NextGEN Telecompressors
The NextGEN Series is the second generation of telecompressor lens systems designed by Optec. The first generation was available for the early CCD cameras such as the SBIG ST-6 and Meade 416. Improvements in CCD designed has warranted a complete redesign of our telecompressors which we offer now. These designs have been optimized by the premier Zemax optical design program and are made to the highest optical standards. All optical surfaces are polished to a 60-40 cosmetic quality and coated with a hard broadband coating for maximum transmission and durability. No finer telecompressor is available.
NGM - NextGEN MAXfield 0.33X
The Optec NGM 0.33X (Next Generation MaxField) telecompressor increases the effective speed of the Meade and Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes from f/10 to f/3.3. This 3 fold reduction in focal length allows for 9 times greater field area and 1/9 reduction in exposure time for extended surface objects such as bright nebulae. The system is optimized specifically for the classical f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes to allow for the correction of field curvature and spherical chromatism that afflicts these types of instruments. At f/3.3, the maximum corrected field has a diameter of 11 mm at the image plane which makes the unit suitable for CCD cameras with imaging chips of the same diagonal dimension or smaller.
NGW - NextGEN WideField 0.5X
The Optec NGW 0.5X (Next Generation WideField) telecompressor increases the effective speed of the Meade and Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes from f/10 to f/5. This 1/2 times reduction in focal length allows for 4 times greater field area and 1/4 reduction in exposure time for extended surface objects such as bright nebulae. The system is optimized specifically for f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes to allow for correction of the field curvature and spherical-chromatism that afflicts these types of instruments. At f/5, the maximum corrected field has a diameter of 17.5 mm at the image plane which makes the optic suitable for CCD cameras with imaging chips of the same diagonal dimension or smaller.
NGUW - NextGEN Ultra WideField 0.7XL
The Optec NGUW 0.7XL (Next Generation Ultra WideField) telecompressor was designed specifically for systems with well corrected optics and flat fields such as can be obtained from apochromatic refractors and the new coma free and correctly named LX400-ACF telescopes. The speed of a f/8 telescope would be increased to f/5.6 with this reducer and the optics would still be nearly diffraction limited. This four-element system also maintains the parfocality of the telescope since these types of telescope have more limited focus compared to SCTs. The image field is highly corrected to 18mm diameter so that large format CCD cameras can be used. The performance of this reducer would be impaired if used with a SCT type telescope.
