Should I replace MCII zoom on Fieldscope ED III? If so, from where? (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

I just picked up a Fieldscope ED III with the 20-60x MCII zoom and am loving it, but I've heard this scope is even better with a fixed ep. Is the improvement primarily greater field of view or is the scope sharper and/or brighter? The eyepieces I'm reading about are the 24x DS, the 30x MC, and the 40x DS.

I've found the 24x DS for sale on one site but can't find any sign of the 30x MC. Not sure about the 40x DS. Any suggestions on where to buy these? Seems like these eyepieces are discontinued. Is it just a matter of watching auction sites?

Thanks for any help.

Waterwagen,

The improvements you'll get with a fixed ep are greater field of view and greater eye-relief. Contrary to what many here on the forums say, the wide-angle eyepieces do not provide better sharpness or a factually brighter image. The light transmission of the MC II zoom is just as good as that of the wides, and with any and all of these eyepieces, the limiting factor for sharpness will be the scope itself, not the eyepiece.

There are two factors, though, that explain the impression some people have of the wides being sharper/brighter. For comparing apparent sharpness, you must compare with exactly the same magnification, as it is often the scope and not your eye that limits sharpness. Therefore, the higher the magnification, the less sharp will the image appear, and so a 24x wide will look sharper than the zoom at 30-60x even though the zoom will show you smaller detail. As for brightness, since the zoom has so much narrower field of view, its view lacks the wide edges which, of course, bring a lot of light to the eye, only that light comes from objects off centre, not from the main object of interest you may be looking at. So, even though with the zoom the field center is just as bright (again, providing you have set it to the same magnification) as in the wide ep, you eye is overall taking in more light from the wider image, and your brain perceives the image as being brighter. You can test this effect by viewing a scenery with one eye, alternately through a kitchen towel roll and without.

If I were you, I'd get the 24x DS as an ideal complement to the zoom, but not to replace it, since the 24x will have a fabulously wide field of view and be very pleasant to use. The zoom will give you significantly more extra reach when needed. The other fixed ep's I'd skip.

Kimmo

Thanks Kimmo! That's very helpful. I'm surprised at how usable the FS III is at 60x with the zoom, so that seems like a good combo of eps.

I agree with what Kimmo said in his post, and would keep the MCII. On the other hand, I do not like the DS eyepieces for general use. I much prefer the MC with the twist up eyecups. When scanning it is hard for me to keep my eye centered in the DS without the eyecup. I also like the 30x magnification the best, however finding one can be a challenge, but they are still available from Japan.

kbrabble said:

I agree with what Kimmo said in his post, and would keep the MCII. On the other hand, I do not like the DS eyepieces for general use. I much prefer the MC with the twist up eyecups. When scanning it is hard for me to keep my eye centered in the DS without the eyecup. I also like the 30x magnification the best, however finding one can be a challenge, but they are still available from Japan.

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My thought is that this scope would be best at 30x, but that eyepiece does seem to be pretty hard to find.

waterwagen said:

My thought is that this scope would be best at 30x, but that eyepiece does seem to be pretty hard to find.

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Well, actually I find I use the 24x a lot more than the 30x with my EDIII. The thing is I really only use a fixed eyepiece when I want a *really* large field of view, and the 24x is ideal in that situation. In all other situatioins I tend to use the 20-60x zoom. Optically just as good as the fixed eyepieces, like Kimmo said, but with a narrow field of view. Still, I think I use the zoom about 75 percent of the time, and one of the fixed eyepieces 25 percent. With Kimmo's cable tie sight (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=99084&highlight=cable) using the zoom eyepiece isn't really bad at all.

With the ED82 things are a bit different, with the ED82 I almost exclusively use the zoom.

Hermann

waterwagen said:

My thought is that this scope would be best at 30x, but that eyepiece does seem to be pretty hard to find.

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It does seem to be a hard eyepiece to find. I found several listed on amazon for outrageous prices and emailed one of the sellers from Japan about it. I ended up getting it for a decent price that way. I also was able to find it via several Japanese camera stores at decent prices. It just take a bit of searching, and I had the best luck by searching for "20x 30x 38x nikon eyepiece"