Nikon EDG 85 Fieldscope - any good? (1 Viewer)

Hi guys, I’m looking at taking my first foray into spotting scopes and the Nikon EDG range has caught my eye, problem is I really cannot find that many reviews about them. From what I can tell, they seem to be being phased out in favour of the monarch range?
I guess my questions are, is the EDG 85 any good? It’s getting old now so I wonder how it compares to newer scopes, like the monarch range and others.
Do you know if Nikon plan to upgrade/re-release the EDG series?
The top end of my budget is around £2k but i’d like to get away for less, can you recommend any other scopes that are better in the price range?
I’ll mostly be using the scope from my apartment/balcony for viewing birds, boats and marine life.
Many thanks in advance!

JiminyKricket said:

Hi guys, I’m looking at taking my first foray into spotting scopes and the Nikon EDG range has caught my eye, problem is I really cannot find that many reviews about them. From what I can tell, they seem to be being phased out in favour of the monarch range?
I guess my questions are, is the EDG 85 any good? It’s getting old now so I wonder how it compares to newer scopes, like the monarch range and others.
Do you know if Nikon plan to upgrade/re-release the EDG series?
The top end of my budget is around £2k but i’d like to get away for less, can you recommend any other scopes that are better in the price range?
I’ll mostly be using the scope from my apartment/balcony for viewing birds, boats and marine life.
Many thanks in advance!

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Hi and welcome to BF

You won't do better than this http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=352230

A great scope from a respected poster. Don't bother with the Edg scope this is a bargain

Seconded,

For the price Sancho is willing to part with his Meopta, you will not be able to get anything nearly as good. Optically this will beat the EDG 85 and is significantly more compact and lighter too.

Kimmo

kabsetz said:

Seconded,

For the price Sancho is willing to part with his Meopta, you will not be able to get anything nearly as good. Optically this will beat the EDG 85 and is significantly more compact and lighter too.

Kimmo

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Seems like the Meopta is a pretty good price, scope has great reviews. First off let me say I do not purchase a binocular or scope because of its following or name brand, its only because of what I see when handled or looked thru. I own the EDG 65. Have not had the chance to look thru an EDG 85 or the Meopta just the HD version but comparing the Meopta to an EDG is like comparing an apple to a orange. Both scopes vary in weight, size & construction materials with the EDG having a wider range of eyepieces. Optically having used the Nikon EDG 65 with both the zoom & a number of their fixed eyepieces I am familiar with the glass, eyepieces and the super build construction of a EDG scope even if it is a 65mm not the 85 version. So believing the Meopta will beat the Nikon EDG optically ... with both scopes using their own eyepieces , fixed power or with same zoom range powers I highly doubt it. I would have to see it to believe it before I said the Meopta optically outperformed the Nikon EDG 85 in any category other than weight/size. The Meopta being more compact/lighter I won't dispute but perform optically better ?

Firstly, let me just say thanks for your quick responses, its appreciated.

The Meopta certainly does look a good buy, the problem is though that as i will be viewing mainly from my apartment which is in an elevated position, i had rather thought a straight scope would be more suited for my needs, although being 6' 4" i guess an angled scope would hopefully mean less bending over!

Also, noting that weight and size are largely irrelevant as it will rarely move position, would you still recommend the Meopta? I should point out that i can get the EDG 85 for 1200GBP brand new, minus the eyepiece.

I still don't understand why the EDG 85 has so few reviews.. i guess it just had very poor sales?

JiminyKricket said:

Firstly, let me just say thanks for your quick responses, its appreciated.

I still don't understand why the EDG 85 has so few reviews.. i guess it just had very poor sales?

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Bingo! ... At the time a lot of people could not or would not justify the higher cost so lower sales and from what I have read few sales in the USA/ few dealers compared to the more aggressive marketing in Europe & the rest of the world. At the time when I first saw the EDG scope introduced with the possibility of finding a dealer here in the states, I then saw the price of the eyepieces reaching prices near what the scope body alone cost ... ouch. Who would or could justify the EDG except professionals using it for digiscoping. Also the Kowa 88 could be had cheaper in many places so I think that also did not help sales. Knowing what I know now and having owned both of the current 77/88 Kowa's I would buy the 65 EDG over the 77 Kowa. If I ever go back to a larger objective scope I would purchase the Nikon EDG 85 over another 88 Kowa. I liked the Zoom much better on the EDG then the Kowa even though I did not use it and as far as the many fixed eyepieces the EDG offers ... its a fixed eyepiece users dream not only for people like me who love eyepieces with huge oculars(seen in the below picture with a 40mm coin) with long eye relief but also those who would use the EDG scope for digiscoping. Having said all this and reading the opinions of others here, we all see things different . For what it is worth, I would buy the EDG 85 over the Meopta. Both great scopes and I think many here would gladly own either one.

I got both the meopta s2 and Nikon edg 85. You would't go wrong with the edg especially if you got it for a good price. I've tried them with same eyepiece on both and they are very close optically, both are excellent. The biggest difference is the size and weight. Edg is heavier and bigger, but i like the ergonomics of it. Definitely a very good scope.

JiminyKricket said:

Firstly, let me just say thanks for your quick responses, its appreciated.

The Meopta certainly does look a good buy, the problem is though that as i will be viewing mainly from my apartment which is in an elevated position, i had rather thought a straight scope would be more suited for my needs, although being 6' 4" i guess an angled scope would hopefully mean less bending over!

Also, noting that weight and size are largely irrelevant as it will rarely move position, would you still recommend the Meopta? I should point out that i can get the EDG 85 for 1200GBP brand new, minus the eyepiece.

I still don't understand why the EDG 85 has so few reviews.. i guess it just had very poor sales?

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Hi,

a straight scope needs a tripod high enough to get the scope to eye level to use comfortably, an angled one can be used at different elevations with only minor inconvenience, which means you can leave the tripod column down for extra stability in windy conditions and using the scope is a group is much improved.

Regarding price, if the EDG is ex EP - be prepared to drop a few hundred quid for the corresponding zoom EP, which might make the Meopta deal look better.
I personally cannot comment on Meopta vs EDG as I haven't yet been able to look through either, but from those who have seem to have liked the view with both. The difference is that the Meopta is priced quite reasonably when new and is lighter, unlike the EDG.

If I was looking for the best view from a fixed position, size and weight not an issue, I would look at astro scopes too.

Joachim

jring said:

Hi,

If I was looking for the best view from a fixed position, size and weight not an issue, I would look at astro scopes too.

Joachim

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Yes, I agree. You could purchase a really high end piece of astronomy for the price of any scope discussed on this forum. While restricted to 1.25" eyepieces for spotting scopes discussed here, one could use 2" eyepieces. If only I could turn back the years, but being a senior citizen using a telescope with a large aperture objective would just waste most of the available light my eye could use anyway. If I were using my eyes only from a high vantage point inside or not, I would pony up the $4,000 and purchase the Kowa Highlander Prominar model with the Fluorite glass. I have never had the chance to look thru one, I can only imagine what that view could provide using two eyes instead of one.

gcole said:

Yes, I agree. You could purchase a really high end piece of astronomy for the price of any scope discussed on this forum. While restricted to 1.25" eyepieces for spotting scopes discussed here, one could use 2" eyepieces. If only I could turn back the years, but being a senior citizen using a telescope with a large aperture objective would just waste most of the available light my eye could use anyway. If I were using my eyes only from a high vantage point inside or not, I would pony up the $4,000 and purchase the Kowa Highlander Prominar model with the Fluorite glass. I have never had the chance to look thru one, I can only imagine what that view could provide using two eyes instead of one.

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Had the chance to look through that Prominar at the recent Cape May fall festival. It was positioned for seawatching, along with other Kowa, Zeiss, Swaro and Celestron scopes.
The Highlander gave hands down the best view, even better than the Swaro binocular scope offering, superbly clear and sharp. The only quibble was that getting the ocular position right was challenging for me, my nose got in the way.

Hi,

I agree, Highlanders are nice - although my best bino view with refracting optics was a 120mm APM bino with two Docter 12.5mm EPs under a fairly dark sky - not mine unfortunately...

Joachim

Hi guys, just as an update i quite fortuitously happened across a second hand listing for the exact combo i was after; the Nikon EDG 85, with FEP 20-60 eyepiece and FSA-L2 digiscoping attachment for less than the price of the Meopta. I take delivery this weekend so i'll try and take some pics and give it a little review in the coming week/s.

Thanks for all your advice.

JiminyKricket said:

Hi guys, just as an update i quite fortuitously happened across a second hand listing for the exact combo i was after; the Nikon EDG 85, with FEP 20-60 eyepiece and FSA-L2 digiscoping attachment for less than the price of the Meopta. I take delivery this weekend so i'll try and take some pics and give it a little review in the coming week/s.

Thanks for all your advice.

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Nice choice. Of all the scopes I have had or handled the Nikon EDG's zoom eyepiece was at least for my eyes the most user friendly/ sharpest to use right up to the max 48x power with my EDG 65 version. Before I owned my EDG I had the Kowa 77 & the 88 Prominar with the current wide zoom. Up to that point I thought the Kowa's wide angle zoom could not get any better for me til I tried the EDG zoom. If you like the zoom on your 85 version wait til you try some of their fixed eyepieces. The best deals whether new or used I see are on Ebay. One other thing that you will notice that stands out if it came with your purchase, is the carry/tripod friendly user carry case. I have yet to see any other better( built or with more different ways to use) case come with any other spotting scope. The case alone looks like it could survive anything.