Choosing a Planetary eyepiece

[GazofCorra]

John, I understand that they cannot accommodate for everybody's taste and after all what matters is the view through the EP, like other's have said correct eye placement is crucial but the views are stunning and the 82 degree FOV especially on a non-motor driven scope is great. I find that when you are looking through a nagler you have to sweep your eye around the whole circumference of the EP, like looking out of a ships port hole.

[John]

.... I find that when you are looking through a nagler you have to sweep your eye around the whole circumference of the EP, like looking out of a ships port hole.

Yep - there is a technique to it

With the Ethe, I unconsciously move my head across the top of the eyepiece to track an object at high magnification right across the field of view. I didn't realise I was doing this until someone pointed it out at the SGL6 star party last week

[GazofCorra]

That must be some eyepiece and i know exactly what you mean because i am sure (thinking about it) that i did in fact move my head up, down, left & right to see the whole picture.

And with 100 degree FOV that must be some sight, just watch you do not strain your neck moving your head around that eyepiece

[Adz]

So you got the two planetaries and a 2" panaview Gaz? any word on what you make of them?

[GazofCorra]

So you got the two planetaries and a 2" panaview Gaz? any word on what you make of them?

I have not had chance to use any of them yet, but i did get to use the TV 24mm Panoptic and it is awesome, i was using it on the cresent moon on the 10th April with a 0.9 ND filter and it was so good, but i have not used anything to compare it with as of yet as i was too busy enjoying the view

[Adz]

Sounds great, I picked up a stonking deal on a 13mm t6 nagler and 24mm panoptic. I cannot wait to try them out

[GazofCorra]

Sounds great, I picked up a stonking deal on a 13mm t6 nagler and 24mm panoptic. I cannot wait to try them out

Adam, all i can say is the 24mm panoptic is awesome and the 13mm T6 nagler i was going to go for that but in the end i went for the 14mm T4 nagler as you know, i don't know how good the T6 is but it will no doubt blow ya socks off as the 82 degree FOV of the nagler is a new dimension in viewing.

How good of a deal are we talking?

[Adz]

I cannot wait for this 'new dimension' in viewing The plossls still give me great views.

I had a fantastic sessions tonight with them, I will try to write it up for others to enjoy. Possibly it could be a sending off the plossls!

I got both eyepieces for just over 300 quid, so saved nearly 70 pounds from the 20% sale that was currently on. I have been talk they are in great condition and I bought myself an 8mm plossl with the money saved. It gave me my first views of the cassini division so it has got to be worth it!

[John]

The Nager T6 13mm and Panoptic 24mm are great eyepieces but give yourself time to get used to them. They were my 1st foray into premium Tele Vue eyepieces and, to start with, I was not too impressed with them - and like a fool I sold them wondering what all the hype was about

After trying a few more eyepiece types I came to realise how good the premium TV's were and managed to buy some replacements and haven't looked back

If the Nagler FoV bug bites you might find the Panoptic a little constricting - as I did eventually

[Adz]

Very interesting thanks John. Were this that I have just got identical to the ones you first bought?

Do you have any reviews anywhere that I could read, and what eyepieces do you own and use now?

[John]

Very interesting thanks John. Were this that I have just got identical to the ones you first bought?

Do you have any reviews anywhere that I could read, and what eyepieces do you own and use now?

These reviews influenced me:

http://www.cloudynights.com/documents/24panoptic.pdf

13mm Nagler Type 6 - Review

My current eyepiece set comprises:

Nagler Type 5 31mm

Nagler Type 5 20mm

Ethos 13mm

Ethos 8mm

Ethos 6mm

Antares 1.6x 2" barlow for use with the 8mm and 6mm Ethe

The "wide field" bug bit rather deep with me

Although there is a lot more to the Ethe than just a very wide field of view ........

I've also got some Orthos for when I fancy a change of view:

Baader Genuine orthos 7mm - 6mm - 5mm

University Optics "volcano top" ortho 4mm

[Adz]

Thanks again, I had read both of these before buying and took it all into great consideration.

But my jaw dropped when I saw your collection of the ethos! Maybe you dont put it in your sig for fear of someone coming over your house in envy

You had 5, 7 and 13mm naglers before this right?

I just ask because provided my panoptic makes the 32mm plossl redundant, I will sell the plossl on to fund something better than the 8mm plossl for planetary.

My scope is an 8" f/6 however, unlike your 10" so I am guessing I would need a slightly different size nagler (if they are the ones to go for) to accommodate my maximum magnification.

I was dissapointed in the views from my TMB planetary but the magnification seemed spot on at 6mm...

[John]

You had 5, 7 and 13mm naglers before this right?

I just ask because provided my panoptic makes the 32mm plossl redundant, I will sell the plossl on to fund something better than the 8mm plossl for planetary.

My scope is an 8" f/6 however, unlike your 10" so I am guessing I would need a slightly different size nagler (if they are the ones to go for) to accommodate my maximum magnification....

Before the Ethe I'd owned most of the Nagler range using the Type 6's (down to 3.5mm) for high power viewing and enjoying them immensely. However once I tried the 13mm Ethos ....... I had to have more

My eyepiece choice is influenced by the fact that all my scopes are used on undriven, alt-azimuth mounts so the wide field of view reduces the amount of nudging required.

I've compared Type 6 Naglers to a wide range of other eyepieces (including good orthoscopics) and the only ones that have slightly improved on them, to me, are the Pentax XW and Tele Vue's own Ethos.

I even had a 2.5mm Nagler T6 for a while but that was a bit silly in even my shortest focal length scope

I've got to confess though that I'm a Tele Vue wide field junkie so please take my views with that "health warning". There are other very nice eyepieces around other than the green and black ones