Opticron HR66 GA ED and a bit of iscoping (1 Viewer)

Hi. Just thought I would add an opinion on Opticron Scopes. I have never regretted the purchase of mine, and have even had owners of Alpha scopes comment positively on image quality when I have been on a bird, and rather than try to explain it's whereabouts have invited them to look through mine.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-equipment-opticron.html

I also have become quite addicted to digiscoping using my iPhone held to the eyepiece. I did purchase a dedicated adapter, but found it a little fiddly.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/new-gadget.html

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/...dated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=16


I have now perfected hand holding the phone to the eyepiece, and can do this quite quickly and proficiently. I find it ideal for record shots as i always have the phone in my pocket, and the quality has suprised me at times in some quite gruesome consitions. There are plenty of examples on my Blog if anyone is interested.

Nice website and pics. I, too, enjoy using my IPhone to take pics and video through my scope. Here are a couple I just took tonight.

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/73029961@N07/8578851384/

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/73029961@N07/8578866660/

Moocher said:

Hi. Just thought I would add an opinion on Opticron Scopes. I have never regretted the purchase of mine, and have even had owners of Alpha scopes comment positively on image quality when I have been on a bird, and rather than try to explain it's whereabouts have invited them to look through mine.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-equipment-opticron.html

I also have become quite addicted to digiscoping using my iPhone held to the eyepiece. I did purchase a dedicated adapter, but found it a little fiddly.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/new-gadget.html

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/...dated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=16


I have now perfected hand holding the phone to the eyepiece, and can do this quite quickly and proficiently. I find it ideal for record shots as i always have the phone in my pocket, and the quality has suprised me at times in some quite gruesome consitions. There are plenty of examples on my Blog if anyone is interested.

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Moocher,
Nice to know you are pleased with your Opticron HR66ED. I have just purchased the HR80ED with SDLv2 and S O C. I buy and sell bins and scopes all the time and have owned just about all the top bins and scopes over the last 25,years or so. My current binoculars are the Zeiss 10x42 HT and when I look from the bins to the scope there is no impression that your down grading the image the view through the opticron is bright,clear and sharp with a neutral colour rendition.
One of the tests I do for image sharpness is to read the british standard number on a UK registration plate ie a car number plate.This is BSAU 145d I read this on a car that is parked 67,yards away. Last sunday conditions were perfect for such a test and on full zoom ,thats X72 on the HR80 I could read it without any difficulty I had never read it so easy before on any scope I have tested this way. The letter (d ) at the end of BSAU 145(d) is 2mm long.
Will have a go at taking a few pictures with my smart phone,yours look pretty good hand held.
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Thanks for the great comments guys and hope that you continue to enjoy your Opticron equipment.

If you like using your Smartphone for taking images through your Opticron scope then keep an eye on the Opticron Home Page for the imminent release of our Smartphone adapters

Chris Galvin
Opticron

I will Chris. Look forward to seeing what Opticron has to offer for smart phone digiscoping.
This really is a growth area in birding as most of us carry these phones now. The light gathering capabilities of the iPhone sensor, obviously helped immensely by the light transmission through the scope surprised me on many occasions. There are a few record shots I have taken at range in poor light with scope and phone that have been better than my bridge camera could manage!

FrankD, I like your Links. That's another bonus of smartphones, the HD video. Again, through the scope it can be great.

Perhaps we should start a smartphone bird photography thread?

SUPPRESSOR said:

Moocher,
Nice to know you are pleased with your Opticron HR66ED. I have just purchased the HR80ED with SDLv2 and S O C. I buy and sell bins and scopes all the time and have owned just about all the top bins and scopes over the last 25,years or so. My current binoculars are the Zeiss 10x42 HT and when I look from the bins to the scope there is no impression that your down grading the image the view through the opticron is bright,clear and sharp with a neutral colour rendition.
One of the tests I do for image sharpness is to read the british standard number on a UK registration plate ie a car number plate.This is BSAU 145d I read this on a car that is parked 67,yards away. Last sunday conditions were perfect for such a test and on full zoom ,thats X72 on the HR80 I could read it without any difficulty I had never read it so easy before on any scope I have tested this way. The letter (d ) at the end of BSAU 145(d) is 2mm long.
Will have a go at taking a few pictures with my smart phone,yours look pretty good hand held.
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I agree! I compared the HR66 ED against the top players at an optical dealer prior to purchase. Had them set up side by side. I was there to make a purchase and was willing to put my hand in my pocket. The image though the HR66 "Wowed" me. I then expected the Alphas to completely blow me away. They showed very little difference in reality. In fact, in ideal viewing conditions I would go as far as to say, I personally could see no discernible difference!

The optics dealer was very honest and helpful. He believed any benefit would only be seen in difficult viewing conditions. He believes that in poor viewing conditions the Alphas would give about 10% improvement in image. I believe that most of us could detect a 10% difference in resolution, sharpness, contrast without any training. I still have never found myself wanting or disappointed with my choice.

10% better for around £1000 extra? I couldn't justify the additional cost after direct comparison. I would recommend to anyone that before they part with hard earned for the Alpha they fancy, compare it side by side with an HR Opticron. You may well be very surprised, and save some serious cash.

Chris Galvin said:

Thanks for the great comments guys and hope that you continue to enjoy your Opticron equipment.

If you like using your Smartphone for taking images through your Opticron scope then keep an eye on the Opticron Home Page for the imminent release of our Smartphone adapters

Chris Galvin
Opticron

Click to expand...

Chris,
Spent the afternoon in the bird-hide,wet,windy,overcast,but, looking through the HR80, images were bright,sharp and that so pleasing neutral rendition. Again going from the Zeiss HT's to the scope they compliment each other very well.My birding mate thought so too he has the Zeiss 10x42 HT's too and a Swarvovski 80ed. Like me he rates Opticron very highly.
Build quality is superb with to my mind the perfect focuser.
Enough praise for one post!!
Well done for a great product.
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Smartphone Adaptors

Any news on when we can expect to see Opticron's smartphone adaptors available to purchase?

I too have recently purchased an Opticron HR66 ED scope with SDLv2 eyepiece and am more than pleased with it. The image quality and sharpness is superb, the build quality appears to be reassuringly robust and the focussing mechanism feels smooth. I tried a quick photo using my smartphone handheld with the eyecup fully extended and was pleasantly surprised at how good the result was. This is more than adequate for the times where you are not sure of a bird id and need a quick picture for later reference. All in all I am really pleased with my purchase.