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Nikon Monarch Fieldscopes (1 Viewer)

Any users?
How is the wide zoom for eye-glass users?

I had a quick look through the Monarch Fieldscope with the 30-60x WA EP.
It looked pretty OK at 30x and ER was acceptable with glasses,
but I was not very impressed at higher mag.
I also looked at the Zeiss Gavia, honestly not my cup of tea either, as the quality feel was not very overwhelming.
 
I had a quick look through the Monarch Fieldscope with the 30-60x WA EP.
It looked pretty OK at 30x and ER was acceptable with glasses,
but I was not very impressed at higher mag.
I also looked at the Zeiss Gavia, honestly not my cup of tea either, as the quality feel was not very overwhelming.

In what ways did you find it deficient or unimpressive? Is it as least as good as the previous generation (except not supporting magnifications above 60x ?), or was it somehow not as good.

How about the focus efficiency and precision? If I remember correctly, it was originally going to be variable ratio.

Is an adapter available to use it with previous fieldscope eyepieces (including those that go to 75x)?

--AP
 
In what ways did you find it deficient or unimpressive? Is it as least as good as the previous generation (except not supporting magnifications above 60x ?), or was it somehow not as good.

How about the focus efficiency and precision? If I remember correctly, it was originally going to be variable ratio.

Is an adapter available to use it with previous fieldscope eyepieces (including those that go to 75x)?

--AP

The ocular lens is of larger diameter than the previous zooms, and ER is better. The outer diameter of the zoom is huge also, similar to ATX i suspect.
The focus mechanism felt nice and solid. The finishing seemed better than the Gavia that have a more plastic feel to it, but the Gavia is also lighter (suspect some plastic in the gavia).

I can't quantify the IQ really after so short time of usage, but my general impression was sub-alpha. Comparing with Swaro ATS, ATX and Kowa 883/773. But I'm quite picky though. The FOV is also a bit smaller than competition and I'm not that fond of 30-60x zooms. Prefer a larger FOV at 20 or 25x.

I don't know about any adaptor, but I guess nikon wants to sell new gear...

I will check out the scope a bit more next time I go to the store. Perhaps this week.

Here is a positive one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ff6ynW-Tvo
 
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...

I will check out the scope a bit more next time I go to the store. Perhaps this week.

...

If you still didn't went to the store, I ask you to see the diameter of the scope side of the eyepiece, to see if is smaller to the standard 1.25" astro - if it is, it's easier to make an adapter that will allow reaching focus on scopes that allow the use of 1.25" eps. Other wide AFOV zooms have long bayonets, larger that 1.25" diameter (usually with lens larger than 1.25"), which makes them impossible to reach focus on other spotting scopes. That´s the reason why I don´t have a Leica zoom for my Optolyth 100...;)
 
Would be nice if the wider angle zoom would work on the previous Fieldscopes; especially since they dropped the 1.25 plans. Would have been nice to put the newer zoom on my Fieldscope.

Other than that, cannot see anything here that would make me want to change from my 82 and 50 Fieldscopes with my zoom and fixed EP. I have good samples of both and would be surprised if the new scope bettered them in the areas of importance to me- sharpness, color, etc.

Stephen,

Since we haven't had a Fieldscope 82 ED in stock for several years, it is difficult to compare them directly with the new Monarch Fieldscopes. However, when the original Vortex Razor 85mm scopes came out, we ranked them above the FS 82ED, but thought the Razor selling for $200 more gave the two scopes equal bang for the buck. Current Razor 85 scopes are a small improvement optically over the old ones. The Monarch FS 82 outperforms the current Razor 85 in brightness and resolution, so I do think the Monarch FS would be an improvement over your FS 82ED. Is it enough of an improvement to say you should buy one? I don't know. This is all subjective opinion, not quantified. I can say that if they were both available today and that was my price range, I'd definitely go with the Monarch.
 
If you still didn't went to the store, I ask you to see the diameter of the scope side of the eyepiece, to see if is smaller to the standard 1.25" astro - if it is, it's easier to make an adapter that will allow reaching focus on scopes that allow the use of 1.25" eps. Other wide AFOV zooms have long bayonets, larger that 1.25" diameter (usually with lens larger than 1.25"), which makes them impossible to reach focus on other spotting scopes. That´s the reason why I don´t have a Leica zoom for my Optolyth 100...;)

The diameter of the eyepiece at the scope end is 1.77".
 
I'd also be curious to hear anyone's impressions of the new nikon scopes, especially compared to the older ED fieldscopes. I recently sent my zoom eyepiece from an ed 82 in for repair (stuck zoom), and Nikon replied that they don't replace those zooms anymore but that I could send them the entire scope body for a full replacement. I am hesitant to do this as I also have a couple of fixed eyepieces and extra zoom for my ed 82 and share them with 60mm and 50mm nikon scopes. The new monarch scopes have different eyepieces that can't be shared with older fieldscopes. But if these new ones have a better zoom than the old ones I'd consider replacing my ed 82 body with a new monarch body and zoom, I'd still have my 60 and 50mms for the old eyepieces.
 
I'd also be curious to hear anyone's impressions of the new nikon scopes, especially compared to the older ED fieldscopes. I recently sent my zoom eyepiece from an ed 82 in for repair (stuck zoom), and Nikon replied that they don't replace those zooms anymore but that I could send them the entire scope body for a full replacement. I am hesitant to do this as I also have a couple of fixed eyepieces and extra zoom for my ed 82 and share them with 60mm and 50mm nikon scopes. The new monarch scopes have different eyepieces that can't be shared with older fieldscopes. But if these new ones have a better zoom than the old ones I'd consider replacing my ed 82 body with a new monarch body and zoom, I'd still have my 60 and 50mms for the old eyepieces.

You get better eye relief with the Monarch scope zoom, but only max 60x mag, not 75x. FOV is slightly better also I think. The 30-60x zoom will have better AFOV (55-65 degrees), will give a more "immersive" view. Only a 38x (on 82mm lens) fixed EP exists for the Monarch Scopes. Image quality won't be that much different I suspect.
 
I'd also be curious to hear anyone's impressions of the new nikon scopes, especially compared to the older ED fieldscopes. I recently sent my zoom eyepiece from an ed 82 in for repair (stuck zoom), and Nikon replied that they don't replace those zooms anymore but that I could send them the entire scope body for a full replacement. I am hesitant to do this as I also have a couple of fixed eyepieces and extra zoom for my ed 82 and share them with 60mm and 50mm nikon scopes. The new monarch scopes have different eyepieces that can't be shared with older fieldscopes. But if these new ones have a better zoom than the old ones I'd consider replacing my ed 82 body with a new monarch body and zoom, I'd still have my 60 and 50mms for the old eyepieces.

Hi Tyler,

You will find an upgrade in optical quality with the Nikon Monarch scope. In relative terms, I thought the original Vortex Razor 85mm scopes beat the old Fieldscope 82ED by a noticeable margin. The new Vortex Razor 85s are better than the old ones, and the Monarch 82 beats the new Razor in sharpness, contrast, and CA reduction. If it were me, I'd take the Nikon deal and replace your old Fieldscope with the new one. To me, scope specs are minor compared to brightness, sharpness, and clarity.
 
Seems a little pricy, but I have not bought much lately. In any case, you get a 60mm scope for $1,399.95, whereas I have a Pentax 65mm scope I got for much less 10 years ago, still working. I'm on my second Vixen eyepiece, as the first got an annoying tiny black spot near the edge. I put the old eyepiece on the Celestron scope. I was toying with an angled scope, but it gets used maybe twice a year for groups. But I got the angled scope idea out of system! No more!

I even have a 300 dollar sports store scope, and is OK for 20-25x views while traveling by car. Have not managed a 50mm Nikon type travel scope yet, but the 60mm does fit into a carry on bag. The teouble with air travel is the tripod. I have travel tripod but it turned out to be 5 inches too short for thecheap scope. But cheap scope is better than no scope.
 
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Could you ask them to send you the scope against a credit card,and try the scope before closing the deal.?
The original Vortex Razor beating the ED82? Dont see any reason to happen except correction differences between units . I dont see any reason for the New Razor to be better or worse than the older Razor either.
 
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