Posting of Questions for Bird Fair Attendees (1 Viewer)

Bird Fair is probably the premier binocular event of the year and it is happening this weekend in jolly olde England.

http://www.birdfair.org.uk/

Just about every major binocular and scope vendor will be there with demo products and factory reps to answer questions. Many, including me, would love to attend, but that is not going to happen. However several forum members have said they will be there.

The purpose of this thread is for us who are not attending to have a place to post questions and requests to those that are attending and hopefully they can follow-up with the factory reps and report back.

(Some questions have already been posted on the Zeiss Forum in regards to the new SF model.)

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Number one on my list is to ask the Nikon Reps what is going on with the Nikon Monarch 7 8X30 / 10X30 in regards to the glare issues reported by several members. (Mike F. of Nikon was going to check on this issue, but apparently he now has a different position with Nikon and never came back to the thread or responded to personal messages.)

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=277482

- Does Nikon acknowledge that there is an issue?
- Will they fix it under warranty?
- Has it been fixed for current production?
- Does the demo have the unpainted ring mentioned in the threads?
- Does the demo show the exit pupil reflections as seen in the thread pictures?
- Is the model being discontinued as rumored in one of the threads?
- Try a side by side comparison with a Nikon EDG pointed in the general direction of the sun (but not at it) looking at a dark subject to see if it is clouded with a somewhat visible fog or haze over the image. The problem can be subtle but does show up in a side by side with a binocular that handles the situation.

If anyone is able to get some info from Nikon, it would be best to report it in the thread linked above.

I would definitely appreciate reading anything some of you can find out from Nikon and what you concluded from viewing the demo. Thanks!

Bruce, thanks for posting this... I'm also very curious as to what Nikon's response is on this issue. I definitely support and back Nikon but it was rather shocking to see this on their 'flagship' consumer product.

Bruce,

I expect Zeiss will take up a good part of the day but I should get be able to get round most of the other stands during the day. I'll see what I can do with the Nikon but they have not been particularly obliging in the past. Others I've got on the list are the new Meopta Meopro, Minox BD HD, Vanguard Endeavour MkII, Hawke Frontier ED 8x32 and Viking EDs. Are there any other new models I've forgotten?

David

Can you check out the Opticron MM 3 60mm too David?

Thanks.

There's a new MM3 60mm? Seen nothing on Opticron's website but I'll certainly have a look.

David

Yes David - the MM3 60 will be there.

We also hope to have some new iPhone adaptors on show on Saturday and Sunday (delivery arriving tomorrow... doh!).

If you are there on Saturday, ask for me and I may be able to find a few other new toys for you to look at/through too...

Pete,

Unfortunately I'm only planning for the Friday, but you could always drop new toys off on the way home.

David

Could someone ask a Kowa rep if a replacement for the TSN-883 is coming anytime soon?

To add to Henry’s question for Kowa, any plans for an extender like the Leica 1.8x extender or an astro adapter being made available so we can get higher mags on the existing scope (I think I can guess the answer, but...)? :-C

If anyone passes the Canon stand could they ask about the Canon SX60, release date specs etc and will they ever update their Canon IS series of binoculars.

Cheers

Questions noted.

David

Are you there yet David? Any pics to share?

One thing that isn't in abundant supply at Birdfair is internet - neither wifi nor phone connections are reliable or strong... I guess Ospreys don't have smartphones

Hi SEOW,

there are several spotting scopes that can take Astro eyepieces.
Certainly some lower-priced spotting scopes from Optical Vision limited in the UK.
I did think of getting one of these, but never got round to doing so.

There is a beautiful 70 mm mirror spotting scope made by Mirador, which can also take Astro eyepieces, and is actually provided with an alternative Astro eyepiece in 1.25 inch fit. It is provided with a standard 30 times to 120 times zoom eyepiece and gives top-quality images even at 120 times.

Of course the Questar spotting scope takes Astro eyepieces.

I think that there was also perhaps a Zeiss or other top end spotting scope that could take Astro eyepieces, or maybe it was that there was an adapter for the top-quality spotting scope eyepiece to be used on astronomical telescopes.

Another Nikon Question

There are seveal threads asking about the status of the Nikon Monarch Filedscope product line announced August of last year. Adorama is still showing an arrival date of last month and B & H Photo has changed the status to discontinued. Being a year now, I think it is safe to say this was not a very successful product launch.

(David, good luck to you and others in getting some info on the Monarch 7 30mm binocular glare issue. Thanks!)

I can confirm that David is there. Chris Galvin just posted a pic on Facebook showing him trying out their new scope.

Hello Binastro,

Thanks for the info- had not heard of the Mirador.

My question for Kowa above is mainly predicated on the fact that I now own the Kowa TSN-883, and would love to be able to push this fine scope a bit higher in magnification, as it is clearly capable of showing more detail at higher mags (holding the Bushnell 2.5x doubler to the eyepiece I was able to confirm that pushing the mag even from 90x to 100x shows me a little more detail in good light- but the field of view using this doubler is quite small, & I would imagine a Kowa-designed extender, or just a good astro eyepiece, would give a brighter & more contrasty view at these magnifications, as well as a bigger field).

Thanks in advance to anyone at Birdfair who might get a chance to ask this of the Kowa people (any possible astro adapter or extender plans).


Cheers,

SEOW

. I have on occasion just held Astro eyepieces behind a spotting scope without its normal eyepiece to get higher magnifications. This is at night and probably would not work properly in the daytime because of stray light overwhelming the view. But you could make your own tube or shroud to prevent this stray light interfering.
This is where the old 24.5 mm or 0.965 inch eyepieces come into their own, as they usually fit even narrow eyepiece barrels.
I keep a complete set of 0.965 inch Orthoscopic eyepieces and other types for this purpose.

Even with 1.25 inch fit eyepieces one can usually unscrew the front barrel if it gets in the way and use these also.
What would probably work well is if one had a dead Kowa eyepiece, i.e. faulty or broken, and remove the glass and then just fit an Astro eyepiece.

Kowa might not approve, but you're not interfering with the spotting scope, although of course it won't be waterproof using this setup.
If the body has a back cap one might be able to adapt this to take all manner of eyepieces.

The Pentax 500 mirror spotting scope is particularly adaptable, although this is not a high quality spotting scope.
It has, however, a good quality 45° back which fits any T2 Mount mirror lens or other lens or telescope. Using 0.965 inch eyepieces you can just leave them loose in the barrel and they work well. You just have to make sure that you don't tilt the telescope to more than, say, 40° elevation so the eyepiece doesn't fall out.

. Dear SEOW,
Unfortunately I don't have access to a TSN-883 spotting scope and I have not looked up the specifications.
However, I have the details of the older Leica Apo Televid 77.
This has a focal length of 440 mm and works at F/5.7.
The 20-60 times eyepiece has a focal length of 22 mm-7.4 mm.
The field is 2° at 20 times and 1.2° at 60 times.

If I was going to use the Leica spotting scope for viewing the planets I would try a 4 mm orthoscopic eyepiece giving 110 times and a 3 mm Clave eyepiece giving 145 times. If these worked I would get an adapter made.
I understand that many people would be reluctant to do this.
For terrestrial use a 5 mm eyepiece would give 85 times or 90 times depending on the exact focal length of the eyepiece, which are often slightly different to the focal length marked.

I don't know the focal length of the TSN-883, but it may be a bit longer than the Leica. So a 5 mm eyepiece might give 90 times or 95 times approximately.

As I don't wear glasses when using telescopes short eye relief is not a problem.
For someone who wears glasses they would need a long eye relief 5 mm eyepiece.

I don't know if the TSN-883 is optically neutral, i.e. that it will work with any good astronomical eyepiece.
It seems that many of the top spotting scopes are neutral because the high quality zoom eyepieces are used on Astro telescopes.
The colour balance may not be quite right even if the TSN-883 is optically neutral when using non-Kowa eyepieces.

There are many very good quality astronomical eyepieces, either narrow angle or wide-angle made by such firms as TeleVue, Pentax, Zeiss, Nikon and others. Also Vixen make some fairly good quality eyepieces with long eye relief.
One would have to try them with the TSN-883 to see if they worked.

Even if you use 1.25 inch eyepieces, they don't actually have the same diameter barrels, so you may have to custom make an adapter.
I measured a large quantity of 1.25 inch eyepieces and I was surprised with the variation in actual barrel diameter.
I can't find my results at the moment, but they varied country to country, from different manufacturers, and even from eyepieces from the same manufacturer.
In addition, there is no standard of ovality or tapering. Also if they are chrome plated this can alter the nominal diameter.

I had a very nice conversation with Mr Nagler about this and asked why there is no standard for 1.25 inch eyepieces.
He said that he had tried to establish a standard amongst Manufacturers, but nothing came of this.

So some eyepieces are quite loose in a telescope eyepiece holder, and some will not fit at all.

Also different makers have their own bayonet mounts or screw mounts and it amazes me how the same manufacturer can have very many different fittings for different telescopes.

This, however, is nowhere near as bad as the situation with camera lenses, where there are well over 100 different bayonet and screw fittings. This is mainly deliberate so that you are forced to buy your camera makers own lenses. Some of these bayonet fittings are so obscure that I have not been able to identify them even with the help of expert friends. We have probably identified about 80% of these different fittings, which stretched back more than 100 years.

Hopefully, Kowa will supply a 1.5 times Barlow or extender or maybe an Astro eyepiece adapter.

I think that these top makers are reluctant to go to higher magnifications than the normal 60 times for 70 times, because, although they may seem to be perfect of these magnifications, when pushed to 90 times for 100 times the slight optical imperfections begin to be seen.
In addition, the variation between different samples of the same top telescopes, begin to be seen. So you may find that some examples are better at 100 times than others.

When testing at these higher magnifications, the temperature stability of the telescope also comes into play, in addition to optical quality. And of course the atmospheric turbulence and lighting changes giving different results.

BruceH said:

There are seveal threads asking about the status of the Nikon Monarch Filedscope product line announced August of last year. Adorama is still showing an arrival date of last month and B & H Photo has changed the status to discontinued. Being a year now, I think it is safe to say this was not a very successful product launch.

(David, good luck to you and others in getting some info on the Monarch 7 30mm binocular glare issue. Thanks!)

Click to expand...

bump..

where is the nikon monarch fieldscopes?

:smoke: