Hilkinson sgn111

[rog8811]

Hi folks, this is my first post on the forum but over the last couple of days it has given me a lot of info that will no doubt come in useful when I get set up.
I am looking to buy a scope for the first time ( I have borrowed for too long !!!!) I dont propose to ask what is the best value for money as I have seen lots of views and comment on that within the forum. I have a question on a particular scope that I have seen on the net, It is the Hilkinson SGN111, It is quite a lot less money than I am prepared to spend but what caught my eye was the fact that it can have two eye pieces mounted at once. There seems to be the chance here of mounting the camera onto the straight through whilst spotting through the 45 degree.

Has anyone here come across this scope, if so is it any good for what I am proposing.

Regards Rog8811

[IanF]

Hi Rog8811,

On behalf of Admin and the Moderators - Welcome to Birdforum :t:

I can't help with the advice I'm afraid as I have not heard of that brand of scope before. Hopefully somebody will be able to help you out.

See you around.

[Andy Bright]

Hi Rog
Maybe you could point us in the direction of this scope for us to have a look at... Never heard of it, but I expect some of our members have. You do tend to get what you pay for with optics.
Regards,
Andy

[rog8811]

I have only found it in 2 places, cannot find the manufacturers own site, below is one of the sites.
http://www.stanleysmith.worldonline.co.uk/hilkinson_sgn.htm

Regards Rog8811

[rog8811]

It looks as though the link below takes you to the people who are the manufacturers of the above mentioned scope, I have e-mailed them for some more info, but if anyone out there has come across this scope I would rather hear what you have to say than the people who make it!

http://www.claritas-online.co.uk/index.htm

[Andy Bright]

Thanks for the link.
Yes, certainly interesting in allowing it to have an angled eyepiece and straight eyepiece fitting on one scope. I think it may be a bit awkward with a camera attached to one e.p. whilst looking through the other, but it does look possible.

[rog8811]

I have tried to track one down to have a look at with the help of claritas, no joy there. I have now arranged to meet their rep at the reserve where I work on my return from holiday. When I have had a look I will post information for you all on the forum.

Regards Rog8811

[billy]

just came across one in black&lizars in glasgow. maybe you have a local branch good luck , billy

[rog8811]

Hi billy, thanks for the info, when you say came across one, did you have a look, if so what were your first impressions?

I have contacted Claritas to get a rep up to see me sometime this week.

Regards Rog8811

[billy]

hi rog8811, sorry i was drooling over a leica scope at the time. the shop has all the scopes mounted at a window to try out at your leisure. sorry cant be of more help billy

[rog8811]

Yes I have drooled over leica's as well, trouble was my wallet did a runner before I could pry it open!

[postcardcv]

Hi - whilst I cannot tell you about the current model, my first scope was an ealier version of this. I still have it and have just got it out to look at again so I can give you some info.

Firstly I should say that as a first scope I was very pleased with it and used it for about 4 or 5 years before upgrading. The two eyepiece feature was useful - and has stood the test of time. However the body of the scope was not the strongest and has suffered it now has many dents.

Optically the scope seemed good when I got it, then I started looking through other scopes, and realised that the light gathering was poor and it was not as sharp as it could have been. When I upgraded (to an Opticron HR60) I realised quite how much I'd been missing over the years.

I would not recommend this scope to you as I am sure that you would be able to get one that is optically superior whilst staying within your budget (there is a recent tread about budget/first scopes that may be of use). That said as with all optics the only true test is to try it for yourself (just make sure you have other scopes available to compare it to).

Hope that helped (sorry it was so long) feel free to ask if you have any specific questions.

Peter

[rog8811]

Well at least I now know that one person out there knows the scope! Did you ever try the idea of mounting a digi camera on one eye piece and spotting through the other?

Regards Roger

[postcardcv]

No - though I did use the SLR attatchment that was available - however the results were disapointing to say the least (images came out very dark - the scopes light gathering was poor).
I would think that having a camera permanantly attatched to one of the eyepieces would make using the other to view through quite difficult.

I would recommend getting the best quality (optically) scope that is within your budget - if the optics aren't up to scratch then your photos will suffer.

[rog8811]

Thanx for that, The Claritas rep came to see me today, I had a good look at the scope and the first thing I found out was that you need to turn the prism housing through 180 deg to swap between eye pieces, this of course makes it difficult to mount a camera permanently to an eye piece, which was my first thought.
I would say that of the scopes I have looked at in this price range (circa £210 with one eye piece) it seemed very nicely made, was well balanced and focus was crisp and easy to set using the camera lens style ring.
As I have seen in other threads, what suits one person may not suit another, but I would say that the Hilkinson is well worth a look if you are looking for a well made budget scope.
......... Now wheres that number for that Optolyth!

Regards Roger