nikon ed 78 and 38x eyepiece

[Steve Babbs]

Steve

I've just been to the warehouse express website and they appear to still be selling the nikon ed 78 very cheaply. With a 38x wide angle it is £549 which seems such a bargain that I may risk buying it and breaking the golden rule about always trying equipment first. My main question is about the eyepiece is this a suitable eyepiece for general use it seems a high mag.? Would I be better off getting a 30x, which presumable would knock the price up a lot as they don't appear to have a package? I know lots of people prefer zooms these days but I don't like the loss of field of view. Any reasurance that I'm not making a mistake going for a scope I have never looked through would be good. I would never consider paying a thousand plus for a scope - I'd rather spend that on foreign trips. My present kowa 613 is starting to lose a bit of quality due to 10 years of being lugged around the world, so I'm thinking of putting it away for foreign use and other times when I don't want to carry much.

Cheers for any advice

Steve

[Blincodave]

Optically it is an excellent eyepiece but .... it is the old fold down non MC variant which is 30x on the 60, 38 x on the 78.

However, you will find ( I owned one) that at 38 x it does have limited depth of field.

Still a bargain though!

[David Chandler]

I have an angled ed78. I did have a 38x eyepiece (with the rubber eyecup) but couldn't get on with it - I just couldn't get the sharpness of focus that I expected. I now use the scope with a 25x eyepiece (20x on the 60mm) and that's very good. It's not wideangle but in practice I don't find that a particular problem. I picked up the 25x eyepiece second hand for £49 I think.

[Quacker]

Hi Steve

I had the same choice and eventually plumped for the ED78 with the 25-75 zoom for the versatility. It cost ore going this route, and I find scoping is best at the 25x end, however, the scope itself is used at higher end (50x+) with good results.

If I could do it again, I would have liked to have a nice wide angled fixed lens, but I think 38x was the smallest - and I'm not sure it was particularly wide. In an ideal world, and budget allowing, I'd buy both the zoom and a nice wide angled fixed lens.

Anyway, buy the ED78 at the special price - you'll love it!

Quack - (another Steve)

[Steve Babbs]

I'm now dithering warehouse express are also selling zeiss 65mm with eyepiece for £599, which also seems a bargain. If I decided not to get the 38x eyepiece this would be cheaper. I'm beginning to come round to the idea of a zoom as the option of extra mag. would be useful ideally I'd have 2 different fixed eyepieces but that would wack up the price and the one time I tried this before I soon lost one of them. However I am still concerned about field of view and I have read that the nikon zoom is particularly poor and the zeiss is good.

Any thoughts

Steve

[scampo]

Hi Steve,

I'd go for the Zeiss - Keith here has sung its praises so highly. I have the Zeiss 85FL and that is a stunning scope with the zoom.

The Nikon is an equally fine scope, though - and the 38xW is so wide, you'd find it a lovely eye piece. I have the 30x and the zoom but very nearly did buy the 38x. Have no fear - it will do you proud.

Toss a coin? No - the Zeiss is a current model, that might sway you. But I hear stocks are low, so if you are too late, you'll still be a winner.

[Tim Allwood]

30x is the business Steve

it's also the new MC type eyepiece - same as the new 82 mm models take

amazing bit of kit

I use one occasionally and like you also have a 613 which i use when looking for migrants etc...took it abroad once but it was still a bit of a burden....

you won't regret the 78 but the zeiss is fine as well but maybe a bit bulky for a 'small' scope

atb
Tim

[Keith Reeder]

The Zeiss bulky?


Naah - it's no bigger than my old opticron HR66, but lighter.

And a superb piece of kit with the zoom.

It ain't too bad for the old digiscoping either - attached are some attempts from today with a handheld Canon Powershot A95 I only got yesterday.

They're not great, but I don't think they're too bad either - and if the combo can do this for a total digiscoping beginner with wobbly hands, I feel rather optimistic about the future.

It was in pretty dull conditions too - no lack of brightness in these pics though, I think.

Nice Zeiss!

[scampo]

The Zeiss bulky?


Naah - it's no bigger than my old opticron HR66, but lighter.

And a superb piece of kit with the zoom.

It ain't too bad for the old digiscoping either - attached are some attempts from today with a handheld Canon Powershot A95 I only got yesterday.

They're not great, but I don't think they're too bad either - and if the combo can do this for a total digiscoping beginner with wobbly hands, I feel rather optimistic about the future.

It was in pretty dull conditions too - no lack of brightness in these pics though, I think.

Nice Zeiss!Odd thing to call the small Zeiss bulky, I thought, too.

What good shots, Keith. That bashful peewit is as sharp as a razor. Well done.

[Blincodave]

30x is the business Steve

it's also the new MC type eyepiece - same as the new 82 mm models take

amazing bit of kit

I use one occasionally and like you also have a 613 which i use when looking for migrants etc...took it abroad once but it was still a bit of a burden....

you won't regret the 78 but the zeiss is fine as well but maybe a bit bulky for a 'small' scope

atb
Tim

Tim,

I thought the WE offer included the old non MC eyepiece?

[Tim Allwood]

Watcha Blinco

i only got the body for 399 - eyepiece bought separately

Steve/Keith
Bulkiness is relative! A small scope for me is 60mm as the nikon ED111 or Kowa 613 - the Zeiss looks kind of too wide-bodied and 60mm is fine for me. Don't want a 65 and a 78mm scope. Now it's not considered bulky but remember i started birding at 12 with an old TS1 and everyone used 60mm scopes. Todays birders start with a 80mm and zoom (perhaps they walk less with them too, birding by car to the site, seeing the birds and moving to next site by car. We walked miles on Sat and a scope was out of the question) - anything less will perhaps seem 'lightweight'

atb
Timmo

[Swissboy]

And a superb piece of kit with the zoom.

It ain't too bad for the old digiscoping either - attached are some attempts from today with a handheld Canon Powershot A95 I only got yesterday.

They're not great, but I don't think they're too bad either - and if the combo can do this for a total digiscoping beginner with wobbly hands, I feel rather optimistic about the future.

It was in pretty dull conditions too - no lack of brightness in these pics though, I think.

Nice Zeiss!


That's quite a way to convince us of the superb quality of the Zeiss (congratulations, Keith)! :clap:
And one thing more: it is waterproof, unlike the Nikon 78.

Robert

[markgrubb]

I bought the nikon ed78 and 38x eyepiece from warehouse express just 2 or 3 weeks ago. It seems a great piece of kit and I find it is fine for general use with an excellent field of view. Great service from the company too

[bill lord]

Steve

I've just been to the warehouse express website and they appear to still be selling the nikon ed 78 very cheaply. With a 38x wide angle it is £549 which seems such a bargain that I may risk buying it and breaking the golden rule about always trying equipment first.
Steve

There is a straight ED 78 for sale for £400 in the for sale forum. It might be worth a look.