I purchased a TV 85 and a couple of eyepieces three years ago. I subsequently bought a TV "Binoviewer" an (expensive) attachment which enables one to use both eyes, as with a pair of bins., albeit at the additional expense of having to double up on eyepices.
My eyepieces provide 27x and 67x approx magnification which can be doubled via an accessory Barlow lens with little loss of quality. The power is also doubled via the "Binoviewer".
I also own a Swarovski 65HD with zoom and 30x eyepieces.
The Swarovski is fine for low power scoping and is far more portable and durable. You wouldn't want to cart the TV much further than from car to hide, and with the Binoviewer plus pair of eyepieces attached the weight makes a heavy video type tripod almost essential.
That said once one gets into high power stuff then the TV knocks absolute spots off the Swarovski or any other comparable scope that I've checked. With the Binoviewer and 54x power the image is startling, like a really high power binocular with phenomenal sharpness, field of view and depth of field. With 134x power then things start to look a little dark but on a bright day an execeptional image all things considered. 54x Bino is my favourite though, particularly for sea watching.
Although the TV's rack and pinion focussing is a joy to use it can be a "difficult" scope to the un-initiated. The image is reversed left to right due to the use of a mirror diagonal rather than a prism, so one needs to pan "opposite" the direction of flight. The angled mirror diagonal plus Binoviewer plus eyepieces means one is sort of "looking down from on high" such that in many hides it is impossible to sit down and also use the scope. Dust can easily get into the optics due to the necessity of inserting and removing diagonals and eyepieces in the field.
In an ideal world I would swap my Swarovski for one of the "mini scopes" with 50mm objectives provided it also took 1.25 inch eypieces a la Televue (or most other astro.scopes). I think Pentax do one.
Then I would have a portable go anywhere scope whose performance would be enhanced via utilisation of high quality (and high price!) eyepieces also suitable for the more specialised but high performance of the Televue 85.
Ron
My eyepieces provide 27x and 67x approx magnification which can be doubled via an accessory Barlow lens with little loss of quality. The power is also doubled via the "Binoviewer".
I also own a Swarovski 65HD with zoom and 30x eyepieces.
The Swarovski is fine for low power scoping and is far more portable and durable. You wouldn't want to cart the TV much further than from car to hide, and with the Binoviewer plus pair of eyepieces attached the weight makes a heavy video type tripod almost essential.
That said once one gets into high power stuff then the TV knocks absolute spots off the Swarovski or any other comparable scope that I've checked. With the Binoviewer and 54x power the image is startling, like a really high power binocular with phenomenal sharpness, field of view and depth of field. With 134x power then things start to look a little dark but on a bright day an execeptional image all things considered. 54x Bino is my favourite though, particularly for sea watching.
Although the TV's rack and pinion focussing is a joy to use it can be a "difficult" scope to the un-initiated. The image is reversed left to right due to the use of a mirror diagonal rather than a prism, so one needs to pan "opposite" the direction of flight. The angled mirror diagonal plus Binoviewer plus eyepieces means one is sort of "looking down from on high" such that in many hides it is impossible to sit down and also use the scope. Dust can easily get into the optics due to the necessity of inserting and removing diagonals and eyepieces in the field.
In an ideal world I would swap my Swarovski for one of the "mini scopes" with 50mm objectives provided it also took 1.25 inch eypieces a la Televue (or most other astro.scopes). I think Pentax do one.
Then I would have a portable go anywhere scope whose performance would be enhanced via utilisation of high quality (and high price!) eyepieces also suitable for the more specialised but high performance of the Televue 85.
Ron