TMB Paragon 30mm....what do you know ?

[Astro_Baby]

Any views on the TMB Paragon 30mm ? Whats it like, as food as they say or average ?

Views on clones as well, Teleskop Service clones and others.

And crucially whats a good price for one ?

Would be used in a variety of scopes but could be called upon to work reasonably well in an F5

[John]

Hi AB,

I've not used a Paragon but, from what I've read around the net, I understand that, optically, they are the same as the Skywatcher Aero ED's and the (less often found in the UK) Astro-Tech Titan II's.

FLO lent me a 30mm Aero ED a while back and I did a write up of it comparing it to my Nagler 31mm - Russ had contributed to that review as well. I currently have a 40mm from the same range.

I've been impressed with both the Aero ED's I've used. They seem to be a step up in sharpness across the field and light transmission from the Panaviews and are light (for their size) and comfortable to use, having good eye relief and a nice adjustable eye cup (which the Paragon did not have). My 40mm shows sharp stars over much of the FoV in my F/6.5 refractor and F/5.9 mak-newtonian. It gets a bit more "hairy" in the outer 10% or so fo the field in the 10" F/4.8 newt but still enjoyable enough - whether that's enough of a step up from the Panaview to justify the higher price is difficult to say to be honest.

The Paragon's that I've seen on the used market recently seem just a bit over-priced perhaps but I think they did cost more than the Aero ED's when they were new. FWIW I paid £90 delivered for my Aero ED 40mm.

Hope that helps a bit

[freeme3]

Hello I've just picked up a 30mm TMB Paragon off ebay - lucky to spot it really, for £115, which considering the reviews it gets was pretty good I think. I also have the Skywatcher aero ed 40mm and I would agree with the other post that they seem to be clones of the TMB (as are the Titan range). I have only spent one very short spell looking through them both together and that was at Orion through a Celestron 8" SCT - not the fastest scope and therefore not the best test of an EP's performance. My initial impression was that the 30mm was very good but that the 40mm Aero ED have me a Wow factor that the TMB didn't. Image was bighter and FOV obviously much larger. I will do some more testing when I can but I think that the Aero ED 30mm is going to be pretty damn good and comparable to the TMB if the 40mm is anything to go by. Certainly when I got my 40mm ep I was really pleased with it. Inicidentally if the other post got their 40mm for 90 quid that is a good deal. FLO are advertising them now at 129 and 139 for the 30 and 40mm respectively - which is what I paid 6 months or so ago.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have a 40mm with my C8 and it performs very well indeed (but then again an F/10 scope is not a very severe test, as freeme3 noted). It is difficult to say whether the Aeros are clones, but the latter also get good write-ups. My impression from various review is that the Paragons traded of distortion for edge-to-edge sharpness (much like the Meade SWA) compared to the likes of TeleVue Panoptics. You may be interested in this

Telescope Reviews: 30mm Paragon--- 1ST Light

[Astro_Baby]

Thanks guys for your views.