Satisfied my curiosity. (1 Viewer)

I managed to get to Martin Mere today, I went as much as anything to compare my 20 old Optolyth TBS/HD to it's more modern counterparts.

We had three scopes lined up.

Opticron ES80 GAED with 20x60 zoom, next the that was Swarovski ATS80ED with 20x60 zoom and then the Optolyth TBS/80ED, with 22x60 zoom.

The weather wasn't great, but it was dry when we started the comparison.
First look was thorough the Opticron, Nice and throughout the zoom better that the Optolyth. Next up the Swarovski. Better much better that the Optolyth, but only slightly better than the Opticron.
Confirmation that the Optolyth Zoom is a bit dated and not as good as the lasted zooms. (I expected that).

Then I swapped the eyepiece on the Optolyth to a 30x WW.
This was better that the Opticron, but not as good as the Swarovski, but not far behind. The Optolyth was better that the Swarovski when the Swarovski was getting past the 40 mark.
Then we changed the 20x60 eyepiece on the Swarovski for a 25x50. This was better than the 20x60 in every respect. I could pick up the fine detail on a Black Headed gulls cheeks and eyes that I couldn't quite get with the other two scopes.

So in summary.

To my eyes, the Optolyth with the 30x ep was better that the Opticron with the 20x60 zoom, but there wasn't much in it.
The Swarovski with the 20x60 zoom was slightly better than the TBS/80ED with the 30x ep.
The Swarovski with the 25x50 was better still. the really fine detail was impressive.

Cost? Opticron kit, about £800
Swarovski kit with 20x60 EP about £2000
Swarovski kit with 25x50 Ep aboot £2300.

Optolyth TBS/ED trade in value with 30x and 22x60 EP's About £200.

Would I swap my TBS/80ED for the Opticron and pay an extra £600? No.
Would I swap the TBS/80ED for the Opticron and pay nothing? possibly. I would need to do another comparison to be sure.

Yes, I would swap the TBS/80ED for the Swarovski with the 25x50 EP.
Would I pay £2100, for the privilege? No, even though I was impressed with 25x50 EP.

Conclusion! The Optolyth with the 20x and 30x EP's is a top scope that can hold it own against most of today offerings (before you go daft on money)

If the Baader zoom works well I've cracked it. If not I'll be looking to the latest Optolyth 20x60. zoom.

These are my findings using my eyes. I don't wear glasses, only in poor light for reading, so my eyes are pretty good, (judgement might not be) lol
Like I said, the conditions weren't perfect but they were the same for all the scopes. after about 45 minutes it started to drizzle which killed all the scopes stone dead.

One thing I did find, the longer the comparison went on the more obvious the differences were.


Ron.

Hi,

good to hear that you had an interesting day and came to a smart solution which is easy on your pockets...

Joachim

jring said:

Hi,

good to hear that you had an interesting day and came to a smart solution which is easy on your pockets...

Joachim

Click to expand...

Thanks Joachim, if I was starting from scratch I would look at other top end scopes and buy one. But already having a perfectly good scope, it hard to justify the expense just to get a better zoom.

Ron

Hi Ron.

Looks like you already has a winner

Which eyepice where on the Opticron, HDF, SDL v1 or SDL v2?

Tommy

Hi Tommy, I didn't ask, It was either the HDF or the SDL V2. It was a 20x60.
My Baader zoom arrived today, just fitted it to my Optolyth.
I can't believe my luck on how easy it was to fit. Problem is, it's dark and I can't try it out
If I can get it to focus to infinity, It should be really good.

Ron