Tele Vue Optics, founded in 1977, has been thrilling amateur astronomers since 1979. It is our mission. It's in the materials we choose, the designs we create, the craftsmanship we demonstrate...the images we deliver. Creating "goodies" for the observing enthusiast has been founder Al Nagler's continuing pursuit.
Al put his lifelong love of amateur astronomy to work as a professional optical designer in 1958. But, it was his involvement in designing NASA lunar landing simulators (as seen in the movie "Apollo 13") that most directly influences Tele Vue products of today. Al wanted his own observing equipment to deliver that seemingly limitless vista created for the astronauts. Producing wide, full-field sharpness and high contrast images are the keys.
In the midst of the eyepiece-crushing Dobsonian telescope revolution of the early '80s, Tele Vue launched its Plössl eyepiece design. So improved in edge sharpness, it was awarded U.S. and international patents. On the consumer front,...and in backyards, it also won acclaim - "The sharpest I've ever used" pronounced the editor of "Astronomy" in a rave review.
Al's "Nagler" series heralded its own revolution in eyepieces. Called "remarkable" by the author of "Telescope Optics", it has an 82° apparent field, and 10 times the field sharpness of any previous eyepiece. Nagler eyepieces approached the realization of Al's dream for "spacewalk" viewing, even more so with the long eye relief Nagler Type 4 models, long focal length Type 5 models, and short focal length Type 6 models. The next generation Nagler, Al's son David (full time at Tele Vue for more than 25-years and currently company President) took the next step in the "spacewalk" experience by laying the conceptual ground work for a 100° eyepiece to be designed by Al's in-house protégé Paul Dellechiaie. The result is everything a Tele Vue eyepiece represents. It's the Tele Vue Ethos.
Also, look at the celebrated Panoptic eyepieces for "tack-sharp," low power, 68° fields. And, the 72° Delos series and 62° DeLite eyepieces both with 20mm eye relief, offer the most performance possible for eyeglass wearers. These, along with many other long eye-relief Tele Vue eyepieces accept DIOPTRX, the unique optical "missing link" between you and your equipment. It corrects your eyesight astigmatism so you can replace your eyeglasses for the best possible visual experience. Planetary enthusiasts can enjoy the Nagler Zoom with a constant 50° field and parfocal, 3-6mm focal length zoom range.
The performance inherent in EVERY Tele Vue eyepiece manufactured is verified for you at f/4; quality assurance available nowhere else. We even had to design our own eyepiece test equipment. No fast, sharp, flat field instrument existed to do the job.
With this effort, Tele Vue serendipitously pioneered the multipurpose, diffraction limited, 4-element, fast refractor as a serious, portable alternative to Newtonians and SCTs. The current Tele Vue-NP101is and NP127is are the ultimate evolution. These Benchmark scopes set new standards in both wide-angle AND high power viewing as well as imaging. The NP127fli, developed along with Finger Lakes Instrumentation, is the ultimate "plug and play" short focal length astrograph.
When travel convenience and instant setup are paramount, our 60mm, 76mm and 85mm APO scopes are literally the "way to go." Sling one over your shoulder, but watch out! Their sizes belie their capability. You're carrying around "reference standard" optics, (Best in the world, says Cornell Lab of Ornithology) acclaimed for birding, and nature studies as well as astronomy. Every scope is built by Tele Vue in Chester, NY and Tele Vue telescopes are built start to finish by a single technician with quality checks at several critical steps along the way. They also happen to be the finest scopes for beginners because they are so easy to use.
Also check out our great accessories: Bino Vue, Paracorr, Starbeam, and convenient tripods and mounts with Sky Tour Computer. There's a reason why virtually every product is "best in class" — we wouldn't have it any other way.
Tele Vue's staff is the final element. We share your desire for quality and love of observing, crafting each product as if it were our own. Look through our website, see the educational, technical and service support we provide, and test us by phone to get the most straightforward and helpful advice on the planet.
We also hope you get a chance to see our equipment at a dealer or in the field, because as one customer wrote: "no picture or description prepared me for the beauty of the design or excellence of the workmanship."
Above all, we want your Tele Vue experience to be "...even better than you imagined."