Tele Vue Nagler Type 1 7mm

5.0 TeleVue Nagler Type 1 7mm

1.25" EP, great on planets and the moon, not heavy, 82 degree FOV

Expensive (even on the used market), hard to find, hard rubber eyecup

I just bought a Nagler 7mm Type 1 as an early Christmas present for myself. With my f/10 SCT I needed a very high power eyepiece for planetary and lunar viewing.

There are at least 2, maybe 3, different versions of the 7mm Type 1. This eyepiece is of the final version with a rubber eyecup, indent on the barrel for a setscrew and the rubber grip ring around the entire eyepiece. Also this has the green glass coatings unlike the earlier version with a bluish-violet tint. The early version has the smooth barrel without an eyecup.

This eyepiece has excellent contrast and sharpness, and no matter where I looked and what I looked at, there was no ghosting. The 82 degree field is a winner with very black background and to me, all stars were pinpoint. The lunar views are breathtaking and crystal clear. The top glass is not that big so you don't have to move your face to see it all. It just works well. This EP is made for planetary and lunar viewing and you get your moneys worth. This is typical of the Nagler line, even with this Type 1 version.

I also found that this 7mm barlows very well with my Orion Shorty plus barlow. On the minus side if you wear eyeglasses you might want to go with the Radian as the eye relief is a low 10mm at best. Also I found the eyecup to be a big stiff and hard to bend over to get close to the glass.

The street value of this is around $200, the weight is only 0.5 pounds and it's a complete 1.25" eyepiece. There is no 2" skirt on this EP. So if you have only a 1.25" diagonal this will fit the bill. I really like this eyepiece.