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

My initial Pentax PF65ED AII review (1 Viewer)

I do not know if there is a comparison here, but I think the fundamental problem I had with the scope is that my previous scope the Zeiss Diascope FL 65 with zoom eyepiece (bought a year ago) was leaps and bounds "sharper" then the Pentax. I think I was trying to get away with a cheaper scope and I got what I paid for a cheaper quality image. I really did not get on with the scope. I never, never experienced the half mooning thing with the zeiss scope of course this could be do to the fact that like the other reviewer said the wide angle fixed ep's all suffer from this. I just remember the Zeiss being incredibly bright, sharp, and having a very Wide FOV. I regret ever having to give it up. I bought the Pentax because I thought who knows maybe because they do not have the name and rep Zeiss has that they may have a comparable product but for a lot less because of this fact. Sadly I was wrong. Anyway I am going to save up for the Zeiss and stop playing around. Could be too that I should have tried the Vixen or the other eyepieces mentioned.

I have a Zeiss 65 for three years now and I agree with everything you write about them. The zoom eyepiece is the best I ever saw, I also have a 30x fixed ep but this was a foolish purchase as I hardly ever use it. It gave me blackouts like the zoom doesn't, 300 euro's wasted. But then, I never tried beforehand, bought it sight unseen by mailorder, thinking it would be great for seawatching. Not so.
Recently tried the 23x fixed ep and though this is better than the 30x, it comes nowhere near the viewing comfort of the zoom.

I hope you will be soon enjoying the great views again, good luck with your saving up.

Greetings, Ronald
 
Eitanaltman wrote: I've found there is no eyepiece that will cure mirage on a sunny day -- the only thing you can do is use lower magnification. It's just a function of the atmosphere, which is a part of the optical chain you can't change.

True. The Pentax 65AII, at least the one I got, was not very bright or contrasty. I have compared it to a William Optics 66mm (with sells for under $400 btw). The images in the 66 were noticeably brighter (beyond the extra mm) and had more contrast and were much sharper. The comparison was with the exact same eyepiece. So I have got to say switching scopes would help dealing with thermal and allow one to see finer detail. I could only imagine the Swaro would be much better too.

Also it must be said flat out that there is no zoom you can get for this pentax, as of this writing, that compares to the wide zoom looks you get with the swaro and ziess...

Nevertheless, the reason I got a this small pentax was that is was stated on Better Views Desired that the images the pf65 made with the xws mitigated the need to get a larger scope. This claim simply could not be further from the truth. I convinced myself that Pentax put an astronomical grade scope in a birding package. It is a good scope because, with the eps, is still has a nice price. But it just does not compare to the swaro, ziess, or nikon scopes and it does not compare to a cheaper william optics 66mm.

IMO the 66mm is the scope people should be looking at. While not water proof (which is not needed unless you plan to camp in Papua New Guinea) it would do well in an Ohio down poor with a simple cover. It also takes the baader zoom I understand and it as a 10-1 fine focus built in.
 
just a note to let you guys know i agree with mpacker on the WO gear; i have the astronomy technology 66mm version of the scope pack man alludes to. most agree the scopes are virtually identical on all counts. nice two speed focuser, bronze/orange anodized finish, sliding dew cap, "semi-apo" objective.

i shelled out $349 for the scope, plus another 140-clams for the dielectric diagonal and just a little less than that (119) for the Orion Stratus 17mm ocular (24X) at the "bidnez" end, as we say in texas. total outlay around $608, more or less.

side by side at our local hawkwatch last year, this setup and my bud's Swar 65HD(30X fixed EP)was a dead heat on resolution, contrast, ease-of-view and most every other optical parameter on the list. Only one thing was noted in the AT66- a very slight tendency toward a warm color shift, while the Swar was dead-on color neutral. Not sure but the Swar is a flourite scope, maybe, while the AT66 is not.

Liked the little puppy so much went ahead and sprung for the WO 80mm Flourostar doublet. Also did a side-by-side this winter on the upper texas coast under a variety of conditions, and the baby Swar just couln't match it for brightness of image and resolution of fine detail- the WO was very color neutral. Price with diagonal and using same Stratus: approx. $1000.

Never had a problem with internal misting of lens or fogging; so if you can forego waterproofing, rubber armor and the like the new breed of astro-refractors teamed with moderate quality oculars (i like hyperion/stratus but there are certainly others) will do ya proud/save a bundle.

My the views on the Pentax 65ED II are all over the board; just ordered the straight-thru version for $407 from Adorama and will let you folks know how it compares to the two scopes mentioned above. I wanted something i could hand on a window-pod while slowly cruising beach and local refuges.
 
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