Hermann
Well-known member
Just a quick note:
I have been writing for quite some time now that I'm entirely happy with my 60mm Nikon EDIIIA and, on those occasions when low weight and small size are important, with my ED50. However, I finally got myself an ED82 a few weeks ago. The price was pretty good, and I've got all the eyepieces I wanted to use with the ED82 anyway. My reasoning was I might use it on trips when I won't be walking long distances and during the winter when the high magnifications might come in handy, although I mainly wanted to get a new toy ... :king:
I was wrong. After some extensive testing to make sure I got a good specimen (which I did, the star test is almost perfect as far as I can tell), I did some extensive comparisons with my ED IIIA, also a very good specimen, and the differences are rather clearcut. Much clearer in fact than I thought possible, and they aren't just visible at high magnifications but also at fairly low magnifications, using both the zoom and several wideangle eyepieces in side-by-side comparisons. It's not just a question of the larger exit pupil at 25x or 30x, the image is definitely sharper and has more detail, at least to my eyes. The image of the ED IIIA is really nice, but the image of the ED82 is even nicer. The larger objective lens *does* make a visible difference at any magnification. In effect this mirrors the difference between the ED IIIA and the ED50 which I always thought was pretty obvious in direct comparisons.
Now, this isn't something entirely new; Kimmo came to the same conclusion way back in one of his excellent Alula reviews. He was absolutely right. I won't be selling my ED IIIA though because I don't think I can stand carrying the ED82 on all my trips, but I think the ED82 will get a heck of a lot more use than I thought.
Hermann
I have been writing for quite some time now that I'm entirely happy with my 60mm Nikon EDIIIA and, on those occasions when low weight and small size are important, with my ED50. However, I finally got myself an ED82 a few weeks ago. The price was pretty good, and I've got all the eyepieces I wanted to use with the ED82 anyway. My reasoning was I might use it on trips when I won't be walking long distances and during the winter when the high magnifications might come in handy, although I mainly wanted to get a new toy ... :king:
I was wrong. After some extensive testing to make sure I got a good specimen (which I did, the star test is almost perfect as far as I can tell), I did some extensive comparisons with my ED IIIA, also a very good specimen, and the differences are rather clearcut. Much clearer in fact than I thought possible, and they aren't just visible at high magnifications but also at fairly low magnifications, using both the zoom and several wideangle eyepieces in side-by-side comparisons. It's not just a question of the larger exit pupil at 25x or 30x, the image is definitely sharper and has more detail, at least to my eyes. The image of the ED IIIA is really nice, but the image of the ED82 is even nicer. The larger objective lens *does* make a visible difference at any magnification. In effect this mirrors the difference between the ED IIIA and the ED50 which I always thought was pretty obvious in direct comparisons.
Now, this isn't something entirely new; Kimmo came to the same conclusion way back in one of his excellent Alula reviews. He was absolutely right. I won't be selling my ED IIIA though because I don't think I can stand carrying the ED82 on all my trips, but I think the ED82 will get a heck of a lot more use than I thought.
Hermann