Celestron Regal M2 ED Series - 2013 (2 Viewers)

L.M. said:

I was a bit concerned.. I've been posting photos & activities, that might ruffle a few feathers (Competitive Shooting?), since its not directly related to " Bird & Birding " @ this point in my testings.

Thanks

L.M.

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Oh, no problem, most of us look at astro or shooting sources sometimes too , bullets holes is a very good resolution test, for example. Everything you can share of the scope is always welcomed.

Hey Everyone,

I wasn't satisfied with the " Black Carrying " case, which didn't have much padding, and wasn't designed to keep on for protection while in use.

So, I ordered a " Better " carrying case, thats fits, with more padding & velcro tabs.



Velcro tabs near eyepiece, and Objective, to keep case material open & folded over, while in use.



Creedmoor Sports, Spotting Scope Covers
http://www.creedmoorsports.com/shop/Creedmoor_Spotting_Scope_Cover.html

" Don't see your scope? Please choose "other" and add a note at checkout with information about your scope. We'll need the length, brand, type, angled or straight and objective lens to help us. We have several patterns and most scopes will fit in one of the covers we make. (Note: 100mm scope covers are $5 additional) "

L.M.

Spotting Scope Head

By the way !

The" Eliseo Spotting Scope Head " worked great !



http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...pe-head-from-competition-machine-gary-eliseo/


:t:

Long Eye Relief

I got to try out my new Regal M2 80ED in the lake district in Cumbria last month. I was there mainly to view the fantastic scenary and the hikers walking up the Sca Fell Mountain from Waste Water, ( England's deepest lake ). Im guessing the distance was between 1 to 2 miles, from where I was to the top of the mountain.
Being new to scoping, I have nothing to compare the M2 80ED to, but the scope did give pin sharp views of a great crested grebe in the lake at around 100 yards. A little later I thought Id spotted a Golden Eagle then realised it was a Buzzard that had come into view. They look identical from a distance. It floated around on the thermals without a care in the world, then casually banked to the right and disappeared within seconds.

When looking at the mountains, (see photos) I couldn't see any walkers at all, and was quiet surprised when I pointed the scope and zoomed in on Sac Fell, to see about a dozen people slowly winding their way up the mountain, but unfortunately their profiles were fuzzy at best. And even worse at full zoom. Then again, they were at least 1 mile away and the weather was cloudy, with the sun occasionally making an appearance.

I could make out the colours of the clothes that they were wearing, but that was about as good as it got. (see pic 4) for Sca Fell.
I saw 2 figures with red jackets on the very top at one point, but they were like tiny blobs at that distance.
I read some where that support climbers and Sherpa's at Mt Everest base camp use spotting scopes to watch the progress of their friends heading for the summit, and that mountain is over 29,000 ft high. Sca Fell is around 3,000 ft at the summit. I wonder what scopes they use on Everest
Id have to say at first, I was not overly impressed with this scope. Maybe my expectations were way too high, but having nothing to compare it with its hard to give an accurate assessment. Has anyone compared it to say a Swarovski scope,..?

Can some one tell me about 1.25" eye pieces, as I have no idea what is meant by ( long eye relief, 30-32mm and 40-42mm, etc ) As Im wondering if they would make any difference to the fuzzy views I had of the mountain walkers or do I need a better scope,..? I read on an earlier post that the 'Vixen NLV Eyepiece' (1.25) 40mm is good, but again, I have no knowledge of eye pieces. Any help is appreciated. Please view the photos below.
Many thanks :eat:

Lord Muck said:

Can some one tell me about 1.25" eye pieces, as I have no idea what is meant by ( long eye relief, 30-32mm and 40-42mm, etc ) As Im wondering if they would make any difference to the fuzzy views I had of the mountain walkers or do I need a better scope,..? I read on an earlier post that the 'Vixen NLV Eyepiece' (1.25) 40mm is good, but again, I have no knowledge of eye pieces. Any help is appreciated. Please view the photos below.
Many thanks :eat:

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The eye relief is the distance between the eye and the eyepiece. The longer, its better because is easy and comfortable to use it, but the higher the mags the shorter the eye relief. Some Ep's are better in some scopes tan anothers ... its a little bit complex, but mainly if the quality is good, you be satisfied with any.

About the fuzzines, this could be due to the atmosphere, not the eyepiece. The longer distance you look at, the more the density of the atmosphere, heatwaves etc ... this is imposible to break with any scope. If youre looking at 60x made sure to focus fine, be very gentle with the focuser ... also in any scope the image gets dimmer as you increase mags, its normal. Dont worry you scope is ok, try a fixed eyepiece when you want the 60x, its gonna be better ...

That landscape of your pics is amazing!

Cosme said:

The eye relief is the distance between the eye and the eyepiece. The longer, its better because is easy and comfortable to use it, but the higher the mags the shorter the eye relief. Some Ep's are better in some scopes tan anothers ... its a little bit complex, but mainly if the quality is good, you be satisfied with any.

About the fuzzines, this could be due to the atmosphere, not the eyepiece. The longer distance you look at, the more the density of the atmosphere, heatwaves etc ... this is imposible to break with any scope. If youre looking at 60x made sure to focus fine, be very gentle with the focuser ... also in any scope the image gets dimmer as you increase mags, its normal. Dont worry you scope is ok, try a fixed eyepiece when you want the 60x, its gonna be better ...

That landscape of your pics is amazing!

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Many thanks for your imput Cosme.
According to a friend of mine, the distances I was viewing through the scope might of had a lot to do with the fuzziness. He recommends a better scope, but which would be best for long distances,..? And your right, the landscapes are amazing, and in the summer literally hundreds and hundreds of people walk up those mountains every day.
The views from the top are breath taking.

Lord Muck said:

Many thanks for your imput Cosme.
According to a friend of mine, the distances I was viewing through the scope might of had a lot to do with the fuzziness. He recommends a better scope, but which would be best for long distances,..?

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There's no scope for long distances. The only way i can relate what your friend says is a bigger scope to allow you more and better mags, but it doesnt matter how good is your scope, at some point the atmosphere factor is unavoidable, if you look at some distance with the very best scope, you see the same fuzzines. If you do it with more mags, the same fuzzines but increased. Imposible to see at such distances crystal clear. Try to go 60x at 500 meters, and check how it reach it perfectly with no distorsion, only heat mirages if the day is sunny. Your scope, unleast it have some problem with the focuser, is very good for visual, dont worry.

Remember my tips, if you want to improve, for the very high mags, buy a fixed eyepiece and always try to focus with much precission.


But there's absolutly nothin against atmosphere. Is unbeatable and omnipresent

Cosme said:

There's no scope for long distances. The only way i can relate what your friend says is a bigger scope to allow you more and better mags, but it doesnt matter how good is your scope, at some point the atmosphere factor is unavoidable, if you look at some distance with the very best scope, you see the same fuzzines. If you do it with more mags, the same fuzzines but increased. Imposible to see at such distances crystal clear. Try to go 60x at 500 meters, and check how it reach it perfectly with no distorsion, only heat mirages if the day is sunny. Your scope, unleast it have some problem with the focuser, is very good for visual, dont worry.

Remember my tips, if you want to improve, for the very high mags, buy a fixed eyepiece and always try to focus with much precission.


But there's absolutly nothin against atmosphere. Is unbeatable and omnipresent

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Thanks again Cosme,
You've answered a few questions that i had.
On a different note,..I did notice the difference with the scope and my Nikon 10x50 binoculars. The scope beat the binoculars hands down.
I could hardly see anyone on the mountain with my binoculars.

I have just purchased a Regal M2 65ED.

It's my first scope, and I have never looked through one of the top class ones, but my reference for image quality are my Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 (which made me want ED glass) and I am happy.

There is very little color fringing, checked looking at a building against the cloudy sky. The focus controls work well (it has two, a coarse and a fine one), although I would have made the coarse one just a little bit tighter. The coarse one has a ver good feeling, enough to use it to focus carefully if you are subtle, although having a fine adjustment it's pointless

It's a bit on the large side, but I think it can be carried in a backpack without too much strain.

Somethig surprising, trying at home at 5 m I was able to spot a tiny copepod on an aquarium glass and the image was very well defined at maximum magnification (48x). So, the maximum magnification is useable.

Some of the criticisms I had read somewhere:

- Shiny interior. Definitely not the case with this one. Maybe it was an issue with the previous model, the F-ED. I see two areas of matt, ringed surface, and a matt grainy area between them. So internal reflections shouldn't be an issue.

- Imbalanced weight. It's an issue, certainly. The eyepiece part is a bit heavier, although, on the other hand, it might help with the balance when using a so-so tripod.

I'm eager to try at my home wetland (a 10 minute walk to Humedal de Bolue) but I won't be able until this weekend. I'll keep you posted

Back from a 4 day birding trip to Doñana and Odiel 150 species total (although I managed to see about 50, I am a newbie and sometimes I was a bit distracted peeking at curious behaviors instead of focusing on identifying).

It was the first time I used the scope (M2 65ED) seriously and I am really happy with it. Finally I chose a Manfrotto 190 XPRO3 tripod with a MVH500AH head. The head maybe is a bit overkill but I found it really awesome for the price (a real pleasure to use it to follow critters around) and anyway there was a very good "kit" offer.

Optical quality: You can notice a loss of constrast at the highest magnification (48x) but I still managed to watch birds perfectly from one shore to the opposite one in the El Rocio marsh. I even stayed during dusk and the image was still a pleasure to watch in low light, no struggling at all.

A guy with a top of the line Kowa couldn't believe the price when he looked through mine. Several owners of high end scopes were really surprised as well. Of course you get a much better image if you purchase a top of the line scope, but definitely this is not a scope you will regret buying. And, as an upside, thanks to its price you can allocate some more budget to get a proper tripod and head, which really impacts the image definition and your fatigue after spending some time using it.

When buying it, of course, make sure that you get the M2 model (Mg body) instead of the old F-ED one (Al body): the weight difference is 600 grams for the 65 mm model, and 400 grams for the 80 and 100 mm models, in the same order of magnitude of the difference between a carbon fibre and an Al tripod!

The guy with the high end Kowa told me that he would be recommending it to several friends who were looking for a reasonably budget model.

The alpha scopes in my humble opinion, worth if you play usually with 60x or so, and when you do digiscoping.

Of course they always perform better in every test at every mag etc, but the real differences appear in the both cases i mentioned before.

Cosme said:

The alpha scopes in my humble opinion, worth if you play usually with 60x or so, and when you do digiscoping.

Of course they always perform better in every test at every mag etc, but the real differences appear in the both cases i mentioned before.

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Agreed. :t: I still have the Regal 80mm ED and even though I went upscale, I haven't sold it yet. 1) because the view is sooo nice, and 2) because it is such a bargain.

I have the Baader Hyperion 17mm on it (27x) and wow it is just so nice. Just big and heavy, an "ugh!" to lug. Stays at home.

Mark

Lord Muck said:

Many thanks for your imput Cosme.
According to a friend of mine, the distances I was viewing through the scope might of had a lot to do with the fuzziness. He recommends a better scope, but which would be best for long distances,..? And your right, the landscapes are amazing, and in the summer literally hundreds and hundreds of people walk up those mountains every day.
The views from the top are breath taking.

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Hi Lord MucK,

The pictures you posted here, it looks like clear conditions to me. Your fourth picture the area with snow on it is Scafell Pike? I tried to look all this up to try to figure distance, but for me it is almost impossible. I have taking pictures of a mountain 2.8 miles from my place with people standing up there from a vehicle. This is with a Orion 100ED telescope, but sorry to say I have not used it that much with an eyepiece on very clear days. I could see the top of a pole with an Owl decoy on it. There is a Hawk watching site up there, you can not see the site,it is blocked by a pine tree, only the Owl when they are up there. I know it is an owl, I was up there once while people were on the platform.

When I first posted this I used initials LM for Lord Muck posted it and then realized L.M. might think I am a little mixed up or drinking.

L.M. thanks for posting the pictures of the new cover and the Eliseo spotting scope head you have. Looks like a very nice head.

For the record, in case anyone is interested, I have just received a Lowepro Scope Travel 200AW.

The Regal M2 65ED fits inside with the eyepiece and the eyepiece cover fitted, although it's a tight fit. The 80 ED, if possible at all, would fit with the eyepiece removed.

Sca Fell Pike!

mooreorless said:

Hi Lord MucK,

The pictures you posted here, it looks like clear conditions to me. Your fourth picture the area with snow on it is Scafell Pike? I tried to look all this up to try to figure distance, but for me it is almost impossible. I have taking pictures of a mountain 2.8 miles from my place with people standing up there from a vehicle. This is with a Orion 100ED telescope, but sorry to say I have not used it that much with an eyepiece on very clear days. I could see the top of a pole with an Owl decoy on it. There is a Hawk watching site up there, you can not see the site,it is blocked by a pine tree, only the Owl when they are up there. I know it is an owl, I was up there once while people were on the platform.

When I first posted this I used initials LM for Lord Muck posted it and then realized L.M. might think I am a little mixed up or drinking.

L.M. thanks for posting the pictures of the new cover and the Eliseo spotting scope head you have. Looks like a very nice head.

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Hi Mooreorless,
Thanks for your post.
After checking out some photos on Google it appears that 'Sca Fell Pike' is the snow capped mountain in the centre of my 4th photo, with Sca Fell just to the right of it. Sca Fell actually appears higher than Sca Fell Pike, but its not in reality. Check out this link, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scafell_Pike ) And I agree, it does appear clear and bright, but it was quiet cloudy most of the afternoon when I was there at the end of March. Here's a photo of a similar view in summer. :t:

After reading all the good reviews, ive just bought the Baader Hyperion 17mm eyepiece.
I'll let you know if it was £100.00 well spent from that well known jungle named website, when i try it on my Regal M2 80ED.
First impressions,.. its surprisingly heavy |<|

Lord Muck said:

Ive just bought a new Baader Hyperion 17mm eyepiece.
I'll let you know my thoughts on it when i test it on my Regal M2 80ED.

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I was considering the 13 mm. As it's in stock in a nearby store I will take the scope there to try.

Borjam said:

I was considering the 13 mm. As it's in stock in a nearby store I will take the scope there to try.

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The 17mm seems a popular choice for Celestron scopes, from all the reviews on here Borjam

Lord Muck said:

The 17mm seems a popular choice for Celestron scopes, from all the reviews on here Borjam

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Oh yes, just feeling a bit magnification greedy Besides, intended use is to watch shore birds and some more magnification will certainly help.

Borjam said:

Oh yes, just feeling a bit magnification greedy Besides, intended use is to watch shore birds and some more magnification will certainly help.

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I have the 17mm, 13mm and 10mm Baader Hyperions on the older Regal 80F-ED and also used them on the 65F-ED, they work very well. They even impressed a guy at my local reserve who owns a Swaro, he couldn't believe how very good the image was for the overall price paid for scope and eyepiece.