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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Protective filter for Nikon ED82 (1 Viewer)

willito

willito

Guillermo Cartagena
Hello, there's a collection of previous threads on this subject, but none of them actually answered to my current question: excepting the fairly expensive Heliopan, which is the only maker I've found information on the available threads of, all declare to use "standard" 86mm thread, but I've failed to find any piece of information telling me if this is meant to be 1.0 or 0.75 mm.
Summarizing: are any of the mid-priced filters, such as Sigma, Kowa or Hoya suitable for the ED82? Has this been tested by anybody yet? What is the actual thread pitch size of them?

Thanks in advance!
 
If you search even more I think you may find some fairly compelling arguments AGAINST any filter used on a high magnification optic like the Nikon ED82. You paid for a premium optics, don't spoil it with a relatively inexpensive filter! There is a reason none of the fieldscope makers offer filter accessories.
 
RJM said:
If you search even more I think you may find some fairly compelling arguments AGAINST any filter used on a high magnification optic like the Nikon ED82. You paid for a premium optics, don't spoil it with a relatively inexpensive filter! There is a reason none of the fieldscope makers offer filter accessories.
Click to expand...

I agree as far as inexpensive filters are concerned. They degrade the image quality too much. With high-quality filters (I tried Nikon, Canon and Leica) I can't see any real difference on the ED III at 60x in a side-by-side comparison. With some cheap filters the image fell apart even at fairly low magnifications (~30x).

However, I only use a filter on my scope in difficult conditions, for instance when seawatching with lots of sea spray in the air.

Hermann
 
I guess I'll chime in here with my opinion...

The only time I would consider using a UV, Skylight, or some other (protective) filter would be for extended use at the beach where sand is blowing. Maybe to keep moist salt air off as well.
The rest of the time I wouldn't use it. With that said, IF I were to buy one for that occasional use I wouldn't pay the big bucks for a B+W or Heliopan. I'd get a decent mid priced Japanese made filter.

I'd still wash the whole thing with soapy water afterward.

Regarding what pitch the threads are, I don't know for sure but I've put collapsible rubber hoods on several scopes and they were conventional photographic threads as would be found on a camera lens.
 
Not sure a decent optical flat will harm the image much, but have found filters don't handle moisture well.
In damp conditions, condensation is likely between the filter and the scope objective lens. That really degrades the image. I chucked the filter and just leave a collapsible rubber hood to help protect the objective lens.
 
I use Hama UV filters on both my ED82 and ED50 - to protect the objectives from dirt, sand and salt and to make prolonged viewing easier. [Cleaning a filter is easier than the objective, and should something bad happen, a filter is far more expendable.] I see no appreciable difference in view, and as long as I'm careful to do the filter up properly, I don't suffer from condensation.

I also feel it necessary to point out that if you read the instructions for the Nikon fieldscopes, you will see that filter specifications are included. [For the ED82; 'Optional Accessories, part 7; "86mm screw thread (P=1.0)"] If optics manufacturers didn't want filters used, they wouldn't provide instructions, or indeed threads to attach them, would they?
 
The Kerreran said:
I also feel it necessary to point out that if you read the instructions for the Nikon fieldscopes, you will see that filter specifications are included. [For the ED82; 'Optional Accessories, part 7; "86mm screw thread (P=1.0)"] If optics manufacturers didn't want filters used, they wouldn't provide instructions, or indeed threads to attach them, would they?
Click to expand...

:t:
 
Filters are designed for the relatively low magnification camera lenses. Only the biggest supertelephoto lenses approach 30x magnification. And those lenses actually use small 52mm-size in-line filters as the larger the filter the more difficult it becomes to make it in acceptable optical quality.

The only filter that can be of any real visual use is a POLARIZING filter for use around bodies of water or in the snow on bright sunny days. Still, probably a better idea to wear polarizing sunglasses. If you digiscope, the CA a clear Protection filter adds to the image will be quite apparent. The camera sensor takes no prisoners. But if it gives you a peace-of-mind placebo affect, then by all means get one!

A UV filter adds nothing for the visual user (only film is sensitive to UV) so no use paying extra for that feature.
 
Thank you very much for the many replies I've got in this week. I really appreciate each of them.

In fact, it's on the beach where my concerns for protecting the objective arose. I'm planning to make some seawatching in the next future and the rather windy corners where that's likely to be done grant a good deal of sand and salty water reaching the scope.

But now, I'm a little bit confused with the information I've received from some online stores regarding the available filters and its thread pitch sizes. While the Nikon ED82 features a 1.0mm thread pitch, most of the filters seem to have 0.75mm pitch for this diameter. There's also a Kowa filter (which I deem to be a reputable maker) for this diameter, but I've failed so far to find any information on the pitch they use. Does anybody have an answer for that?

Thanks again!
 
Kowa doesn't make filters, at least not since they stopped film camera production long ago.
 
Thanks for your reply once more, RJM. The information you provide confuses me even more though, since there's plenty of online stores selling an allegedly Kowa filter for 86mm objectives (OpticsPlanet and B&H just to mention two known examples). However consistent with you, the Kowa optics English site doesn't have any faintest information on them.

This is becoming increasingly mysterious indeed ...
 
Hello,
just an update on the subject: with the help of a friend in USA, I found out the Kowa protective filter fits with the ED82 thread, so I ordered it and checked by myself. It not only fits the thread, but is also a remarkably fine piece. Both day and night no visible distortion, reflex or loss can be detected. Kowa is a well known reputable optics maker in the middle range, as Nikon is, and the price is a very fair one, so I can only recommend it to whom it may interest.
 
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