Leica APO Televid 82 (1 Viewer)

Hi !

First test (in French) visible at this address :

http://www.ornithomedia.com/pratique/equipemt/equipement_art88_1.htm

Luc

Thanks for that. Fortunately I can easily translate the price.

€3290 translates to an eye-watering £2605 at today's rate of 1.26 for an 82mm scope with the new wide angle zoom !

just ran it through babel fish, it makes interesting reading - http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/trans...ement_art88_1.htm&lp=fr_en&btnTrUrl=Translate
Interesting to see two prices listed (with and without the zoom) as up to now everything has suggested that it will only be available with the zoom.

Here is the conclusion:

"La journée d'essai du 18 juin 2008 nous a permis de constater que la nouvelle Leica APO Televid 82 est vraiment une réussite: elle est très compacte, légère, et l'oculaire zoom est très agréable, même si le champ de vision "extraordinaire" n'est pas frappant au grossissement 50x.
Les conditions de lumière étaient parafites (temps ensoleillé), ce qui ne nous a pas permis de constater pleinement les performances optiques: mais la réduction des aberrations chromatiques en bodure des objets très exposés est vraiment rermarquable.
Les prix annoncés sont par contre un peu élevés à notre avis.
En résumé, voici un concurrent sérieux pour les autres modèles haut de gamme disponibles sur le marché!"

And here is my translation of the above [just checked the Babelfish version and there's is pretty good!!!]:

"The day of testing - 18 June 2008 - allows us to say that the new scope is truly a success: it is very compact, light, and the zoom eyepiece is very pleasing, even if the field of view is not striking at 50x magnification. The lighting being [word unknown], which did not allow us to ascertain properly the optical performance : but the reduction of chromatic aberration around bright objects is really remarkable. The prices announced are, in contrast, a bit high in our view. In summary, here is a serious competitor for the other top of the range scopes available on the market. "

So, I can't see myself buying one (already got a nice Leica scope), but I think we will see a few being trotted round the local reserves. I reckon there's a lot of wealthy retired birders who will help sales along.

Hi,

Leif,

Your translation is really good !

"parafites" = [word unknown] : in fact, it was typing error ... "PARFAITES" = perfect.
The lighting being perfect, ...

Luc

Gentilis said:

Hi,

Leif,

Your translation is really good !

"parafites" = [word unknown] : in fact, it was typing error ... "PARFAITES" = perfect.
The lighting being perfect, ...

Luc

Click to expand...

Thanks! That sentence now makes sense. Doh!

While it was only a micro review, the performance didn't sound as if it was astoundingly shocking or anything. Phrases like, "the eyepiece was pleasing" or "reduction of chromatic aberration" leave me scratching my head somewhat.

Hopefully we'll see some more in depth reviews and comparisons. I'm curious how Leica justifies the additional $1500 above and beyond current top scopes on the market.

I guess time will tell.

Just seen an ad for this scope in the UK. It's priced at £2,590 including the zoom, but the case is another £150 which seems a bit of a cheek! Thats almost £1,000 more than the Zeiss 85 zoom! The 65m scope is is scarcely more affordable £2,090. I thought the highly rated Kowa 88 (with zoom) was astonishingly expensive at £1,900. Since all those city whizz kids came a cropper I can't see who on earth is this scope aimed at!

John