/tighter. Ed.

[dweller25]

Great feedback - thanks, it sounds like the Radians are no sharper than the Plossls but have a wider FOv and longer eye relief ??

[nicnac]

sums it up all nice like

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Bit late perhaps, but I have the Radian 8mm and it is a superb EP, much better FOV than a Plossl, WAY better eye relief. Wrote a review some time back. Cannot compare it to a Radian Plossl, but it is definitely a better EP than my old Celestron Plossl or the Vixen LVs that replaced it.

[milkyjoe]

Get contact lenses... simples! ;-)

[Damo636]

Get contact lenses... simples! ;-)

I started wearing contact lens last year, great job Unfortunately after having them in for around 12-14 hours during the day i often have to wear my specs at night. I take them off while at the eyepiece though.

[RikM]

I started wearing contact lens last year, great job Unfortunately after having them in for around 12-14 hours during the day i often have to wear my specs at night. I take them off while at the eyepiece though.

Same here.

[MjrTom]

Just out of interest, how do the Nagler T6 7mm or 9mm compare to either the 8mm Radian or Plossl? Apart from FOV and eye relief are there any noticable differences in optical performance?

I dont suppose anyone has any info on the subtle differences between the differing Televue designs?