Astro Eyepieces on spotting scopes? (1 Viewer)

Thanks both Joachim and Ron, food for thought. The scope in the link from Joachim went for a lot more than I paid, accepted though it is a flourite one. My scope was about £200 complete with stay on cover, 20x and 30x EPs and a good tripod, so I can probably hope to nearly get my money back if I sell it. My astro adapter came from Optolyth in Germany, but as you point out, it's no good, as the 1.25" EP nose wont go into the scope, I guess the adapter is made for the latest Optolyth scopes, but it is definitely sold described as an astro adapter for Optolyth scopes. I will probably hang on to the scope a while unless I happen to spot a bargain, but will sell the 22-60x zoom. I am loath to mess with the opticron EP as it is a good quality EP, but I have a Celestron 20-60x EP that only cost me £29 so I might experiment by cutting back the nose on that, it should fit nice in the adapter then as long as I dont damage the moving element and ruin it. If it works and I find that is a bit of an improvement on the 22-60x EP then I might invest in higher quality EP, but if still poor it will likely be another scope later in the year. The Opticron HR80ED looks a good option. Thanks again.

Ben

Joachim, you mention the Swaro ATX, I was looking at those yesterday, only in envy though, as £2.5K + is too much for me, unless a premium bond comes up !!

Yes it would have been nice to have kept the Opto and had a play around with the Opticron and the Opto with the SDLv2, like you say a much fairer comparison. The Kowa is a really nice scope though, and the more you looked through it, the better it got. Although you can see the difference between scopes when going from one to the next, I think it takes some time with the scope the appreciate it.
If I had more time on my hands and I was using using a scope enough I would get a Kowa 883/4.
Anyway, once you're out there in good light looking at the birds in all their glory you forget what you're looking through and focus on what you're looking at.
Up until joining this forum I never gave optics a second thought, they were just tools do a job. And despite there age they, still do a pretty good job.

Ron

Bencw,
you don't have to modify the SDLv2 in anyway. You just need two or three O ring, the EPs is untouched.
Or you can wrap some insulation tape round it and if you get the thickness right, it screws in.
Works a treat.

Ron

Cheers Ron, I may give it a try, I have my eye on a couple of Opticron scopes, an ES 80 GA and an HR66, prefer 80+ Objective but think the HR66 is possibly a better quality scope, but it's not the latest one, but probably with the SDLv2 EP quite good still?.

I did a comparison with the Optlyth and the ES80ED at Martin Mere WWT. The Opticron had the SDLv" zoom and the Optolyth had the 30xWW. There was very little difference between the two. Certainly not enough for me to trade mine in @ £200 and pay an extra £600. Apart from having the zoom I would be any better off.
I also had an ES80ED and the same time has I had a HR66ED, both current models.

The ES80 was every so slightly brighter, but the contrast was slightly better on the HR66 and to my eyes I could not detect any CA on the HR66. It was only minimal on the ES, and then you have have the right circumstances to see it.
Unfortunately I had sold my Optolyth by this time so I couldn't make a comparison between the three.
I've just found the receipt for the Optolyth. I bought it new in Aug 1992. the scope was £549.00 the 30x EP was £135 and the SOC was 42.00 total £726. Anybody any idea how much that would be today?

I wouldn't rush into anything, wait till the weather improves and make sure you get a side by side comparison. Memory is a very fickle thing. I don't know how the older HR66 compares with the latest ES80ED, but If I had to choose between the current ES80 and the Current HR66ED I think I would probably go for the HR66ED. It's a close call and the be honest I would be happy with either.


I think I've seen the ones you're looking at, the ES80ED has the HDF zoom, I've also tried this against the SDLv2 on the ES80ED scope. If you google you'll see some people prefer the HDF zoom to the SDLv2 zoom on the ES80. And having tried both on the same scope I can see why, there is nothing to choose between them really. I personally wouldn't pay the extra 100 for the SDL zoom on the ES80ED. If you sold the Optolyth, say £200, got the Opticron for £350. It's only cost you £150 and you have scope that's only a few years old complete with quality zoom.
It's tough at the top. lol

Thanks Ron, seems good advice to wait until spring, I will try, I sometimes get a bit impatient. Handy that you had experience of both Opticrons, thats useful feedback. I may possibly go ahead with selling the Optolyth and EPs and also my Spacemaster, so I have the ammo ready toward what I decide to get. Now, according to this site, purchasing value of £726 from 1992 was in 2014 approx £1342, it only seems to calculate up to 2014 so can probably round up a tad.

https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

DRodrigues said:

Ron,
I'm curious on how do you think the SDLv2 compares to the Baader? I never looked through the SDLv2 but the v1 seemed to have lower AFOVs than the Baader.

Click to expand...

Apologies for not replying sooner, I've only just seen this post.
Yes the Baader does have a wider FoV .
I have both at the moment, the SDLV2 in the HR80 and the Baader Zoom in the Pentax PF65ED.
The Baader is a cracking zoom, it really is pin sharp, sharper that the Pentax XW14 and the same mag 39x. Much narrower FoV though.