Celestron Regal 80F-ED stay-on case (1 Viewer)

I love my Celestron Regal 80F-ED scope but I'd love it even more if I could get a stay-on case for it. A hearty Googling hasn't thrown up much of any use. Can anyone here recommend anything?

I can find 3rd party universal cases for 100m scopes but not 80mm.

Opticron et al do a variety of cases. Would any of them fit?

Mathare,

I hope someone else comes along that has a more definitive answer for you.

All I can say is that I did own an F-ED 80 mm at one point. I have also used several of the Opticron spotting scopes. The Opticron ES 80 ED is fairly long for an 80 mm scope and so is the Regal F-ED. Not sure about the location of the focusing knob flap, tripod mounting shoe flap, etc... You could probably do a visual comparison between the two scopes in pics but might end up disappointed regardless.

What you would probably need to find is a retailer that handled both the Celestron and the Opticron line of products and then ask them to do a physical comparison with the Opticron case and the Celestron scope. I know of two on my side of the pond but can't really suggest anything over in your neck of the woods.

Thanks Frank.

I tried eyeballing images of various Opticron 80mm scopes online last night and the different models have the focus knobs in different places so across the range of Opticron cases I may find one that fits - or I may not, it's hard to tell from the images I've seen. The flaps look a reasonable size so finding one where the focus knobs are in the right sort of ballpark may be enough but it's not something I'd leap into without physcially trying an Opticron case on my scope, as you suggest. I'm hoping to go to London Wetland Centre over the Easter weekend and will have my scope with me (obviously) so will see if the optics store there have the Opticron cases in stock for me to try. They don't do the Celestron scope though so I can't really enquire with them over the phone.

I'll also have a Google around and see if I can find anywhere that stocks both the Celestron scope and Opticron cases to see if they can measure up for me.

I've emailed Celestron customer support (I did that yesterday before posting on here) but so far nothing back. No sign of any cases on their website though, which is a shame. It seems like a real oversight. As rugged and weathertight as the scope may be a stay-on case really helps, in my opinion. I have a carrying case that came with the Celestron 80mm but it's so tight it takes me around 5mins to get the scope in/out of the case, which is no good. So often the scope is in my bag banging around with the tripod etc and is getting slightly marked on the outer casing. It won't affect performance but I'd like to keep the scope looking nice.

Thanks again!
Mat

mathare said:

Thanks Frank.

...

I've emailed Celestron customer support (I did that yesterday before posting on here) but so far nothing back. No sign of any cases on their website though, which is a shame. It seems like a real oversight. As rugged and weathertight as the scope may be a stay-on case really helps, in my opinion. I have a carrying case that came with the Celestron 80mm but it's so tight it takes me around 5mins to get the scope in/out of the case, which is no good. So often the scope is in my bag banging around with the tripod etc and is getting slightly marked on the outer casing. It won't affect performance but I'd like to keep the scope looking nice.

Thanks again!
Mat

Click to expand...

Celestron has a revised case for the Regal 80mm. It looks the same as the original but it's bigger (especially objective end diameter) so you can actually get it on and off the scope. It works as a stay on case, but as you know it's not a particularly sophisticated design. You basically peel back about half of it from the eyepiece forward.

I'd check back on the email. When I asked Celestron for the updated version they sent me one pronto, and free of charge.

As for any alternatives, I can't help you there.

Mark

I'd settle for a Celestron case that fitted, for sure. I only bought my scope a few months back so either the retailer is still shipping old stock (perfectly possible) or the revised case is fairly new, if not globally then to the UK.

As you say, Mark, it's not a great design but it does a job I guess. I'm more bothered about the scope casing getting scratched in my bag than actually wanting a weatherproof case for the scope. But given how tight my case is on the scope I can't be bothered with it when I do pack the scope away in my rucksack alongside my tripod and hide clamp. Plus it can be kinda embarrassing when you get to the first hide of the day, spot something interesting and it takes over 5 minutes to get the scope out and set up. Inevitably the bird has flown by that point and I get tutted at (if not actually tutted at then it certainly feels like I have been).

I'll hold out for the reply from Celestron then.

mathare said:

...
Plus it can be kinda embarrassing when you get to the first hide of the day, spot something interesting and it takes over 5 minutes to get the scope out and set up. Inevitably the bird has flown by that point and I get tutted at (if not actually tutted at then it certainly feels like I have been).

I'll hold out for the reply from Celestron then.

Click to expand...

I can picture that. Felt that way myself. :-O

mathare said:

I'm hoping to go to London Wetland Centre over the Easter weekend and will have my scope with me (obviously) so will see if the optics store there have the Opticron cases in stock for me to try.

Click to expand...

I popped into In Focus at London WWT yesterday and had a chat with a lovely fella there who gave me some great advice - forget about stay-on cases!

We looked at a couple of Opticron cases, neither of which really fitted - one had the focus knob flap in slightly the wrong case, the other was too short and had the focus knob flap in the wrong place. Well not, the wrong place per se, just not somewhere where I could actually use the focus wheels.

Then the nice fella showed me a handy feature of my scope I had ignored up to that point - body rotation. Put a stay-on case on the scope and you lose that rather nifty little feature. The scope gets a little knocked about in my rucksack so the chap gave me a bit of packing material to put round it, just to cushion it a little. It'll do the job nicely and saved me over £50 too!

Oh, and Celestron emailed me back and said, rather curtly in my opinion, that they don't make cases and to try CasesAndCovers, which I did but they seem to do cases for Celestron (astral) telescopes rather than spotting scopes also.

All in all a happy conclusion though.

Celestron Stay on Case

Just sharing some info , I posted.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=250239&page=4

" The original Carrying case ( Grn ) didn't properly fit. I called tech support & they sent me a slightly larger one (Blk ).




I wasn't satisfied with the " Black Carrying " case, which didn't have much padding, and wasn't designed to keep on for protection while in use.


So, I ordered a " Better " carrying case, that fits, with more padding & velcro tabs.


Velcro tabs near eyepiece, and Objective, to keep case material open & folded over, while in use.



Creedmoor Sports, Spotting Scope Covers
https://www.creedmoorsports.com/shop/Creedmoor_Spotting_Scope_Cover.html

" Don't see your scope? Please choose "other" and add a note at checkout with information about your scope. We'll need the length, brand, type, angled or straight and objective lens to help us. We have several patterns and most scopes will fit in one of the covers we make. (Note: 100mm scope covers are $5 additional) "

"