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Considering buying an Opticron scope (1 Viewer)

P

PeteTheBloke

Member
I like the look of the Opticron gear and they have a wide range of prices so
I should be able to match my pocket. The problem I have is that it might be
difficult to get to a supplier where I live so I could be choosing based on
internet reviews.

I bought a 10x42 BGA monocular + 2.5x extender earlier this year and the CA
is shocking. Should I let this put me off Opticron altogether? Or is the ED
glass a lot better?

Incidentally, the 2.5x extender fits over my RSPB-branded binoculars which
gives me a rather handy bonus "telescope".
 
I bought my ES 80 ED from warehouse express without trying one out in a shop first. My only complaint is that in almost any condition I've tried it it's always just good enough not to justify an upgrade... basically it is a generally pukka scope.

I have a pair of 8x42 DBA Oasis binoculars and the same goes for them. I had bad CA with a pair of Opticron Verano binoculars, but with the DBA Oasis or the scope I have never noticed a problem.
 
Stoggler said:
Excuse the ignorance, but what is CA?

Ta
Click to expand...

Hi Stroggler,
CA is Chromatic Abberation (as far as I know, lol). From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration:

"In optics, chromatic aberration (also called achromatism) is the failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It occurs because lenses have a different refractive index for different wavelengths of light (the dispersion of the lens). The refractive index decreases with increasing wavelength.

Chromatic aberration manifests itself as "fringes" of color along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image, because each color in the optical spectrum cannot be focused at a single common point on the optical axis."

Hope that helps :t:
 
Yep. That's CA. I knew it could be a problem in photography
but never really worried with binoculars. Then I got the Opticron
monocular and was really shocked at how bad it can be. When I
look at a bird on a wire, with a bright sky behind, I can't tell the
difference between a rook and a sparrow (OK, that's a bit of joke
but it's very hard to separate a blackbird from a starling; and a
mistle from a song thrush would be impossible). In spite of the
awful CA, this little scope gives a beautiful bright and pleasing
image when contrast is fairly even. It's a weird problem.

Thanks for the reassurance Guizotia.
 
PeteTheBloke said:
I like the look of the Opticron gear and they have a wide range of prices so
I should be able to match my pocket. The problem I have is that it might be
difficult to get to a supplier where I live so I could be choosing based on
internet reviews.

I bought a 10x42 BGA monocular + 2.5x extender earlier this year and the CA
is shocking. Should I let this put me off Opticron altogether? Or is the ED
glass a lot better?

Incidentally, the 2.5x extender fits over my RSPB-branded binoculars which
gives me a rather handy bonus "telescope".
Click to expand...

I also bought an Opticron scope from internet without trying it out first. It wa the GS665 ED and SDL zoom eyepiece. Great piece of kit.
I now use ES80 ED and HDF zoom, another great piece of kit.
Neither of these scopes is far behind the best I think. In terms of value for money they're top.
I used to have Verano 8x32s too but I started noticing CA after about 2 years and once I could see it, I couldn't stop seeing it. So if you're prone to suffering from CA then perhaps the Veranos aren't for you.

I had other Opticron kit about 25 years ago and didn't have any probs with any of that either.
Generally I would say that Opticron are suppliers of quality value for money gear.
If you decide how much you have to spend and find out what kit you can get for that price, order some. You usually have at least a week to send it back if you don't like it.
I've never tried this but you could order a few things to try against each other and return what you don't like. Maybe a good idea to ask the shop if they mind if you do this, perhaps?

Cheers,
Martin
 
PeteTheBloke said:
I bought a 10x42 BGA monocular + 2.5x extender earlier this year and the CA
is shocking. Should I let this put me off Opticron altogether? Or is the ED
glass a lot better?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't let this put you off Opticron. Any CA visible in your binoculars will have been magnified by the booster. CA that won't have been easily visible will probably become more visible, and the booster itself might well not be that great optically.

I don't think I've tried opticron equipment that hasn't been great value for money yet.
 
Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. It sounds like
Opticron has a loyal following and that's a pretty good recommendation.

Martin has a good point about returns - I suppose it's reasonable enough
anyway, when you're spending hundreds of pounds.

AC/DC, the CA is at 10x. I've not experimented much with the booster.
Until I discovered I could use it my bins, I was a bit annoyed with myself
for spending the extra money to be honest.
 
Just a quick follow up. Managed to try one of the Opticron ED scopes and was very impressed, so I'm getting the 665 ED.

I also got a look through a Leica scope on the same day - it was good enough to make me cry that I can't possibly afford one!
 
Just read your question Pete, I,ve used a Opticron HR 66 ED with a Fixed 35mm ww Eyepiece and it,s excellant. This model is a couple of years old now but I won,t move on kos it still stands with alot of the dearer scopes out there.
Great scope, :t:
Bellow.
 
PeteTheBloke said:
I also got a look through a Leica scope on the same day - it was good enough to make me cry that I can't possibly afford one!
Click to expand...

Commiserations Pete. I too know that pain! ;)
There is a rule that we have both broken- Never look through optics you can't afford. It makes you unhappy with the ones you can afford.

The GS665 ED is a good scope though. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. What eyepiece did you go for? I had the SDL zoom. It was good up to about 30/35x but deteriorated after that. But then most do I think.
I would really like to see the zooms on the latest Leica, Swaro Kowa & Nikons but dare I break the rule and risk being optically unhappy for the rest of my days.
Must check my lottery ticket :t:
 
PeteTheBloke said:
Just a quick follow up. Managed to try one of the Opticron ED scopes and was very impressed, so I'm getting the 665 ED.

I also got a look through a Leica scope on the same day - it was good enough to make me cry that I can't possibly afford one!
Click to expand...

Hi PTB,

Make sure you take advantage of the retail offer from Opticron of the Free Traveller Carbon Fibre Tripod when buying your GS665 ED.

Details here;
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/promotions.htm

Rob B :)
 
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