Oh man, here we go again...

[Kevin Conville]

Nikon is starting to piss me off.

Recently I bought an ED50, used off ***y, as (of course) the body only ED50s aren't available in the states. This process took awhile and frankly, I just got lucky to find one in such good shape. Same for the EPs.

I'm very happy with it and have the wide angle 20x and 27x for it and feel I'm set for a small scope. But, here's the rub...

I'm now thinking of replacing my straight Pentax PF80ED with an angled Nikon ED82 for several reasons.
First, I decided I like angled scopes and want to switch to one in a larger size.
Second, the two eyepieces I currently have will yield a wide 38x and 50x on the 82 which seems pretty close to ideal for what I would use a larger scope for.
Third, I have much more confidence in the way Nikons seal up against the elements compared to Pentax which IMHO have a questionable seal at the EP collet.

But of course, Nikon doesn't appear to offer the 82mm bodies in the states without the ever-present ZOOM EP!

Their marketing people suck.

[vkalia]

Kevin, I just got a ED50 for $389 from Accuflite (check the forums here for their Earthlink website).

In one email they said it was body only and in another email, they said it came with the 13-30 EP. To be honest, for that price, even if comes with the EP, who cares?

You may want to try them to see if they can offer the ED82 without EPs.

And when you get the new scope, would you mind posting a comparison of how the 2 scopes, Pentax and Nikon, match up to each other? I have a Vortex Skyline ED as my big scope but am thinking of replacing it with a scope that allows nice, wide views via fixed EPs. Am trying to decide between Pentax and Nikon.

Vandit

[horukuru]

Nikon is starting to piss me off.
But of course, Nikon doesn't appear to offer the 82mm bodies in the states without the ever-present ZOOM EP!

Their marketing people suck.

check this web where they offered nikon ED82 body only and eyepiece with other accessories sold separately.

http://shashinki.com/shop/nikon-fieldscope-ed82a-82mm-waterproof-fogproof-spotting-scope-angled-viewing-p-342.html?manufacturers_id=11

[Kevin Conville]

Vandit-
Kevin, I just got a ED50 for $389 from Accuflite (check the forums here for their Earthlink website).

In one email they said it was body only and in another email, they said it came with the 13-30 EP. To be honest, for that price, even if comes with the EP, who cares?

You may want to try them to see if they can offer the ED82 without EPs.

I've went to Accuflite's site. Been there before, nothing there about Nikon. I'll call them in a week or so as I'll be on vacation after this weekend. They may have a better price to help ease the pain, but it's unlikely they'll have the body only unless (maybe) it's grey market of which I'm not interested, if it is. None of the usual outlets have bodies only, and that's the point really.

I appreciate the ideas of a work-arounds, but what is up with Nikon's marketing geniuses? I'm envisioning some clueless bean-counters who've never used their own products. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the only guy in the world who doesn't realize that Nikon's zoom is the best EP ever created and if I only gave it a shot I would throw the other EPs away and beg for humble forgiveness. Those Swarovski and Kowa people are simply fools! It's amazing Nikon even offers fixed focal length EPs considering the massive shadow the zoom casts.

And when you get the new scope, would you mind posting a comparison of how the 2 scopes, Pentax and Nikon, match up to each other? I have a Vortex Skyline ED as my big scope but am thinking of replacing it with a scope that allows nice, wide views via fixed EPs. Am trying to decide between Pentax and Nikon.


If I find myself with both scopes, I'd be glad to offer up my take on the differences. BTW, I have absolutely no issues with the Pentax' optical quality or mechanical function, it's great. If I had the angled version I'd be tempted to just hang onto it but the combination of my straight version being both quite long and straight creates issues for looking up as well as stability.

[Kevin Conville]

Thanks anyway Horukuru, but I'm not too interested in entering the import trade. I want to buy from a US dealer, warranty issues and such.