Fujinon Super 60 spotting scope uk
Hi,
I agree that the Fujinon scopes are superb. I got a second hand Super 60 in mint condition with the 30xW eyepiece.
Andy is also right that Fujinon scopes are almost impossible to get in the UK. I have only found two suppliers. Monk Optics and River Valley Optics ~(search on google) - you have to email the latter but they seem to be cheaper. They are both outrageously expensive compared to US prices. For example an eyepice that costs $159 (£85) from Adorama (superb US site) costs £180 in the UK ($333)!!! I'm a keen photographer (Digital SLR etc) and notice optical quality. The Super 60 is superb and easily outperforms the Opticron HR series with the HDF 25x eyepiece. The Super 60 is very bright and very light, but the Super 60 with non ED glass, does suffer slightly from chromatic aberration (purple fringing) when viewing a backlit rook (or similar) against white clouds (or similar) if you're eye isn't perfectly centred. This is rarely a problem as looking at backlit rooks against a bright cloudy sky is for the birds! Sorry - I'm new and had to use that joke once. I doubt a UD or even an ED glass scope would be completely CA free under those conditions.
The Super 60 with the 30xW eyepiece can easily show the rings of Saturn even from my house in central London (with the huge light pollution and orange sky!).
I would love to see the Super 80 ED in action. I've been looking for a 50x eyepiece second hand for a while. If anyone has or sees a used Fujinon 50x eyepiece going, whether in the uk, or abroad, please let me know. I wasn't born yesterday so don't bother trying a scam!
I think Fujinon Scopes aren't talked about, used, reviewed or marketed more, simply due to terrible marketing and distrubution outside the far east (certainly in Europe and it seems the same in the US). This may be due in part to some sort of import situation which makes them so expensive few people bother to carry them. This is pure speculation on my part, but I really can't think of another reason. They are a truely excellent alternative.
Fujifilm who make Fujinon products (Fujinon is the name of their specialit optics devision) are a HUGE company with a long history and far greater knowledge of professional optical products than almost all their competitors. Therefore, the quality of the scope should not be any surprise. I NEVER see Fujinon marketed anywhere for anything, so it may just be that FUJI are so big that they have focussed their attention on more important mainstream areas of their business, leaving the more specialised Fujinon products by the wayside.
If you want to get technical, there is one other problem with the Fujinon scope. It is a problem shared with many other scopes. It's a simple problem with a simple solution. The problem is, that the Fujinon bayonet (like many other manufacturers' bayonet eyepiece mounts) means that you can't use standard 1.25" astronomical telescope eyepieces on the scopes. As you will be aware
, to find the magnification of a telescope eyepiece on your spotting scope is easy. Simply divide the focal length of your scope by the "mm" of the eyepiece. Thus an 18mm telescope eyepiece on your Super 60 (850mm focal length) is 850/18 = 47x. Unfortunately, as I've just said, this is impossible because Fujinon use a daft bayonet - like many scope manufacturers.
If an 18mm astronomical eyepiece would fit my scope, I could have a superb 47x eyepiece (or any other magnification for that matter) for my scope for about £20 second hand.
I recommend anyone buying a new scope to get one which accepts any 1.25" telescope eyepiece. That way you will get top quality eyepiece optics for your scope easily and cheaply new. Or, if you are happy with second hand, you'll be able to get an excellent eyepiece on the web for about £20, rather than the £100+ the scope manufacturers want us to pay for the same thing with their name and a bayonet on it. Also, by getting a scope that accepts any 1.25" astronomical telescope eyepiece means that you have a choice of HUNDREDS of magnifications accross many price ranges rather than a total three or four eyepieces (at massive premiums for that restrictive bayonet). That's my rant over! - Almost.
Please put some pressure on those manufacturers by voting with your feet!!! If you're buying new, get a new scope which accept any 1.25" eyepiece. This will help you straight away and us all in the long run. Be aware that lots of telescope eyepieces reverse the image (up - down, left- right, or both). DONT WORRY - There are also plenty which don't - check before you buy your eyepiece.
As you can see, if our combined pressure had made spotting scope manufacturers sit up, I wouldn't still be looking for a 50x eyepiece and you all would have several hundred quid more in your pocket, or a sack full of eyepieces, a big smile and a bit left over for a present for the Mrs.
Hey, this has given me a brilliant idea! I'll write to Sigma Corp (huge manufacturer of camera lense to fit all cameras) and suggest they make third party scope eyepieces to fit all scopes and undercut the manufacturers! Why don't you do it too? It can't do you any harm!
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/
Best regards,
GBM