Excelsis Ratings/Reviews - Votes:Leica Televid Wide Angle 11mm

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Leica Televid Wide Angle 11mm

I have used the 11, 14 and 22mm Leica televid eyepieces on my 6" f8 Orion optics reflector for a short while. I tried these to see if they offered anything over the Televue Naglers/Panoptics and Pentax XLs I also have. I am now using them in preference to both because I think they have the required parameters in just about the right balance for a comfortable but accurate wide field astronomical eyepiece.

Apparent field 70 degrees, minimal pincushion distortion, decent eye relief, good adjustable (2 position) eyecup and a big eye lens. The image is a little soft at the edges but is very good everywhere else. They produce a very natural, accurate and lifelike image - similar if not better than the Televues and preferable to the XLs. As good and well balanced as they are, The XLs to me do not produce as realistic an image as the Televues or Leicas. I've not tried the Pentax XWs.

Because the image of the Leicas is so nice I do not regard the reduced apparent field compared to the Naglers as a negative, especially as the short focal length Naglers (17mm and below) do not allow the full 82 degree field to be seen in one go without blackouts. They are also as good on the moon as they are for everything else and work fine with a barlow. However, I have read that they may not be quite as well corrected as the Televues for short focal length telescopes.

They have a bayonet fixing and require the Leica astro adaptor to fit the standard 1.25" focusser, you might want to check the availability of these before purchasing the eyepieces. I would expect that other spotting scope eyepices from Swarovski, Zeiss and Nikon have similar performance.

Well worth adding to your short list

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:9
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date: 11/10/2005 10:53:04 am PST
By: AndyW
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=472213

Reply Replies: 0

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