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New Tele Vue eyepiece - the Delos


John

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Actually my post is daft - they are clearly in Radian territory with these. 72 degrees FoV, long eye relief with the more neutral tone of the Ethe range - perhaps TV have realised that Pentax XW's have been stealing some market share all this time !.

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I had seen comments on SGL that they were going to replace the Radians with a new range. Wonder if that will make any Radian, if it is indeed the case, more sought after?

I can imagine they will perform very well, would like to have a look through one. :)

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I am also presuming they fill the high mag gaps in a set where panoptics are present in the lower powers. For people that cannot afford naglers and ethos, or simply dont need the widest views?

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I never got along with Radians.

Too heavy.

Too sensitive to eye postion.

Nasty yellow cast.

It's hard to see the niche they are trying to fill with the Delos. Unless they're condsiderably better than the ES, TMB, Vixen or Pentax lines, ergonomically and optically, it seems like a bit of a punt.

I'll probably pass.

Still hanging on to my Pans and Naglers tho! :)

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Hi John

I think that the 20% discount Tele Vue are doing until the 17th April looks even better now a 9mm Nagler after discount is £180.00 that is a lot less the $300.00

I will be keeping to Naglers

Doug

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Delos is a Greek island. Here is some more on the eyepiece from the TV website:

"Introducing Delos

Tele Vue is pleased to introduce the Delos, mid-to-short focal length line of 20mm eye-relief, 72° apparent field of view eyepieces. Every optical, mechanical, and ergonomic aspect was rethought to achieve reference-standard performance for any visual application.

The Delos was conceived as a narrower field Ethos. Reducing the field to 72° allowed freedom to increase eye-relief, while controlling pupil aberrations, all without making the eyepiece too large. With Ethos performance standards as benchmarks, the Delos design achieves full field sharpness, virtually perfect fθ (theta) distortion mapping, and color neutrality. Image fidelity is maximized utilizing glass matched multicoatings and anti-reflection surfaces throughout the eyepiece.

Contrast is further enhanced with a new, continuously adjustable height eyeguard system that can be locked in any position. Since the Delos eye-lens measures a quite large 35mm in diameter, preventing stray light from reflecting off the first surface and extraneous light from entering your eye pays off in a nice increase in perceived contrast. The eyeguard's sliding action allows for positioning the soft rubber eyeguard at the ideal height to suit the observer's preference. Indicator marks on the eyepiece body are handy reference guides for setting your perfect position. The eye-guard can also rotate for Dioptrx users."

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Yes, I'm not sure quite what they're aiming at with these, especially if they're in the same price bracket as the Naglers. It seems they're coming a bit late to the market to compete with Pentax XWs, which are now firmly established as a Nagler alternative, delivering better comfort and contrast. But if they don't even offer the same focal length range, it's not even proper competition!

It seems to be a strange fusion of the eye relief and focal length range of Radians, the FOV of Panoptics and the contrast and optical correction of the Ethos'...

We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Andrew

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I would imagine it's just to keep the dollars rolling in. What you have to think is TV pushed the boundary's with the Ethos a 100' went that little further with the Ethos XL which I assume is the maximum possible FOV achievable (and only in one FL it would appear) so they are now running out of options. They have obviously seen the success of Pentax and the XW so are attempting to take some business from them in the 70' ish market. People will always want a new model with different features and when well all get sucked in to the big advertising machine a lot of people will be looking to be the first to own one. It's just good business!

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It looks like being a cheaper alternative to the Ethos. If they can give optical performance comparable to the Ethos, and just sacrifice FOV it could be a winner providing the price is right.

Many who haven't used an Ethos think that they're all about FOV but that's very misleading. It's the sharpness and contrast that are the best thing about the Ethos eyepieces. :)

John

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It looks like being a cheaper alternative to the Ethos. If they can give optical performance comparable to the Ethos, and just sacrifice FOV it could be a winner providing the price is right.

Many who haven't used an Ethos think that they're all about FOV but that's very misleading. It's the sharpness and contrast that are the best thing about the Ethos eyepieces. :p

John

Good points John - hits the nail on the head - the Ethos is about so much more than FoV :)

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I'm puzzled why people are puzzled!

These eyepieces are a winner in my book. There are many people - including myself - who simply don't like 82 degrees and wider, and who find ~70 degrees to be "just right". That doesn't mean we want anything less than the best, as the success of the Pentax XW demonstrates.

As for me, I'm very happy with my two Meade S5000 SWAs but 16mm is the shortest and I have been looking for something in the shorter-length category. I looked at purchasing either Celestron Ultima LX, or Vixen LVW or Pentax XW, but I wasn't convinced any of these options were right for me. So then, "Thinkapow!", I bought a 1.25" Tele Vue Powermate, new, from Telescope House. I am amazed at the high quality of the product, and was speechless at the ortho-like razor-sharpness of the results it provides with my two Meade SWAs (16mm and 24mm), for which it was bought.

Its 2.5x magnification effectively creates for me both 10mm and 6mm ~70 degree SWAs: Lovely - really lovely!

Needless to say then, I fully support Tele Vue's decision in producing the Delos eyepieces initially in 10mm and 6mm focal lengths. Furthermore, since Japan's earthquake destroyed the Pentax glass factory, rendering the already out-of-stock Pentax XWs out-of-production (almost certainly forever) - there's now a gap in the market for this kind of eyepiece.

I'd expect more focal lengths to come along in due course...

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Fair enough, Jeremy. Didn't know about the Pentax glass.

I think it all depends on what price they come out at. If they can hit around £200, they'd be cheaper than both Naglers and XWs and hence worthwhile.

Tele Vue don't generally do duff products, so it's highly doubtful the Delos will be anything but excellent.

Andrew

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I think it all depends on what price they come out at. If they can hit around £200, they'd be cheaper than both Naglers and XWs and hence worthwhile.

In rip-off Britain? Chance'd be a fine thing! :) No, they're already on sale in the UK - and at the kind of "markup" punishment that us Brits are used to:

Tele Vue Delos Eyepieces <click>

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I'd expected them to come out at about £250.00, which is near enough £200.00 less than an Ethos. SCS tends to be a pricey so I'd expect the price at Telescope House to be £249.99 or so.

With taxes, handling fees and shipping added it would be nearly £300.00 to import one from the US so the UK price doesn't look too bad.

John

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