Just check out the user photos for the TV-85. Mr. Naglers brilliant doublet design gives a razor-sharp focal plane, high contrast and distortion-free, false-color free views and images. Birds at distances of 100 meters will look stunning. Stars will be sharp dots against black velvet. The Moon will knock your socks off.   The NP-101 is optically superior, but it costs twice as much and is a kilo heavier, making it less useful as a travel/field instrument., Tthe TV-85 is rugged as a tank, and  comes in a tough but lightweight soft case, which can be slung over one shoulder.   If youre tempted to go with the TV-76, choose the 85. The better balance and extra aperture of the 85 are more than worth the price difference, The only thing the TV-85 cant do is provide large, highly magnified visual views of planets and deep sky objects (galaxies and nebulae) like those afforded by Schmidt-Cass designs-although many affordable imagers, by streaming live views to a computer, can give stunning planet and nebula views with this scope. I recommend a Unistar or other ggod alt-az head (not the TelePod, sorry Al) on a heavy-duty Bogen photo tripod with a 2 geared rising center post, and a good quality 50mm erect-image finder scope, for a lightweight, grab-and-go system. If you need motors, a low-cost Ioptron Mini-tower works beautifully with the TV-85.  Whatever scope you use, invest in a good selection of TeleVue eyepieces. If you want to do flat-field astro photos, the TV 0,8 focal reducer will do the trick. Yes, the EPs are expensive, but you will be wasting your money buying anything less. And the only diagonal Ive seen that gives accuracy and light transmission equal to that of the Everbrite is the AP, which costs more. I have absolutely no financial interest in TeleVue. I just love their scopes and EPs- you wont find better quality anywhere, and TeleVue is made in the good ol USA! Warren beijo@peak.org

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:59 PM

The TeleVue-85 is classy, beautifully made instrument. The scope is a bit larger than the TeleVue-76, but not enough to matter. The TeleVue-85 has become my most used telescope. The views through the scope are outstanding. I was surprised at the amount of improvement in the views over my previous TeleVue-76. The extra bit of aperture makes quite a difference.

The moon and sun are fantastic to observe in the TeleVue-85. Saturn is a yellow, impossibly perfect orb. With good seeing, the equatorial region of Jupiter coagulates into a turbulent mass of streaks and festoons.

When deep sky observing, the TeleVue-85 presents a picture window-like view of large expanses of the heavens. Deep sky objects can be viewed in their natural surroundings and then magnified to taste.

I have been able to split challenging doubles such as Theta Aurigae, Delta Cygni, and Antares in the TeleVue-85.

The TeleVue-85 is an ideal small telescope. It will reveal all of the major phenomena of the heavens, from high magnification views of planets to low power Milky Way starfields. As with any small APO, the TeleVue-85 makes a perfect quick-look telescope and companion to a larger instrument. It is easy to set up and observe with.

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:55 PM

Before purchasing this scope, I wasnt at all sure why people liked refractors.  The TV-85 was my intro to wide-field quality refractors, and WOW, am I ever impressed.  Wonderful wide-field views, M45 with a 26T5 Nagler is amazing!  Pinpoint stars, quality construction, wonderful size, amazing telescope!  Needless to say, NOW I understand... :-)

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:53 PM

The TV-85 is my favorite of  the 15 telescopes I own or have owned, including Astro-Physics, Intes, Starmaster and Borg.  In daytime viewing, the depth of field was outstanding, sharpness and clarity were excellent.  Views at 31x with a 19 mm Panoptic were outstanding for clarity and faithful color.

The next night, I went to La Perouse Bay to find the darkest skies I had ever seen. Under such fortunate circumstances  Tele Vue-85 performed superbly. I could see more stars and more detail in M13 under these skies with the Tele Vue than I could see in my (moderately light-polluted) home skies with an 11 inch Starmaster Zambuto reflector. For an hour I strolled among the Messier objects, viewing one after another with delight, studying them intensely. The crispness and clarity of the TV-85’s images continue to astonish me in my memory. Stars were perfectly etched dots on a black background, there was no widening of the images laterally. It was perfect telescopy, and I did not feel hindered by lack of aperture. Indeed, the opportunity to study wider fields in the crowded sky perfectly suited the little refractor.

A week later, at Mauna Kea,  the Tele Vue-85 again performed brilliantly. I compared it side-by-side with two similar refractors,  a StellarVue 80 mm f/9 achromatic and an Orion 80 mm f/7.5 ED apochromatic. Both of the other telescopes performed well, but the clarity of image, the number of stars seen in clusters, the brilliance and precision of the stars, the hues of the stars and the freedom from false color, all of these were best in the Tele Vue. Other observers, including the owners of the other 80 mm refractors, were similarly impressed by the performance of my Tele Vue.  Borrowing a 35 mm Panoptic from a fellow observer, I was swept away by the star clouds in the Milky Way.

The TV-85 was an ideal choice for a travel telescope.  It was light, easy to use, free off any need for adjustments, and provided outstanding optical quality.

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:45 PM

If its true there is no one perfect scope, a case could be made that
the TV-85 is close.  And a very good case.  When you consider that it combines
premium optics with tremendous portability and a huge choice of mounting options,
you have an incredibly versatile scope.  The views of celestial and terrestrial objects are
equally stunning.  The split on Castor at 200x with the Nagler Zoom looks
like a pair of headlights coming at you on a dark, country road. I have had the scope up to
this power on Jupiter, Saturn and the moon with abundant detail visible.  This scope is just as impressive
looking at a Red-Tailed hawks tail as Jupiters Red Spot.  If youre going to use this for
nature viewing (and you should!), I would suggest to use the Everbrite diagonal rather than
a correct-image diagonal.  The sharper, brighter image is worth having it reversed. Youll quickly get
used to panning the opposite direction of your first instinct.  I have and  love a TV Ranger, but the optics
on the TV-85 are simply in another league.  No, its not cheap, but not once have I
thought about its price tag when Im at the eyepiece!   You wont either.

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:38 PM

I considered a dozen different quality refractors, but found the TV-85 was the only one that met all my needs (size, weight, focal length, focal ratio, APO, value, availability, etc.) and I have not been disappointed.  However, I would have bought the TV-76 had it been created.  

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:36 PM

I considered a dozen different quality refractors, but found the TV-85 was the only one that met all my needs (size, weight, focal length, focal ratio, APO, value, availability, etc.) and I have not been disappointed.  However, I would have bought the TV-76 had it been created.  

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:36 PM

Far and away the best refractor of this aperture I have ever looked through.  Almost without shortcomings: excellent finish, excellent mechanics, fabulous optics.  There is no comparison between these optics and those of a Pronto, although I have owned two Prontos and liked them both.  An outstanding rich-field scope that will yield a huge FOV with wide-field eyepieces and easily handle 200x without a trace of spurious color or image breakdown.  The best all-around scope that Televue makes, in my opinion.

From: | Created on: 10/16/2009 1:48:36 PM