looksharp65
Well-known member
Just what it sounds like, conspicuous consumption you think. I'ts not the first time I'm taking this route of thought. Last time, it ended more or less nowhere.
I'm again looking at potential bargains among ordinary spotters so I can take my ED50A home from work to keep another scope there, with which I can go directly and unplanned from work to the reserve any evening.
Not so keen on touting around the big scope from home to work and back every single day (I ride the bike), but without a scope there I may certainly miss a more than few rare birds. The ED50A is really fine during daytime, but I work quite late and I decided I'm up for a 70-80 mm scope.
Used to think about the EDIIIA, and I have a 30x eyepiece, but the exit pupil and the magnification are only marginally more than the ED50A with 27x.
An ED78A or ED82A (although a bit unimaginative to have two copies) would probably be the best alternative since I love the wide, bright view the fixed Nikon eyepieces provide, and 38x Wide is just about perfect for it.
I feel they are a bit steep in the pricing, although I found a straight one fairly cheap.
Furthermore, I'm not so keen on putting big money on a scope I may not even have the possibility to look through before the purchase.
As if that wasn't enough, I remember looking through many fellow birders' scopes wondering how in the world they can accept such a crappy view.
I mean blurred, dim, narrow, colour-skewed or tinted. For real! :eek!:
Those are scopes like the Diascope 85, Kowa TSN series, Kowa 883, Swaro AT80, Optolyth 80 mm, a newer Swaro, Vortex Razor and more.
The only scopes I recognise being immediately perfect are the newer Swaros 80 and 95 mm.
Let's suppose I find a cheap Optolyth 80 mm fluorite scope, older version with the 22-60 zoom or its Kowa equivalent. Do scopes deteriorate with time with regards to colour and brightness?
Is it still possible to make bargains?
Buying factory-new scopes, cheap or expensive, is out of the question.
My pain threshold is somewhere in the €450 region depending on how much a bargain the thing is. There's a multitude of scopes around €1000 that don't interest me. Feel free to comment.
//L
I'm again looking at potential bargains among ordinary spotters so I can take my ED50A home from work to keep another scope there, with which I can go directly and unplanned from work to the reserve any evening.
Not so keen on touting around the big scope from home to work and back every single day (I ride the bike), but without a scope there I may certainly miss a more than few rare birds. The ED50A is really fine during daytime, but I work quite late and I decided I'm up for a 70-80 mm scope.
Used to think about the EDIIIA, and I have a 30x eyepiece, but the exit pupil and the magnification are only marginally more than the ED50A with 27x.
An ED78A or ED82A (although a bit unimaginative to have two copies) would probably be the best alternative since I love the wide, bright view the fixed Nikon eyepieces provide, and 38x Wide is just about perfect for it.
I feel they are a bit steep in the pricing, although I found a straight one fairly cheap.
Furthermore, I'm not so keen on putting big money on a scope I may not even have the possibility to look through before the purchase.
As if that wasn't enough, I remember looking through many fellow birders' scopes wondering how in the world they can accept such a crappy view.
I mean blurred, dim, narrow, colour-skewed or tinted. For real! :eek!:
Those are scopes like the Diascope 85, Kowa TSN series, Kowa 883, Swaro AT80, Optolyth 80 mm, a newer Swaro, Vortex Razor and more.
The only scopes I recognise being immediately perfect are the newer Swaros 80 and 95 mm.
Let's suppose I find a cheap Optolyth 80 mm fluorite scope, older version with the 22-60 zoom or its Kowa equivalent. Do scopes deteriorate with time with regards to colour and brightness?
Is it still possible to make bargains?
Buying factory-new scopes, cheap or expensive, is out of the question.
My pain threshold is somewhere in the €450 region depending on how much a bargain the thing is. There's a multitude of scopes around €1000 that don't interest me. Feel free to comment.
//L
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