HDF zoom?

[Richard W]

am thinking of upgrading my Opticron HR 20-60 zoom eyepiece to the HDF version.

will try before I buy but has anyone made a similar switch & if so is the difference very noticable and worth the money?

[postcardcv]

I used to use an ES80 with the hdf zoom, it is an excellent eyepiece. I have only used the hr zoom when testing in the shop, but that was enough to tell me that it was worth paying the extra for the hdf.

[pauco]

Hi Richard, the HDF 20-60 zoom is indeed a great piece of glass, and well worth the money. I bought mine 12 months ago, best buy i made, as you say try it first, i dont think you will be disappointed.

[Henry B]

What Paul said..ditto..

[Richard W]

thx all

how good is image quality at higher mags? I know that's not easy to answer ;) but if you've compared both is there a big difference?

the HR is ok but really noticed the limitations on a few sea watching trips this year, and as I spend a lot of time winter duck & wader watching am really looking for something that will give me a better, brighter image at +40x

[pauco]

Hi Richard, if you noticed a limitation with your HR-just wait till you look through the HD, i think you are about to find your Duck and wader watching about to sparkle. Thats without going into the real tech stuff. Just give it a try.

[Richard W]

sounds exactly what I'm looking for, hope to check them out this weekend, cheapest price I can find online is £149 unless anyone knows different ;)

[pauco]

sounds exactly what I'm looking for, hope to check them out this weekend, cheapest price I can find online is £149 unless anyone knows different ;)
If you can get one for that price good on yer, i paid £169-but as i said it was a year ago. would be interested to hear how you get on, good luck.

[markho]

I just bought one this saturday for £179 at WWT Barnes, excellent piece of kit and well worth the upgrade from HR, I could pick out Jack Snipe in low light at some distance and the image is much better than with HR. However a little bit peeved to see you are getting yours for £149.

[Richard W]

However a little bit peeved to see you are getting yours for £149.

opticron home page has HDF zoom RRP £179.

warehouse express is £159, acecameras are £149, that's for the 18-54, presume there is no 20-60? not that it matters.

nice to see it's getting the thumbs up.

[desgreene]

opticron home page has HDF zoom RRP £179.

warehouse express is £159, acecameras are £149, that's for the 18-54, presume there is no 20-60? not that it matters.

nice to see it's getting the thumbs up.

Hi Richard,
I think 18-54 is the magnification when fitted to an HR66 or similar, the same lens on the ES80 gives 20-60.

BTW. Another thumbs up from me for the HDF lenses. I've got the zoom and the 32. Both excellent. I looked through my brother in laws HR zoom recently and the difference is easily noticeable.

Des.

[winwave]

When I'm Sea watching - I wonder if 18-54X zoom would be enough for my HR66ED ?

I think the scope is great with the existing 28xWW HDF eyepiece. Any advice if I needed a higher magnification, my thoughts are for ~70X eyepiece. Would I notice the loss of some definition by going to a higher magnification on the HR66 ?

(From the catalogues 70xW opticron eyepiece any good - any others?)

Thanks in advance winwave

[Richard W]

I think a better image at +40x would have helped me a lot, picking out Grebes on rough seas with the HR version is hard work. when the image quality is so poor.

if you want to get into 70/80x I believe you'll need a different scope, eg the same 20-60x on HR66 is 27-80x on the HR80.

[pduxon]

Hi folks

apparently Opticron are launching a new SDL zoom. this is priced with an RRP of £229 as against £179 for the HDF.

[Richard W]

ah, any more details???

[pduxon]

ah, any more details???

not really, some advertising spiel but no details on fov. The mag is 16-48 on the GS665 and 20-60 on the GS815

[Richard W]

arrived this morning from Ace Optics, £152 inc p&p.

conditions not great as it is very murky but the difference looking at my feeders at bottom of the garden is huge, only really lose a little quality at 54x but the image is sharp and clear :clap:

will give a proper test this weekend o:)

[pauco]

Great choice Richard, will be looking forward to your test report. Good birding this weekend.

[jackied]

Opticron has just launched a new zoom eye-piece, the SDL 20 x 60.
I phoned my local dealership, but they had not even heard of the new eye-piece,because it's so new. i was thinking of updateing mine, but i think i will wait and see what this new one is like. RRP £225.
jackie

[Richard W]

as posted above, was thinking of waiting to see if a) it was that much better and b) the price of the HDF came down when the new one was launched, have to say a £200+ price tag for a new eyepiece would put me off.

[paulval]

arrived this morning from Ace Optics, £152 inc p&p.

conditions not great as it is very murky but the difference looking at my feeders at bottom of the garden is huge, only really lose a little quality at 54x but the image is sharp and clear :clap:

will give a proper test this weekend o:)

Richard. Very keen to read your results as I am also considering going from HR
to HDF zoom at plus 40 especially.

Rgds.Paul

[pduxon]

welcome to BF Paul - its a fine lens

what scope do you use?

[paulval]

welcome to BF Paul - its a fine lens

what scope do you use?

Pete. I have the imagic 65 and find the light through this is fine -time will tell
Image falls off a little sooner than expected and was hoping
the HDF would help

This is my first scope and what a difference it has made to my birding-another world.

Paul;

[Richard W]

Richard. Very keen to read your results as I am also considering going from HR to HDF zoom at plus 40 especially.

it's when you get to 35+ that you notice the big difference, the HR is ok but to be honest anything over 35 in poor light I found it pretty useless to ID anything, trips this year to South coast and Norfolk were what prompted me to change.

weather permitting it'll be tested on some reservoirs this weekend so will be sure to let you know how I get on, first impressions are very good, even if it was only to zoom in on a woodpigeon at the bottom of my garden ;)

edit: Paul

something I noticed last night, according to the chart on the side of the box the HDF zoom works at 16-48x on the IM65.

[Richard W]

it got a thorough testing today, 4 different reservoirs/GP's o:)

very impressed, really noticed the difference scoping distant ducks at Staines Res, with the HF it was all but impossible to see any detail at 60x, they were just dark blobs, with the HDF I could easily pick out very distant female Tufted & Pochard at 54x.

and being able to zoom in on closer birds and still see a bright clear image was great, esp two Smew at Stockers Lake, with the HF just wouldn't have bothered with anything over 40x.

£150 is a lot of money but definitely worth it in my opinion.

[pauco]

it got a thorough testing today, 4 different reservoirs/GP's o:)

very impressed, really noticed the difference scoping distant ducks at Staines Res, with the HF it was all but impossible to see any detail at 60x, they were just dark blobs, with the HDF I could easily pick out very distant female Tufted & Pochard at 54x.

and being able to zoom in on closer birds and still see a bright clear image was great, esp two Smew at Stockers Lake, with the HF just wouldn't have bothered with anything over 40x.

£150 is a lot of money but definitely worth it in my opinion.
Hi Richard, it seems a lot of money, but just think how many years use you will get, worked out that way it ain't that bad. As you say dont them birds look better and the detail!! glad you like it, happy birding :t:

[lightning gray]

I have just swapped the 18-54 IS zoom eyepiece from the IS60 scope to the HDF Zoom - which I think gives 15-48x. This really improves this scope greatly giving a clear image throughout the range, with a fairly wide field of view for spectacle wearers (like me). Also it has halved the close focus which was initially quiet poor on the IS60. I am now looking forward to using this lightweight combination as a refreshing break from my usual Kowa 823 heavyweight.

[Henry B]

Has any-one got the SDL zoom yet?