Do you have a fast telescope that you struggle to acquire decent views with?
Do you have astigmatism and must wear your glasses while you observe?
Do you want the best views you can possibly achieve with your telescope?
You may be answering these questions with an emphatic “yes,” but you may not be prepared for what it takes to acquire superior results with comfort and quality offered in the same eyepiece.
The Tele Vue Ethos is a bucket-list type of eyepiece that is probably out of your budget.
But, if you can come up with the funds, you’ll never regret the purchase.
Tele Vue 13mm Ethos Eyepiece Review
✔️ Best Feature: 100-degree AFOV
❌ Worst Feature: Price
👌 Ideal For: Low Focal Ratio Telescopes, High Magnification, Super Wide FOV, Planets, DSO, Intermediates, Experts
- Barrel Size: 2”
- Apparent Field of View: 100 degrees
- Focal Length: 13mm
- Eye Relief: 15 mm
- Field Stop Diameter: 22.3 mm
My Verdict: In my opinion theTele Vue eyepieces are expensive but not without justification. If you want the absolute best from your observation sessions, you need the best eyepieces. The Ethos 100-degree model is the best investment that you can do for your seeing.
Who is the Tele Vue 13mm Ethos Best Suited to?
The 13mm Ethos eyepiece is for seasoned and experienced observers. They understand that at some point, to achieve that last bit of extra performance, you may end up spending more on your eyepiece than perhaps you did on your scope.
How Does the Tele Vue 13mm Ethos Perform?
Regardless of what you’re looking at, the Ethos is the perfect eyepiece for the job. If you want to see cloud wisps on Jupiter or intricate detail in nebulae and galaxies, you’ll need an eyepiece that can do it.
The Tele Vue is one very large 2” eyepiece with a fantastically wide 100-degree AFOV. It can provide more at any given magnification and even corrects for angular power distortion. With a 13mm focal length, you can achieve higher power with excellent sharpness and contrast.
Backed by a lifetime warranty, the Ethos is the kind of eyepiece that is a keeper for your entire astronomy hobby. This eyepiece will never be out of style.
Features & Benefits
100-degree Apparent Field of View
This is no ordinary wide-angle eyepiece as it provides an extraordinary 100-degree apparent field of view (AFOV). With its short focal length of 13mm, it’s an eyepiece made to provide the widest field of views at high magnification.
The 100-degree AFOV is impressive and is achieved with its larger 2” barrel. This justifies the high cost, but you must also expect that quality has been upgraded. Look for distortions from the center to the edges of the field of view.
Oh wait, you won’t because this is a Tele Vue that is the Bugatti La Voiture Noire of its time.
Multiple Optical Benefits
Where do you start with such an eyepiece?
It has everything you need to experience jaw-dropping awe, well, that’s how you would explain it.
How would I explain it?
The satisfaction experienced with the Tele Vue Ethos is thanks to its high-contrast view from ultra-low reflectance and flat-finished baffling. The full image sharpness across the entire field of view is a direct result of its optical design and high-efficiency coatings on each element.
You also have multiple compensation benefits in place to correct for field curvature, astigmatism, chromatic aberration, and angular magnification distortion. There is a lot going on in this eyepiece – no wonder it costs so much!
How you interpret all these benefits tends to be expressed with oohs and aahs.
DIOPTRX Compatible
If you have astigmatism, you may want to consider the Tele Vue DIOPTRX accessory that compensates for your vision issues with astigmatism. You can leave your glasses off and expect to achieve better eye relief and an effective view of the 100-degree field of view.
The Ethos eyepiece is compatible with DIOPTRX, so you can attach the unit to the eyepiece and get observing without your spectacles for better performance and comfort.
Lifetime Warranty
As a product from a high-end brand with an unparalleled reputation, they offer an incredible Limited Lifetime Warranty starting from the date of purchase. It’s non-transferable, but I doubt you have intentions to sell it if you’re spending this much on it.
Limitations
Price
There’s no need to fret about the investment as the 13mm has standard sizing, so it can fit with any telescope you choose to use it with. It’s pricey, but the best performance and quality does not come without a hefty price tag.
Those who have invested in the Tele Vue eyepiece are astounded by the difference the Ethos makes. There is no going back as this is where the gold standard is set.
Is the trade-off for price versus unbelievable quality worth it? You bet.
Popular Questions
The Ethos is not a little guy. In fact, it stands taller than a Coke can and weighs 20.8 oz.
Yes. The 2” barrel has threadings that allow for attaching to 1.25” assemblies.
Low focal ratio telescopes are more demanding on eyepieces as they tend to make optical issues more apparent.
For a fast telescope, you must use high-quality eyepieces. If you’re looking at an eyepiece with a wider AFOV than 55-degrees, you’ll want to look for additional correction technologies in the eyepiece.
Unfortunately, eyepieces of this caliber tend to be very expensive. The Tele Vue Ethos is very appropriate for the circumstance and delivers exceptional performance with fast telescopes.
Tele Vue eyepieces are made in Japan and Taiwan. What’s more is that Tele Vue’s manufacturing facilities do not make competing products. The attention to quality control and design detail makes Tele Vue eyepieces the best mass-produced units in the market.
Conclusion
The Tele Vue Ethos 100-degree 13mm eyepiece is pricey. Some may say it’s overkill for your telescope, but I believe quality this good is never overkill. Only the jealous type would steer you away from such an eyepiece.
With this super-wide-angle eyepiece in your kit, you’ll be the envy of every stargazer in town. This is the de la crème of eyepieces. You’ll believe it when you peer through it.
