On Monday night, my new Tele Vue 19mm Nagler Type 7 eyepiece received its first light under the dark skies of Lake Sonoma, California.
I purchased the eyepiece at NEAF. There was no secrecy involved in the purchase. At NEAF, I enjoyed my chats with the Tele Vue crew and will forever cherish the time Al Nagler spent sharing his delights with me.
These days, the two telescopes I use most often are the TV85 and TEC140. I use both my refractors on manual alt-az mounts. My TEC140 is on a Discmount 6 and I love it. I want as little tech between me and the cosmos as possible.
Until Monday night, I had only used the 19 Nagler T7 in the TV85 to look at trees and birds. Though my impressions were favorable, I did not think this experience was post-worthy.
For perspective, my main eyepiece lineup is 31 Nagler, 24 Panoptic, 14 Delos, 8 Delos, and 4.5 Delos.
When selecting these eyepieces to purchase, I had the advantage of trying my friend’s Ethos lineup. For me - perhaps because of my facial structure - I did not enjoy the extra FOV considering the added cost. Also, I had once owned the 13mm Nagler Type 6. It is a powerful little eyepiece, but its eye relief and eye placement was not as comfortable for me (I also apparently have long eyelashes).
I find the Delos eyepieces to be a joy to use, and other amateur astronomers have commented the same when viewing through my setup. I do NOT use eyeglasses at the scope, yet I like the adjustable eyeguard. For the Delos eyepieces, my eyeguard with eyecup deployed is placed just above the first marking. The adjustment is solid, and I set it and forget it. I find eye placement to be easy and I can quickly acquire the beam even at small exit pupils (I acknowledge this can be due to familiarity). I had honestly been content with the 72° AFOV, though do enjoy the extra majesty of the 31 Nagler’s 82°, especially when exploring at low power (for me, the 13 Nagler’s larger AFOV compared to the 14 Delos’ was not worth the exchange in comfort).
When introduced, Tele Vue’s new Type 7s literally caught my eye. In particular, the 19mm fulfilled a nice opportunity with my TEC140 between the 31 Nagler and the 14 Delos. I had been testing a friend’s 22 Nagler in the TEC and honestly came close to purchasing it several times (I was not completely satisfied with the 22’s adjustable eyeguard).
My TEC140 is f/7 (980mm focal length). When paired with the 19 Nagler, it yields 52x magnification, 1.6° TFOV, and 2.7mm exit pupil.
Last Monday night at Lake Sonoma was forecasted to deliver that rare combination of both above average transparency AND seeing - a nice combination when you have a new eyepiece and most of the targets will be galaxies. The reality was that the seeing was indeed the steadiest, but the sky appeared brighter than advertised. This was also noted by my observing companion, Jim. The Planetary K index was flirting with the 5s, so perhaps that was brightening up the sky more than the usual. So even with an exit pupil of 2.7mm, the sky was not as black as I expected.
While early, I caught the showpiece star clusters. M36, M37, and M38 delighted. M35 and NGC2158 were nicely framed. I encompassed the Beehive swarm - one note here: the faintest member of the quadruple ADS6921 was crisp and clear no matter where in the FOV. I made brief comparisons with views from my 24 Panoptic (~ same TFOV) and 18.2 DeLite, and those quickly proved to be tighter feeling experiences.
As the clusters fell, the galaxies reigned. I could nicely grasp the entire Leo Triplet. With Sue French leading the way, I explored the Virgo Cluster and followed Markarian’s Chain. M81 and M82 together with NGC3077, and NGC2976 nearby. I snaked along Hydra, where the Ghost of Jupiter was too obvious to scare me and the M83 actually looked nice for being so low.
The 19 Nagler delivered a great experience!
I summarize the Type 7s as the comfort of a Delos with an added 10° AFOV. I think you can fairly use this to set your expectations.
Several notes: 1) for me, my best eyeguard position is nearly all the way down, unlike the Delos, which is higher to the first marking; 2) Jim also enjoyed the 19 Nagler; 3) the barrel is indeed smooth and slips into my Astro-Physics diagonal oh so satisfyingly.
I hope you find this instructive. Eyepieces are your personal window to the universe and opinions vary. I always advise that when possible, you try before you buy. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are local and would like to give it a try, please feel welcome to contact me. Enjoy the views!
Edited by Durkinphd, 23 April 2025 - 12:05 PM.
