sidewayspigeon
Well-known member
Couldn’t find a recent thread to tag this on to, so I’ve created a new one. I got the chance to test the Nikon 82ED, Swarovski 80HD, Zeiss Diascope 85, and Leica Apo 77 side by side yesterday. All were tested with 30 (or 32) W eyepieces.
FOCUSSING ISSUES:
For financial reasons, I wanted to love the Nikon. However, the helical focussing ring is far too highly geared for my liking. In fact, it was extremely annoying: I was sometimes unsure that the thing I was looking at was perfectly sharp (i.e. unsure whether, if I were to adjust the focus very slightly, the image would or would not get sharper). This never happened with the other scopes. For example, sometimes when I focussed the Zeiss I’d think, ‘Wow, this is good – but it still might be slightly out of perfect focus’. I’d turn the focus wheel and my suspicions would be confirmed – the object would be brought into even better focus and slightly more detail would emerge. If I thought the Nikon’s image might be slightly out of focus, I’d turn the focus barrel and feel as though I’d turned it through the point of perfect focus and back into slightly out of focus…or IS it out of focus?, maybe if I turn the wheel a bit and see…no wait, that’s definitely worse, I’ll really delicately rotate the focus barrel back and…now it’s in focus. Do I really want to do this every time I look at something new?!
I’ve read elsewhere on the forum that focussing with the Nikon is a skill that one acquires (indeed, many people – perhaps the vast majority – have no problems with the focussing system at all). I’ve experimented with the Nikon on several occasions for periods of 10-15 minutes and I just can’t get to grips with the focus wheel. I can get it to focus all of the time, but it’s a fiddle; one needs to be very delicate when turning the focus barrel – and I’m not a delicate kind of guy.
The Swarovski of course has a similar focussing mechanism, but it is not as highly geared as the Nikon and I have no problem at all bringing my object of choice to perfect focus. I slightly prefer the Zeiss and Leica focussing nobs: if nothing else, moving your index finger is no effort at all; using most of your hand to turn a helical focus barrel can get a bit tedious if you’re using your scope vigorously.
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION:
I’ve looked through the Zeiss with both the zoom and 30W eyepieces. As with all of these scopes, the image is great. The zoom is very wide and the ‘blurring’ at the edges in the zoom isn’t as much of a problem for me as I thought it would be. However, I eliminated the Zeiss from my line-up after only a few minutes: the dingy yellow colour cast is not pleasing in my opinion. Also, the useable eye relief of the two Zeiss eyepieces was maybe slightly short for me. Or perhaps the eyepieces just didn’t agree with my eye and craniofacial morphology.
When the Nikon is in focus, the image is stunning. I like it better than the image from the Zeiss. It’s brighter than the Swarovski, but not as bitingly sharp. Comparing the colour casts of the Swarovski and Nikon, I decided that I preferred the Swarovski’s bluish tinge. The Nikon’s colours seemed very slightly ‘garish’ in comparison. Perhaps this is attributable to the red colour cast I’ve read about. Or perhaps the Nikon’s colours are 100% accurate and I prefer the Swarovski’s bluish cast over reality’s true colours. I just like everything about the Swarovski’s image.
The Swarovski’s eyepieces suited my eyes perfectly: I didn’t have to struggle to find good eye placement. I used the Nikon 30x DS eyepiece and the lack of eye cup was a small issue – nothing major though. I believe Nikon MC eyepieces use optics of a similar quality, but have an eye cup.
I eliminated the Nikon (based on focussing issues) and began to move between the Leica and Swarovski. The Leica eye relief or eyepiece design didn’t suit my eye. The image was just about up there with the Swarovski though. I really have a hard time judging which is best in this respect. I’ve compared these two scopes several times before and I find the Leica zoom (tested a couple of years ago) to be very good, but it gives more of a tunnel effect than the Swarovski. This, along with the Leica’s eye relief properties, my preference for the Swarovski’s colour cast, and the lighter weight of the Swarovski make the Swarovski my favourite.
I’d say:
1. Swarovski
2. Leica
3. Nikon
4. Zeiss
A couple of things need to be said. Variation between samples may well be a serious problem for any reviewer. My views on the Leica and Swarovski have held across several samples, but I’ve only ever looked through a couple of Zeiss samples and one Nikon.
Obviously there is no ‘best’ top scope; it is really very subjective and personal preferences and idiosyncrasies will lead different people to prefer different scopes. For this reason, I overwhelmingly endorse what is frequently suggested on this forum: regardless of how inconvenient it is, it really is worth travelling great distances to get a look through the scopes on your shortlist.
Iain
FOCUSSING ISSUES:
For financial reasons, I wanted to love the Nikon. However, the helical focussing ring is far too highly geared for my liking. In fact, it was extremely annoying: I was sometimes unsure that the thing I was looking at was perfectly sharp (i.e. unsure whether, if I were to adjust the focus very slightly, the image would or would not get sharper). This never happened with the other scopes. For example, sometimes when I focussed the Zeiss I’d think, ‘Wow, this is good – but it still might be slightly out of perfect focus’. I’d turn the focus wheel and my suspicions would be confirmed – the object would be brought into even better focus and slightly more detail would emerge. If I thought the Nikon’s image might be slightly out of focus, I’d turn the focus barrel and feel as though I’d turned it through the point of perfect focus and back into slightly out of focus…or IS it out of focus?, maybe if I turn the wheel a bit and see…no wait, that’s definitely worse, I’ll really delicately rotate the focus barrel back and…now it’s in focus. Do I really want to do this every time I look at something new?!
I’ve read elsewhere on the forum that focussing with the Nikon is a skill that one acquires (indeed, many people – perhaps the vast majority – have no problems with the focussing system at all). I’ve experimented with the Nikon on several occasions for periods of 10-15 minutes and I just can’t get to grips with the focus wheel. I can get it to focus all of the time, but it’s a fiddle; one needs to be very delicate when turning the focus barrel – and I’m not a delicate kind of guy.
The Swarovski of course has a similar focussing mechanism, but it is not as highly geared as the Nikon and I have no problem at all bringing my object of choice to perfect focus. I slightly prefer the Zeiss and Leica focussing nobs: if nothing else, moving your index finger is no effort at all; using most of your hand to turn a helical focus barrel can get a bit tedious if you’re using your scope vigorously.
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION:
I’ve looked through the Zeiss with both the zoom and 30W eyepieces. As with all of these scopes, the image is great. The zoom is very wide and the ‘blurring’ at the edges in the zoom isn’t as much of a problem for me as I thought it would be. However, I eliminated the Zeiss from my line-up after only a few minutes: the dingy yellow colour cast is not pleasing in my opinion. Also, the useable eye relief of the two Zeiss eyepieces was maybe slightly short for me. Or perhaps the eyepieces just didn’t agree with my eye and craniofacial morphology.
When the Nikon is in focus, the image is stunning. I like it better than the image from the Zeiss. It’s brighter than the Swarovski, but not as bitingly sharp. Comparing the colour casts of the Swarovski and Nikon, I decided that I preferred the Swarovski’s bluish tinge. The Nikon’s colours seemed very slightly ‘garish’ in comparison. Perhaps this is attributable to the red colour cast I’ve read about. Or perhaps the Nikon’s colours are 100% accurate and I prefer the Swarovski’s bluish cast over reality’s true colours. I just like everything about the Swarovski’s image.
The Swarovski’s eyepieces suited my eyes perfectly: I didn’t have to struggle to find good eye placement. I used the Nikon 30x DS eyepiece and the lack of eye cup was a small issue – nothing major though. I believe Nikon MC eyepieces use optics of a similar quality, but have an eye cup.
I eliminated the Nikon (based on focussing issues) and began to move between the Leica and Swarovski. The Leica eye relief or eyepiece design didn’t suit my eye. The image was just about up there with the Swarovski though. I really have a hard time judging which is best in this respect. I’ve compared these two scopes several times before and I find the Leica zoom (tested a couple of years ago) to be very good, but it gives more of a tunnel effect than the Swarovski. This, along with the Leica’s eye relief properties, my preference for the Swarovski’s colour cast, and the lighter weight of the Swarovski make the Swarovski my favourite.
I’d say:
1. Swarovski
2. Leica
3. Nikon
4. Zeiss
A couple of things need to be said. Variation between samples may well be a serious problem for any reviewer. My views on the Leica and Swarovski have held across several samples, but I’ve only ever looked through a couple of Zeiss samples and one Nikon.
Obviously there is no ‘best’ top scope; it is really very subjective and personal preferences and idiosyncrasies will lead different people to prefer different scopes. For this reason, I overwhelmingly endorse what is frequently suggested on this forum: regardless of how inconvenient it is, it really is worth travelling great distances to get a look through the scopes on your shortlist.
Iain
