Fieldscope III/IIIA/IIIED/IIIEDA 60 mm

Fieldscope III/IIIA/IIIED/IIIEDA 60 mm

Features: Nikon's Fieldscope line of spotting scopes are premium offerings to compete with the best of sports optics manufactured in Japan or Europe. You choose your options based on concerns for mass and budget: straight or angled, 60, 78 or 82m objective diameter and whether to spring for the ED (extra-low dispersion) glass for more favorable appreciation of highly detailed subjects.

Specifications: Objective Diameter 60mm Minimum Focus Distance 16.4' (5.0 m) Weatherproofing Waterproof Dimensions 11.5 x 3.7" (291 x 94mm) WxH Weight 2.66 lb (1180 g)

Selection of at least 5 eyepieces. Available Eyepieces 24xWA 30xWA 40xWA 60xWA 20-45x 20-60x Eye Relief (mm) 16 10 17 17 15-13 13.4-12.5 FOV at 1000 yds. 126 ft. 115 ft. 105 ft. 73 ft. 105-55 ft

Content and images originally posted by Pluvialis

Reviews

rb_stern's review

I have had my Fieldscope now for about 3 years. I have the angled eyepiece model with --ED glass, and the 20X, and the 30XWA eyepieces. It's light and easy to carry on a medium Bogen tripod, and I like the big focus ring around the center of the scope body - easy to use with heavy gloves in winter. For the last 2 years I have used it for all my digiscoping as well as birding, and have no problems. I notice that some of the pics posted with bigger scopes (Swaro 80 etc.) appear a bit brighter and sharper, but that may be technique or camera work rather than the scope. I have looked through other birders' Swaro and Leica scopes costing more, and I think my Fieldscope holds up with the best - at least at 20 and 30X. I'm not so sure about higher powers, but I hardly ever find them any good, as they magnify haze and shake more than the bird. So far it has proved robust and has held up well to lying in the back of my car on bumpy dirt roads, airline checked and carry-on baggage, and being carted around in rain, snow and heat. I would have no problem in recommending it.

Pros

• High quality image
• light weight
• big focussing ring for Canadian winter gloves

Cons

• 60mm. objective
• so perhaps slight loss of brightness compared to bigger scopes

Chris Ellison's review

What immediately impressed me about this particular product is the quality of construction. Perhaps my experience is limited, but I have found it to be increasingly diffficult to find a smaller scope that is manufactured with a solid metal housing that protects the instrument against the inevitable knocks and dings that come with determined birding. To my knowledge, the Nikon Fieldscope uses aluminum for this purpose. Astonishingly lightweight, I mounted it with breathtaking ease on a Celestron Bush Hawk shoulder mount, outfitted with a 20x eyepiece. Using the instrument configured in this fashion furnished incomparable views of migrating hawks at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania in the fall of 2002. The rapid focusing afforded by the helical collar mechanism allowed for easy transitioning from raptors close by to "ozone birds" at the limits of observation. The sunshade is effective and glass-smooth in operation.

The eyepieces are readily installed and removed. The 24X WA eyepiece is exceptionally useful for glassing huge flocks of shorebirds and singling out individual birds for closer scrutiny. Eye relief for this eyepiece is superlative, and adjusts easily with a quick counterclockwise turn of the eyepiece housing.

Easily removed, the case supplied with this instrument is well thought out, allowing quick access to the scope's vital areas. Fitted with a standard Bogen 1/4 inch quick release plate and mounted on a Bogen 3130 tripod head, the scope effortlessly moves from the mounted to the unattached position. The cord-locked elastic gathering at the base of the mounting allowing good visibility while executing this maneuver, as there is no fabric to bunch up and impede your efforts. It offers substantial protection of your investment, especially if your scope accidentally blows over in a high wind!

Pros

• Superb eyepieces
• rapid yet precise focusing ability

Cons

• None!

Harvey Kendall's review

A great lightweight and robuast'scope -I've twice dropped it with no harm done!. The angled version is comfortable to use and with the 30X ww eyepiece produces an unrivalled image. Focusing is smooth and fast with the all-round ring. The zoom eyepiece is excellent for seawatching

Pros

• Robust
• lightweight and brilliant image

Cons

• none

FalconBirder's review

I\'ve been using Nikon\'s EDIIA and EDIIIA Fieldscopes for more than a decade. It\'s a truly fabulous piece of kit - superb image quality, robust, compact, lightweight and 100% reliable.

Annually, I attend the UK BirdFair to check out the alternatives and so far I\'ve not found anything that can match the fully waterproof Nikon EDIIIA.

One of the best things about it is the fact that its compact, which means that I carry it with me almost all the time - and for me that\'s a good test for any piece of kit.

I could recount literally hundreds of occasions when I\'ve been using my Fieldscope and someone has come along and has looked through it. Each one has been impressed by the clarity, contrast and sharpness of the image. Then they\'ve told me that they own a Leica or Zeiss or whatever but they\'ve left it in the car or at home because it\'s so big and heavy! What\'s the point of that?

Equally, I\'m completely mystified by people lugging around a tripod and scope fitted with just a 30x magnification eyepiece. Why I ask myself?

The Nikon Fieldscope offers a 20x-60x zoom eyepiece which gives supreme performance. I use my scope several times a week, sometimes for many hours at a time, and I find that I\'m continuously zooming in and out depending upon what I\'m looking at, the light conditions and what I\'m trying to make out.

Don\'t believe the product reviews that tell you zooms don\'t match the performance of fixed magnification eyepieces. Why? Two reasons:

1) The differences may be picked up by an optical test bench but they are so subtle that they are far beyond the resolution abilities of the human eye; and,

2) Using a zoom can save you many, many hours of wasted time and effort! Frequently, one can pick up an interesting looking distant bird in binoculars which even at 30x still appears worth a closer view, so you trog off to get closer only to find that it\'s not what it appeared. A zoom eyepiece literally DOUBLES your chances of avoiding wasted time and effort.

Incidentally, the zoom works well for digiscoping too. I\'ve been very pleased with the results and have has several of my images published.

In summary, the Nikon Fieldscope EDIIA/IIIA is fabulous and will enhance both your identification abilities and your appreciation of the natural world immensely!

Go for it - I\'m confident you wont be disappointed.

FalconBirder

PS. I have no connection whatsoever with Nikon but perhaps I should apply for a job in their sales department?

Pros

• Superb image quality
• robust
• compact
• lightweight and 100% reliable.

Cons

• None really - except an eyepiece that zooms to 80x mag!