Old Opticron HR80 (1 Viewer)

I have an opticron HR80 (non ED) that I bought circa 1995, with a 27x HDF eyepiece.
This gives an excellent bright FOV at this mag, with very little CA.
I would like to try it with a larger mag eyepiece, maybe 40 or 50x, but because it has the old imperial thread, I will have to have it adapted by opticron to take the more modern eyepieces. This will cost about £70.
Because its so heavy and not well balanced I only use it in hides and occasional sea watching.
I use a nikon ED50 when I'm out walking so have my eye on an ED 82 , but can't afford it yet.

The question is, is it worth adapting this old scope, or would I be better saving the pennies until I can get that ED82.
Of course if anyone out there has an old imperial opticron eyepiece they don't use I will gladly take it off their hands for a reasonable price.
Cheers
Tom

At £70 for the adaption (which may render your original eyepeice usless) plus the cost of a new HDF eyepeice (£100+) it's going to be a very expensive stop gap.

I've tested the current HR80ED against an ED82 and the Nikon had a clear edge, personally I'd save your money and start looking for a good deal on a used ED82 or even an ED78. The old ED78 isn't waterproof but optically it's as good as the ED82, they don't turn up used very often (people tend to keep them) but when they do the prices are significantly lower than the ED82.

Opticron did say they could adapt the eyepiece as well, but as you say I will still need to buy another eyepiece.
At 27x the scope is great for scanning large areas of mudflat, but I have no way of knowing how it would perform at higher mags.
Maybe I should keep saving those pennies.
Cheers
Tom

Hi Tom,

I've also got an Hr80 (non ed) from about 2005...so its metric. I also use an Hdf 27x with it. I've tried using higher mag eyepieces including the HDF 38x
and the HDF 24-72x zoom and can honestly say that i prefer the 27x. The image is so much brighter and sharper and I don't really 'see' much more at the higher mags. You won't actually 'see' much more using a 38x or higher mag because of the trade off with brightness and resolution etc... 27x is a really useful mag and most birders don't go much above 30x anyway what with 'heat haze' etc...personally i'd 'stick' with your current setup.

Regards
steve.

Tom,I went through the same thing recently with an even older HR60. The value of the scope didn't make the adaption to metric viable. Was fortunate in that I found a second hand lens of higger mag at a good price - largely because it was imperial.

So have kept my scope but with a big birthday at the beginning of next year am looking for a replacement.Like Opticron and am looking at the ES range - about £500.

Without highjacking this thread both Tom and I might benefit from others views on what to upgrade to.

Cheers,
Hugh

TomW said:

The question is, is it worth adapting this old scope, or would I be better saving the pennies until I can get that ED82.
Of course if anyone out there has an old imperial opticron eyepiece they don't use I will gladly take it off their hands for a reasonable price.
Cheers
Tom

Click to expand...

Having the identical equipment (!) - and also a ~60x eyepiece - my best advice is to keep on saving money for newer gear!
As another reply states, the extra magn. is 'eaten' by the loss of ligth, narrower FOV, shorter DOF, more vulnerable to shaking, heat haze and whatever.

TomW said:

I have an opticron HR80 (non ED) that I bought circa 1995, with a 27x HDF eyepiece.
This gives an excellent bright FOV at this mag, with very little CA.
I would like to try it with a larger mag eyepiece, maybe 40 or 50x, but because it has the old imperial thread, I will have to have it adapted by opticron to take the more modern eyepieces. This will cost about £70.
Tom

Click to expand...

Have you thought about a quote from SRB Griturn - maybe they would be cheaper?

Nev

Thanks for all your comments folks, I think I will save my money but keep an eye out for an old eyepiece.
Cheers
Tom