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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Vixen Spotting Scope (1 Viewer)

lmans66

lmans66

Out Birding....
Supporter
United States
Has anyone heard of a how the Vixen Geoma and Geoma II Spotting scopes are? It is funny in that they have been around for years and back in 2008 were rated high for their category by a spotting scope review. B and H sells this line but there are no reviews for this spotting scope. The same with Optics Planet...no reviews.

I find that odd, or...the scope does not sell. This is no cheap scope either as the non HD glass version (82mm) sells for $700 while the ED glass (82mm) scope sells for $1000, so price wise it would appear to have some quality.

Thoughts? jim
 
Thanks....appears to be the first review I have seen and it also appears to be a better than average scope worth the dollars.
 
Just made sure what zoom comes with the scope

The GLH48T zoom is only 38 to 50 afov, wich is very narrow, if it is the standar zoom offered is probably why this scopes are not very popular

The Vixen NLV zoom is the typical 40 to 60 afov but i dont know if it can be fitted on the Geomas scopes.

Seems the scope is ok for visual, maybe not that good for digiscope?

Another review

http://birddigiscoper.blogspot.com.es/2010/08/scope-review-comments.html
 
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Cosme said:
Just made sure what zoom comes with the scope

The GLH48T zoom is only 38 to 50 afov, wich is very narrow, if it is the standar zoom offered is probably why this scopes are not very popular

The Vixen NLV zoom is the typical 40 to 60 afov but i dont know if it can be fitted on the Geomas scopes.

Seems the scope is ok for visual, maybe not that good for digiscope?

Another review

http://birddigiscoper.blogspot.com.es/2010/08/scope-review-comments.html
Click to expand...
I have heard that the zooms that come with the scope are not good for digiscoping... The scope I see at B and H is 21-63mm... so that is fine given the 82mm. One issue I see is that close focus is 49' (pretty far away).... now the intention of the scope is view from afar but at times, a bird does come close and 49' is not 'close focus'

I traded in my Swaro to get some more birding equipment and have about a $1000 left over in my budget so will not be buying any alpha scope, but want a good one. I like the Nikon Prostaff 5.....

ED or not? I know in my own postings I have stated the value of ED glass for digiscoping but the more I look and worked with digiscoping (with my Swaro 80mm) the more I see that 'images' are not going to be great so is there truly any value to ED glass? I am thinking not..... especially with a $600 scope, although by all accounts and the ones I have used in the field, the prostaff non ed model is really good... jim
 
Well, there are some standars on ED glasses ... FPL 53 is very good killing the CA, the FPL 51 or the FK 61 kills almost, but still leave some. Then is more things to care about; light transmision, real aperture, and all the others aberrations.

So ED or not ... i guess cant be answered like that. This remind me to the TV's ... once you pick one labeled as Full HD you think is done and nothing else matters, same with the ED :king:
 
Here is an informal comparison of the Geoma, Vortex and a Zeiss. Interesting....although informal, the last paragraph may sum it up best and make me turn away from the Geoma. I do wish the Vortex were not as long length wise, and they were not a strictly Chinese product. Even though other scopes might be made in China, they at least have someone back in the mother country hinting at quality control.

So.....unless I want to wait for the Zeiss Conquest to come out in Sept or later, it looks like the best option is the Nikon Prostaff 5 as I am not willing to spend Alpha money for a scope although if I had it, I would!
 
lmans,

Not sure if you picked up a scope yet or not but thought I would offer a suggestion....

This past weekend I was at an "Optics Fling" with Time and Optics out in Millersburg Ohio. While I was there I had the opportunity to try out many scopes. One of the models, the Opticron GS 665 ED impressed me enough optically to recommend it. It fits just under your $1000 budget, utilizes ED glass in the design and is made in Japan. The unit I looked at was equipped with their HDF zoom yielding a magnification range of 16-48x. Image quality was very, very good. Excellent CA control, very good apparent sharpness and apparent brightness at all magnifications (of course it was a little dimmer at the high end of the zoom range). Color representation was entirely neutral and colors were very well saturated. I would certainly recommend it.

Wish I would have taken a pic of all the scopes they had lined up side by side out in the viewing area. There must have been 40 or 50 models. Really nice for comparison purposes.

Hope this helps.
 
FrankD said:
lmans,

Not sure if you picked up a scope yet or not but thought I would offer a suggestion....

This past weekend I was at an "Optics Fling" with Time and Optics out in Millersburg Ohio. While I was there I had the opportunity to try out many scopes. One of the models, the Opticron GS 665 ED impressed me enough optically to recommend it. It fits just under your $1000 budget, utilizes ED glass in the design and is made in Japan. The unit I looked at was equipped with their HDF zoom yielding a magnification range of 16-48x. Image quality was very, very good. Excellent CA control, very good apparent sharpness and apparent brightness at all magnifications (of course it was a little dimmer at the high end of the zoom range). Color representation was entirely neutral and colors were very well saturated. I would certainly recommend it.

Wish I would have taken a pic of all the scopes they had lined up side by side out in the viewing area. There must have been 40 or 50 models. Really nice for comparison purposes.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I was just having a conversation here on Bird Forum with the Opticron rep and has me looking at these line of scopes. I am impressed....They are being sold in the nature stores of New Jersey Audubon so if they sell them, the product is 'bird worthy'....I am also very impressed by them but am looking at the 80mm model...

i think that Opticron has huge potential here in United States as their later models are very much quality built. They also suffice the need to steer away from the 'made in China' syndrone which I am trying to stay away from. Also, the Alpha scopes are getting way overpriced now. It isn't that I can't spend the dollars for the Alphas but realistically their pricing is 'over the top' now and I am looking for a quality scope that is not over-priced and yet has great optics. Opticron is one of the few that matches my criteria for (a) quality (b) not made in China and (c) price point.

Another one I am considering is the new Meopta S2 80mmHD. This is made in the United States on Long Island. Meopta is a Czechoslovakian company but the ones sold in the States are now made in the States and I like that idea. The price is a bit higher at $2200 so about double but still very highly rated and on a par with the new Swaro optic wise. jim
 
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For what is worth,I did own the Vixen Geoma ED 80 with an array of eyepieces including the zoom ,that by the way is an adapted version of the original Vixen LV 8-24.It is standard in terms of field of view for its class,..typical 42-60 afov,and is not bad at all for digiscoping....This same Zoom,since Opticron has been brought to the conversation,is sold by Opticron for their scopes ,and I think they call it the HGL...The vixen Geoma ED was a more than decent scope,definitely bird worthy ,and I put it on par with the Pentax PF ,i would say in the mid of the road ,..I would not pay more than 400 dollars,as a mather of fact i would not buy another after having used the Celestron regal for a fraction of the retail price of the scope.
...You are considering the Meopta and that is already a top contender ,no comparison with the Vixen lines or the Opticron offerings ,but as you have noticed,at a higher price...For those 1000 dollars that you mentioned ,and that i would not pay for the geoma "ni harto vino" (as we say in spain,meaning drunk)you might come close to the new Nikon Monarch scopes ,that is if they get release soon,and that many expect with anticipation,.That seems much more exciting an offer than the GS 65 ED,specially now that Opticron has relegated the small brother,once the tiny great hope,to second in class with the introduction of the MMIII
 
The Vixen (Geoma's) lack a presence on this forum and they even lack basic consumer reviews, making it hard to put down money on an unknown product. I know that the new Vixens 80HD are selling for $1000.

Given that...I would sooner spend my money on a product such as Opticron or Meopta that have been reviewed and given approval by many consumers.

I have looked at the new Nikon Monarchs...they are solid. So it comes down to whether I want to spend $1000 USD on an Opticron or double that and purchase either the Meopta or the Nikon Monarch scope, both of which rival the Alphas at half the cost. I see those as my only options as Swaro, Leica, Kowa and Zeiss are now overpriced/ over valued....and the remaining brands are all made in China which offer a high degree of 'lack of quality control'.
 
The Monarch is priced right,the 82 module goes for 1200 dollars and 350 for the prism...the wide zoom goes for 500 ,yes,but Any inexpensive astronomy eyepiece would do in the event that a person decides to purchase the system and upgrade eyepiece in a while..now we know that is possible and easy to modify the baader hyperion zoom,and that can be found for a couple hundred..And then the older nikon fieldscopes used or heavily discounted that can be found all over the place..right now there is an 82 angled with zoom and 30ds for one grand on astromart...that is just ridiculous for such scope..heck i know the seller, i might call him right away-----
 
mayoayo said:
The Monarch is priced right,the 82 module goes for 1200 dollars and 350 for the prism...the wide zoom goes for 500 ,yes,but Any inexpensive astronomy eyepiece would do in the event that a person decides to purchase the system and upgrade eyepiece in a while..now we know that is possible and easy to modify the baader hyperion zoom,and that can be found for a couple hundred..And then the older nikon fieldscopes used or heavily discounted that can be found all over the place..right now there is an 82 angled with zoom and 30ds for one grand on astromart...that is just ridiculous for such scope..heck i know the seller, i might call him right away-----
Click to expand...

That one sold, did you buy it? CONUS only
 
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