Scope advice needed... (1 Viewer)

Pete Mella · Oct 10, 2006

Hello everyone,

I want to get a Spotting Scope and a tripod for less than £400 if possible. I'd most like one with interchangable eyepieces so I can upgrade in future, but want as good results to start with as possible.

Any tips?

stevetb · Oct 10, 2006

hi there,
for 400 you could get an opticron is 60 with a hdf zoom and a half decent tripod ( dont know much about them) the beauty of it is that the hdf zoom is a top of the range eyepiece and if you got a more high end opticron later on, you'd be able to use the HDF with one. http://www.opticron.co.uk

pduxon · Oct 10, 2006

NaturePete said:
Hello everyone,

I want to get a Spotting Scope and a tripod for less than £400 if possible. I'd most like one with interchangable eyepieces so I can upgrade in future, but want as good results to start with as possible.

Any tips?

have a look at second hand. cley spy have a Nikon EDII with 30x lens for 295 for instance.

if you go down the new model route then Ac/dc's suggestion is a good one.

matt green · Oct 11, 2006

Have you considered second hand?

I see cleyspy have a good condition kowa 823 angled flaurite scope with 32xwide angle lense and kowa stay on case,a little over your budget at £489
but would be well worth the effort.

A scope in this league would also be a good starting point for digiscoping!

www.cleyspy.co.uk

matt

scampo · Oct 11, 2006

matt green said:
Have you considered second hand?

I see cleyspy have a good condition kowa 823 angled flaurite scope with 32xwide angle lense and kowa stay on case,a little over your budget at £489
but would be well worth the effort.

A scope in this league would also be a good starting point for digiscoping!

www.cleyspy.co.uk

matt

That sounds the best of the bunch in what they have available. It's an excellent scope and a particularly good eyepiece.

Isn't it odd how nearly all s/h scopes are straight models - I notice this at other shops, too?

pduxon · Oct 11, 2006

scampo going for someone other than Nikon - ooh I feel all faint.

stuart C smith · Oct 11, 2006

pduxon said:
scampo going for someone other than Nikon - ooh I feel all faint.

me to.

scampo · Oct 11, 2006

pduxon said:
scampo going for someone other than Nikon - ooh I feel all faint.

Now, now P + S... there wasn't a decent Nikon (or Zeiss!) available! But, you must admit that the Kowa with that wide angle eyepiece is a pretty darn good scope.

PYRTLE · Oct 11, 2006

Nikon RA III with zoom, anyone? Waterproof, fairly lightweight - interchangeable eyepieces - 10 year warrantyetc etc. Latest version of their spotting scope range - otherwise, again Opticron is great value for money and very versatile.

scampo · Oct 11, 2006

PYRTLE said:
Nikon RA III with zoom, anyone? Waterproof, fairly lightweight - interchangeable eyepieces - 10 year warrantyetc etc. Latest version of their spotting scope range - otherwise, again Opticron is great value for money and very versatile.

I've read a lot of praise for the new RAIII - I wonder how good it is? On paper, it seems very good value.

Pete Mella · Oct 11, 2006

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

The Opticron seems like a great scope for the price that should do me fine at the moment, I may look into that one, but keep any suggestions coming!

pduxon · Oct 11, 2006

scampo said:
Now, now P + S... there wasn't a decent Nikon (or Zeiss!) available! But, you must admit that the Kowa with that wide angle eyepiece is a pretty darn good scope.

ahem there is a Nikon EDII with 30x for £295 see my post above......described as Fair to good condition. Optics still excellent

Nikon EDIII with 30w for £495 described as In very good condition

both straights

and Kowa 614 with 20-60 In fair to good condition £249 also a straight

http://www.cleyspy.co.uk/category.do?category=21

eitanaltman · Oct 11, 2006

NaturePete said:
Hello everyone,

I want to get a Spotting Scope and a tripod for less than £400 if possible. I'd most like one with interchangable eyepieces so I can upgrade in future, but want as good results to start with as possible.

Any tips?

If you want to buy new, and want a more compact scope, a Pentax PF-65ED would fit comfortably in that budget. You can get the angled body for around $440 (~ £235) at opticsplanet.com (you have to follow the "price too low to show" link and add it to your cart), which leaves plenty left over for a decent tripod and eypieces.

Plus, the Pentax takes all standard 1.25" astro eyepieces, meaning you could get some cheaper fixed ep's for now and then upgrade later. Mated to a high-end ep like the Pentax XW, it's a superb scope and only a tiny bit off the quality of the highest-end stuff.

I would suggest you don't get the bundle with the XF zoom. I've never used it, but it's widely criticized for poor eye-relief and dim views at high power.

eitanaltman · Oct 11, 2006

eitanaltman said:
If you want to buy new, and want a more compact scope, a Pentax PF-65ED would fit comfortably in that budget. You can get the angled body for around $440 (~ £235) at opticsplanet.com (you have to follow the "price too low to show" link and add it to your cart), which leaves plenty left over for a decent tripod and eypieces.

Slight update - I just checked on opticsplanet.com and if you choose to buy the PF-65ED body and bundle it with one of the fixed XF eyepieces, they give you a bundle discount when you add it to the cart. For example, the PF-65ED angled body (normally $440) + the XF 12 eyepiece (normally ($169) bundled together comes out at only $535 total (around £290).

I have this combination and love it, though I would supplement with a cheaper 20mm wide-angle (like the Orion Expanse) for scanning and when you don't need higher power.

scampo · Oct 11, 2006

pduxon said:
ahem there is a Nikon EDII with 30x for £295 see my post above......described as Fair to good condition. Optics still excellent

Nikon EDIII with 30w for £495 described as In very good condition

both straights

and Kowa 614 with 20-60 In fair to good condition £249 also a straight

http://www.cleyspy.co.uk/category.do?category=21

S-o-r-r-y, Pete!

(-;

No - I forgot but also a) don't like straight scopes and b) I think they're more than a bit overpriced (as I think is usually the case with s/h gear through retail outlets, sadly).

pduxon · Oct 11, 2006

scampo said:
S-o-r-r-y, Pete!

(-;

No - I forgot but also a) don't like straight scopes and b) I think they're more than a bit overpriced (as I think is usually the case with s/h gear through retail outlets, sadly).

oh i agree about the price but you'd be hard pushed to get anything new for the price of the 614 or EDII. and the likes of cley have a good rep. wouldn't sell a lemon

Mickymouse · Oct 11, 2006

Whatever you decide don't scrimp on the tripod, get the best you can, even a so so scope on good legs is usable but the other way round is a disaster.

Mick

RichC · Oct 19, 2006

Quote:
......."the Pentax takes all standard 1.25" astro eyepieces"......
As a novice in this area can someone explain what this means?
Does it, for example, mean one could buy the Pentax and use Kowa/Opticron eye pieces?
if anyone has a link that explains it that would suffice.
Many thanks
RichC

normjackson · Oct 19, 2006

In the world of astronomy, optics manufacturers (Celestron, Meade, Televue et al) don't have their own individual fittings as tends to happen with terrestrial scopes (Opticron, Nikon, Kowa et el). In fact the situation is even worse than this in the terrestrial scope field since manufacturers sometimes have different fitting eyepieces for different families of their scopes.
Of the three most common fittings for astro scope eyepieces, the 1.25" is by far the most common. There's a smaller fitting sometimes used in very cheap scopes or for high power eyepieces and a larger for low power wide field ones. Here's a review of a selection of several manufacturers' eyepieces showing all with the same 1.25" fitting :
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=274
So if you have a scope which accepts astro eyepieces either directly of with an adaptor, you have access to hundreds of different eyepieces rather than the maybe the half dozen or so designed to fit and work with a terrestrial one. The down side is that since the astro were not probably not specifically designed to work with your scope every once in while you may find one that doesn't work as well as you might wish.

RichC · Oct 19, 2006

Thanks Norm. Much appreciated as I am also one of those in the market for first 'scope and have a set budget. This will influence my choice.
TTFN
RC

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