Which Eyepiece?

[jc_strabo]

Hi

I am planning to get a scope and don't know too much about them. I am thinking about an Opticron HR66 which fits into my budget. (I have seen at www.warehouseexpress.com) I have never even looked throug a scope before so amd a bit lost on the eypiece business.

I wear glasses and plan to carrry the scope with me when I go walking (hence the smaller size). I also need it to check out the birds on my bird table which is about thirty yards from my window. Currently iI use a pair of optolyth 7x50's for this.

Anyway, I don't know if I should by a scope with a zoom, or a wide 20x lens or a 30x lens, or both, or all three or whatever.


I would be grateful fo any advice on this matter

thanks

Jonathan

[photonut]

Hi

I am planning to get a scope and don't know too much about them. I am thinking about an Opticron HR66 which fits into my budget. (I have seen at www.warehouseexpress.com) I have never even looked throug a scope before so amd a bit lost on the eypiece business.

I wear glasses and plan to carrry the scope with me when I go walking (hence the smaller size). I also need it to check out the birds on my bird table which is about thirty yards from my window. Currently iI use a pair of optolyth 7x50's for this.

Anyway, I don't know if I should by a scope with a zoom, or a wide 20x lens or a 30x lens, or both, or all three or whatever.


I would be grateful fo any advice on this matter

thanks

Jonathan This subject could require a book to fully explore: Forgetting that for the moment lets start with one mans opinion. Rule one (1) Don't go cheap, or your sure to pay later. (2) Since you wear glasses go for a long "eye relief" specification (not less than 18mm). If you at some point intend to digiscope this is important. (3) Start at the low end of the magnification spectrum, you can always add a doubler (Barlow lens) later. Zoom or not to zoom? For digiscoping I'm inclined to say NO. In personal viewing O.K. Good luck

[Kevin Mac]

I have the Swarovski zoom and I must say I'm not all that impressed with the performance at high powers. 20x to about 35x is great, above that the image quality falls off sharpley (as should be expected). I would get one of those (usually) superb wide 30x eyepieces next time.

[geedub]

Hi Jonathan,

I use an Opticron ES80 GA ED scope with their HDF 20-60 zoom eyepiece and I've been impressed with the quality of both the scope and the eyepiece - but quality drops off markedly at maximum magnification of x60 but is very good up to around x50. The scope isn't too heavy, comes with a stay on case, and in my opinion is fairly easy to carry around all day even with a tripod. If my budget had allowed then I'd have gone for both the zoom and a fixed mag. eyepiece but if you're counting the pennies then the zoom eyepiece is more than good enough.

[postcardcv]

The question of fixed or zoom very much comes down to personal preference. For general birding I have always used a zoom - upto a year or so ago I had an Opticron scope with the HDF zoom (a fantastic eyepeice) and would highly recommend it. I have recently got into digiscoping and for this I now want a fixed eyepeice, so if you want to digiscope it's worth considering this when buying. A fixed eyepeice will tend to give a wider field of view, but then you lose the option to 'go in closer' that you have with the zoom.
With an Opticron scope I'd recommend paying a bit extra and buying an HDF eyepeice. They are about twice the price of Opticrons HR range, but you will notice the difference in quality.

[Humboldt Jim]

The question of fixed or zoom very much comes down to personal preference. For general birding I have always used a zoom - upto a year or so ago I had an Opticron scope with the HDF zoom (a fantastic eyepeice) and would highly recommend it. I have recently got into digiscoping and for this I now want a fixed eyepeice, so if you want to digiscope it's worth considering this when buying. A fixed eyepeice will tend to give a wider field of view, but then you lose the option to 'go in closer' that you have with the zoom.
With an Opticron scope I'd recommend paying a bit extra and buying an HDF eyepeice. They are about twice the price of Opticrons HR range, but you will notice the difference in quality.

I am considering buying the new pentax 65mm scope and would like to know what generic type of 1.25" eyepice would work best for terrestrial use. Plossel? ortho? other?

[Keith Reeder]

Hi Jim.

I mean no offence, but it's generally considered "bad form" to hijack a thread by asking an unrelated question - unrelated, in this case, to Opticron gear, which is what this part of the forum is for.

There is a Pentax specific category, and you'll probably get better advice in there - especially as Opticron gear tends not to be available Stateside whereas Pentax is (and Pentax is really scarce over here), and hence US Pentax users would tend not to look in here.

Jonathan, I sold my HR66 recently to a spectacle-wearing friend, and he gets on just fine with the 27x HDF fixed eyepiece that is on the scope: it's bright, clear and with a wide field of view, and in the conditions we had today the image quality was hardly any different to what I was getting with my Zeiss 65 + zoom at an equivalent magnification.

I'd recommend the 27x HDF EP unreservedly as an excellent all-rounder.

[RoJ]

Hi, hope you might help, please. I have seen advice on adding a Barlow lens but am very unsure just how this would couple with a standard x30 eyepiece. Can you explain your comment a little further, please?
Is it a case of an extra lens with appropriate threads
so that it fits between a scope and standardeyepiece? I have been looking VERY hard at this site:-

http://www.newenglandbirdphotography.com/Coolpix5400barlowupdate.html

and am hoping to get more information before buying and trying!! I really don't fancy buying and cutting to get the coupling right.
Thanks for any advice.
RoJ

.............
(3) Start at the low end of the magnification spectrum, you can always add a doubler (Barlow lens) later. Zoom or not to zoom? For digiscoping I'm inclined to say NO. In personal viewing O.K. Good luck