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Opticron ES80 or GS815 Which is the better or are they the same ? (1 Viewer)

smoothhound2000

smoothhound2000

Active member
The Opticron GS815 GA ED or the Opticron ES80 GA ED. Is there any difference between these two scopes or are the just the same in quality and brightness, apart from the casing material of the scope the only thing i can see is that one has 815 diameter and the other has 800 diameter glass. They are both the same price aswell....... Which is the better scope or preferred scope? :t:
 
The essential differences are as follows:

Weight - the GS815 is slightly lighter
Construction - the ES80 is considered to be somewhat more robust. The lighter weight of the GS815 is down to the use of polycarbonate in the body
Focussing - the GS815 has a dual speed focus knob, ES80 is single speed

In terms of optical performance, the ES80 probably has a slight edge in terms of resolution but there really is little to choose between them. It would be best to try them side by side with the same eyepiece(s) to see if there's something you find more comfortable about one or the other.

Cheers, Pete
 
pete_gamby said:
In terms of optical performance, the ES80 probably has a slight edge in terms of resolution but there really is little to choose between them. It would be best to try them side by side with the same eyepiece(s) to see if there's something you find more comfortable about one or the other.

Cheers, Pete
Click to expand...

Thanks pete, i thought nobody was going to reply. I just spoke to a wonderful lady this morning at opticron and she explained everything i needed to know between the two models and her personal opinion was to go for the ES80 V3 over the GS815 scope as the view is slightly better, but i will try this out for myself this weekend. I also tried the Viking AV 80ed against the Opticron es80 ed v2 model this morning and i was surprised but there was a big difference between the two. The image was much better on the opticron, sharper and lighter but the eye relief was huge on the viking. Both had zoomed lenses, the opticron with the lower HR 20-60 zoom and the viking with the standard zoom eye piece.

But what nearly tempted me was the price of the viking being only £599 with eyepiece and cover aswell..... wow:eek!:
 
smoothhound2000 said:
Thanks pete, i thought nobody was going to reply. I just spoke to a wonderful lady this morning at opticron and she explained everything i needed to know between the two models and her personal opinion was to go for the ES80 V3 over the GS815 scope as the view is slightly better, but i will try this out for myself this weekend. I also tried the Viking AV 80ed against the Opticron es80 ed v2 model this morning and i was surprised but there was a big difference between the two. The image was much better on the opticron, sharper and lighter but the eye relief was huge on the viking. Both had zoomed lenses, the opticron with the lower HR 20-60 zoom and the viking with the standard zoom eye piece.

But what nearly tempted me was the price of the viking being only £599 with eyepiece and cover aswell..... wow:eek!:
Click to expand...

Hi smoothhound,

If you try the Es 80 ED with the HDF T Zoom you will notice a big improvement in eyerelief and it will optically be much better too.

Cheers

Rob

B :)
 
I took the jump and bought the ES80 ED with the SDLv2 lens last week and still cannot get over how fantastic and clear it is especially being a zoom lens. It's a fair bit more than the HDF, but is not only clearer but also waterproof, so no weak links when paired with the scope.
I'd certainly recommend comparing the 2 if you can. I wear glasses and found the SDL lens easier for me, but that could just be me.
I also intend to digiscope, and both opticron and swoptics recommended the SDL for that.
 
Great guys thanks, Im off to test the two this weekend against one another. Looks like ill be getting the ES v3 model though after this morings quick test with the older v2, very impressed and the v3 must be better.B :)
 
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