Opticron ES80 (1 Viewer)

iebirdie · Sep 19, 2003

In Focus have the Opticron ES80 + 32xW HDF going for £499. Seems to be good value. They are singing its praises as an excellent mid-priced scope. Is it as good as they say ? (Usual disclaimer that I need to go and try it out myself of course applies...).

Interested to hear from owners of ES80s, and also those you who chose something else having looked at the ES80, and why).

Thanks
Niall

pduxon · Sep 19, 2003

used by a few BFers I've believe

on my audition list along with a Kowa TS 613

alan_rymer · Sep 19, 2003

iebirdie said:
In Focus have the Opticron ES80 + 32xW HDF going for £499. Seems to be good value. They are singing its praises as an excellent mid-priced scope. Is it as good as they say ? (Usual disclaimer that I need to go and try it out myself of course applies...).

Interested to hear from owners of ES80s, and also those you who chose something else having looked at the ES80, and why).

Thanks
Niall

Niall

Its an excellent scope!.
I bought mine last Christmas from LCE in Reading with the 32x HDF. Its a good eyepiece, although some digiscopers go down to an x20.
My old digital camera has no zoom so I later bought the 20-60HDF zoom eyepiece and think its great. There are several users on this site with this scope. Personally I think its very good value.
Have a look through one if you can!.

digi-birder · Sep 19, 2003

I have the ES80 and find it a very good scope. I bought the Imagic 65 at first, but then had to upgrade a week later.

InFocus allow you to do this if you're not happy with your initial purchase.

Johnny1 · Sep 19, 2003

I bought an Opticron80 with HDF zoom and stay on case from Warehouse Express for less than £500, they also threw in a pair of 8x21 bino's for free. Since I bought these I have added to my lense's with a 12x for digiscopin, the 12x was about £79.

postcardcv · Sep 19, 2003

I use an ES80 with a HDF zoom and it is a great scope - whilst it does not quite match up to some of the big name scopes it certainly stands out from others in the same price range.
I got it about a year ago and have been very happy with it (had a 60mm opticron before) - certainly worth going for. Warehouseexpress.com have the scope with the 32xw HDF and stay on case for £499 - so I would shop around for a good deal. I got mine from Cley Spy (in Glandford near Cley) and they had a better deal on the scope than anyone online.

alan_rymer · Sep 19, 2003

Southwest optics scope 20-60hdf & SOC
www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?key=1610

Just do a seach on google for Opticron ES80

pduxon · Sep 20, 2003

pduxon said:
used by a few BFers I've believe

...and as from about 2 hours ago by me.

For info if you don't want a tripod in-focus will throw in the stay on case for nothing.

iebirdie · Sep 20, 2003

Thanks for replies. I managed to test a ES80 today. Nice image, a bit of fringing though. Also, the eyepiece (HDF 32x W) seemed a bit strange... found it difficult to use, but maybe takes getting used to ?
N

alan_rymer · Sep 20, 2003

iebirdie said:
Thanks for replies. I managed to test a ES80 today. Nice image, a bit of fringing though. Also, the eyepiece (HDF 32x W) seemed a bit strange... found it difficult to use, but maybe takes getting used to ?
N

Niall

I've not noticed any fringing at all, or maybe its my eyes?.
Try another scope and eyepiece, may be a bad one?.

Alan

postcardcv · Sep 20, 2003

I'd echo Alan's comments - have been using this scope for almost a year and have not noticed any fringing (I looked for this when testing the scope).
As for the eyepeice - I don't know what the 32x is like but have had no problems at all with the HDF zoom.

Rexy · Mar 7, 2007

Hi all

Tested both ES80 in ED and SD at In Focus at the weekend side by side,and the SD had purple fringing on most objects and was not as clear around the edges.

Cheers Rexy

fender · Apr 6, 2007

Rexy said:
Hi all

Tested both ES80 in ED and SD at In Focus at the weekend side by side,and the SD had purple fringing on most objects and was not as clear around the edges.

Cheers Rexy

I've had the ES80 GA ED FOR 3 Years now, it came with a 32xww HDF eyepiece which is great, and i added a 20-60x HDF. I find it a brilliant scope, as does anyone who has ever looked through it (and there have been dozens and dozens of people over the years) My wife and i both use the scope, and did a lot of research and looking through all the top models before making our decision. Well pleased!
Phil.

Dave H · Apr 9, 2007

Bought an ES80 ED with the new SDL 20-60x zoom lense last week and road tested it on Mull on Friday.

Perfect scope for those far away raptors. Helped to ID sea eagle from about a mile and a half.

The image at full zoom is a real treat. Now I just have to take up photogrpahy to prove it...

paulwfromtheden · Apr 9, 2007

Dave H said:
Bought an ES80 ED with the new SDL 20-60x zoom lense last week and road tested it on Mull on Friday.

Perfect scope for those far away raptors. Helped to ID sea eagle from about a mile and a half.

The image at full zoom is a real treat. Now I just have to take up photogrpahy to prove it...

Does anyone have any idea how the ES 80 compares to the HR 80? I have a HR66 and am considering an upgrade to a 80mm scope.

dipped · Apr 9, 2007

It would be worth a quick call to Opticron to see where they would put it in their line up.

PYRTLE · Apr 9, 2007

es versus hr

Does anyone have any idea how the ES 80 compares to the HR 80? I have a HR66 and am considering an upgrade to a 80mm scope.
__________________

The ES 80 is a lighter weight unit. The HR80 only comes in an ED version, so your looking at over £700 just for the body. If your in this price bracket, then the Nikon ED82 has to come into the equation as a very good value, high end scope. However the Mark II ES 80 ED is a competitively priced good performer. Good luck.

Perry Grin · Apr 9, 2007

iebirdie said:
In Focus have the Opticron ES80 + 32xW HDF going for £499. Seems to be good value. They are singing its praises as an excellent mid-priced scope. Is it as good as they say ? (Usual disclaimer that I need to go and try it out myself of course applies...).

Interested to hear from owners of ES80s, and also those you who chose something else having looked at the ES80, and why).

Thanks
Niall

I bought the ES80ED from infocus about a month ago. I already own the HDF zoom. I'm very happy with the scope - it gives a fantastic image even at full zoom (60X). I was concerned about the size and weight but this has been no trouble at all.

wolfbirder · Jul 15, 2007

I have the ES80ED and HDF 20-60mm zoom. Avery good scope altho i have to say at full zoom not sure how good it would be for photos. I tend not to use it past 45mm as it is just too fuzzy. I had a great opportubity to compare it next to the RSPB's on site Swarovski at Haweswater, and on full zoom i have to say the latter was better (perhaps not unsurprisingly as yo would be paying twice as much).

But the opticron is a great scope no doubt, the more expensive models for me only perform better in poor light or on max zoom.

Perry Grin · Jul 21, 2008

fender said:
I've had the ES80 GA ED FOR 3 Years now, it came with a 32xww HDF eyepiece which is great, and i added a 20-60x HDF. I find it a brilliant scope, as does anyone who has ever looked through it (and there have been dozens and dozens of people over the years) My wife and i both use the scope, and did a lot of research and looking through all the top models before making our decision. Well pleased!
Phil.

Phil,

Not sure if you still have this scope, but..... which lens do you find that you use more - the zoom or the 32xww and why?

I currently have this scope with the zoom but find it drops of quickly above 30x and so rarely use it above this mag. So I am now considering getting the fixed lens as a replacement.

Cheers

Perry

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