ME 1.7x Converter - Image Quality (2 Viewers)

[Coloradodipper]

I have been happy with it thus far. Last night I had amazing views of Jupiter and Saturn at the full 120X in mediocre seeing. Cassini's division was visible in and out of the scintillation and Jupiter which is at opposition put on a heck of a show when at the zenith.

Today we took the ATX95 and the 1.7 out to our local reservoir which is an IBA. We spotted three new birds and watched bald eagles strafe ducks so they would move in order to hunt fish. Even in cooler temps, mirage played havoc on us beyond 1/2 a mile but all in all, this is a great setup for this site which is less than a mile from our home.

 

[Tringa45]

I'm considering getting the 1.8x extender for my Leica APO Televid. I'm curious to see how dark that gets in comparison with the Swarovski. The Leica is only 82mm, so it'll probably be rather noticeable. I expect that a ATX 115mm objective would be most forgiving for brightness retention.

That will take you down to an exit pupil <1 mm, so even if the Televid can sustain this magnification, the light loss is so great that the gains for terrestrial viewing, if any, will be very minimal. The bird would have to be in direct sunlight and finding it at 45x complicates matters.

John

 

[Will K]

That will take you down to an exit pupil <1 mm, so even if the Televid can sustain this magnification, the light loss is so great that the gains for terrestrial viewing, if any, will be very minimal. The bird would have to be in direct sunlight and finding it at 45x complicates matters.

John

Yeah, the Leica extender's potential performance is concerning. My plan is to find one in a shop, bring my scope, and ask to try it out first. If the drawbacks are obvious, I might rethink my options.

 

[BoldenEagle]

I had Leica Televid Apo 82 and the 1.8x extender. I recall it was worth up to about 70x magnification but not much beyond due to the optical aberrations in the scope itself and as John wrote, exit pupil <1 mm will offer quite dim image anyway. At least in my neck of woods when there will be good light (=lots of sunlight) it usually comes with more severe heat haze, thus making the high mags. not so worthy anyway.

With Televid82, the 1.8x extender might still be a good option if you need higher than 50x mags., as there are no other eyepieces than the 25-50x standard zoom one can use with this scope (I'm not sure though if there are some 1.25" adapters available). It's quite easy to use, not terribly expensive and doesn't add much weight when carrying with you and you still can use the zoom function.

Regards, Juhani