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kowa 25-60x zoom vs 30x Wide Eye Piece (1 Viewer)

V

Vespobuteo

Well-known member
The latest 25-60x zoom seems like a true gem,
still I'm used to fixed eyepieces, and tend to prefer them.

Is there any point choosing the 30x wide eyepiece today?

Compared to the old 20-60x zoom you got the wider view and a bit higher transmission for what I have heard. But compared to the new 25-60x zoom, the FOV is marginally larger 2.4 vs 2.25 degrees for the Zoom at 30x.

CA might be even lower in the zoom (due to the 2 XD elements) then in the 30x?

Transmission would probably be better in the 30x but with the zoom you get a bit larger exit pupil at lowest mag.

What about the viewing comfort? Is the 30x distinctly better? AFOV seems pretty extreme for the 30x.

What EP do you prefer?
Is there anyone still using the 30x on the 770/880 series?

(I'm not a digiscoper so that argument is not of any weight for me.)
 
I have now tried the 30W EP, not for long but, very nice eyepiece, a bit better eye relief than the 25-60x, but also slightly more edge-CA, depth of field is a bit less, (30x vs 25x). Overall a very comfortable view.
After the release of the 25-60x wide zoom, maybe the 30x is a bit more redundant. But a good 30x fixed eye piece is always a joy to use. And on a limited budget I think it would be a very good choice.
 
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Vespobuteo said:
I have now tried the 30W EP, not for long but, very nice eyepiece, a bit better eye relief than the 25-60x, but also slightly more edge-CA, depth of field is a bit less, (30x vs 25x). Overall a very comfortable view.
After the release of the 25-60x wide zoom, maybe the 30x is a bit more redundant. But a good 30x fixed eye piece is always a joy to use. And on a limited budget I think it would be a very good choice.
Click to expand...
I agree, I use the 25-60 more but when I feel I only need 25x I always use the 25x fixed eyepiece instead of the zoom. The fixed 25x with its huge ocular lens, combined with the long eye relief makes a really nice view. .... gwen
 
Although I have no experience with the latest zoom I own the "old" zoom and the 30x wide and use it with the TSN 883. Practically I always find the 30x wide the excellent choice: super sharp, large FOV and much less expensive than the zoom (even than the old one). And although digiscoping is not in play now for the topicstarter it's still the best EP for it.

In short: I use the 30x in 99% of the time and it's in 100% of the time enough.
 
Bit late to the party on this one. For those of you who have a 25.60 Kowa zoom. Would you buy the zoom again instead of fixed eyepieces and just use the zoom? And for those of you who have both, if you had the zoom at 30x and a fixed 30x is there much difference?

The reason I'm asking is the reviews of the zoom say it's brilliant, but the general consensus it that zooms, not matter who makes them are not as good as prime lenses.
I'm asking it on here because the Kowa 25x60 it probably the best zoom there is.


Ron
 
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Ron,

Looks like no owners are answering, so I'll give my brief experience with the Kowa 25-60x zoom. I borrowed a friend's for an afternoon because I was considering adapting it for use on an astronomical refractor. I quickly decided it was not a good candidate to replace the Baader Hyperion zoom. Both were equally sharp over their zoom ranges, but the Kowa was visibly dimmer at the same magnification, perhaps in part from having more glass to air surfaces and in part from using less efficient coatings. It also had considerable barrel distortion, which I thought I might eventually find unpleasant. The 20-60 also has barrel distortion. I've never seen the 30X.

Henry
 
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Thanks Henry, I e-mailed Baader and they didn't think their zoom would fit my scope. They said they are a push in fit?
Is that correct?

Ron
 
Hi Ron,

yes, the Baader Hyperion zoom is an Astro EP with one of the standard astro sizes - 1.25". These just slide into a receiver of the given diameter and are secured with a screw.

The Kowa bodies have a proprietary bayonet mount plus some male and female threads around it for accessories. Either the bayonet mount or one of the threads can be used to fit an adapter to use other eyepieces - for example 1.25" astro ones.

Here is a thread from some bf members who built their own adapters:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=105037
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=290855

And I found one available commercially from a website in spain:

http://www.digiscopingadapters.es/tienda/adaptador-ocular-astronomico-kowa-1-25/

But please note, that even with an adapter to mechanically fit an astro EP to your scope it does not mean that you will be able to get the combination to focus from a usable minimum range to infinity - so for experimenting either try to borrow the desired EP first or order from a store with a good return policy.

Joachim
 
The Baader hyperion would not reach infinity in the majority of birding spotting scopes,even if they take astro eyepieces..The pentax Pf,or Celestron regals wont reach infinity with the baader zoom,unless some modification is performed to the eyepiece.I was very succesful modifying the eyepiece threads to fit my kowa 823 threaded collar,so the eyepiece sits flush with the scope's body with no gap..this allows for something like two diopters past infinity at 24mm and 3.5/4 in the rest of the range...
 

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Baader say these are a push in fit, 31.75mm. My scope had 35mm threaded mount. not that much different.
Would it be possible to wrap some tape around it just to try it? I don't quite understand this "push in fit"
I've never bought any optical equipment that has a push fit, how are you supposed to stop it falling out?

Is it because these are designed for astrascopes that you don't carry around?

Ron
 
henry link said:
Ron,

Looks like no owners are answering, so I'll give my brief experience with the Kowa 25-60x zoom. I borrowed a friend's for an afternoon because I was considering adapting it for use on an astronomical refractor. I quickly decided it was not a good candidate to replace the Baader Hyperion zoom. Both were equally sharp over their zoom ranges, but the Kowa was visibly dimmer at the same magnification, perhaps in part from having more glass to air surfaces and in part from using less efficient coatings. It also had considerable barrel distortion, which I thought I might eventually find unpleasant. The 20-60 also has barrel distortion. I've never seen the 30X.

Henry
Click to expand...
Ron ... I would try the zoom for yourself if you can, everyone sees things different. In my case my experience with the Kowa zoom (25-60x) was the complete opposite of Henry's when using the Kowa 77 or 88. Its the only zoom now I would ever consider using on the Kowa 77 or 88 or any other scope. Their fixed eyepieces are also great but I found to my eyes the zoom did everything just as good optically .... gwen
 
Thanks for that, I've just ordered one, should be here on Friday. I'm going fit it to my scope using tape just while I try it out. If it works well, I'll make an adapter, if not, I'll send it back. Am I right in thinking, as long as it's flush with the mount and central, it should work?

?

Ron
 
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giosblue said:
Baader say these are a push in fit, 31.75mm. My scope had 35mm threaded mount. not that much different.
Would it be possible to wrap some tape around it just to try it? I don't quite understand this "push in fit"
I've never bought any optical equipment that has a push fit, how are you supposed to stop it falling out?

Is it because these are designed for astrascopes that you don't carry around?

Ron
Click to expand...

Ron,

The astronomical system works by inserting the 31.75mm eyepiece barrel into a sleeve on the telescope. The telescope sleeve will have a locking system of some sort, sometimes a thumb screw or a locking collet.

It's possible to completely remove the 31.75mm (1.25") tube from the Baader zoom and use one of two female threads at the base of the eyepiece body (35mm and 45mm) to attach the eyepiece to some spotting scope bodies. If you're sure your scope has male 35mm threads then the Baader could work if the scope can reach infinity focus. Unfortunately, as far as I know all the current Kowa scopes have male 41mm or 54mm threads, or female 41mm threads on the bodies. I haven't found a commercial adapter ring that will adapt the Baader to any of those threads, but mayoayo has apparently figured out something that works. What is that exactly, mayoayo?

Henry
 
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Henry....I removed the inner ring from the baader's locking collar and had the female 35mm threads machined to 41mm to fit the kowa's external threads ...Now only fits kowa,but thats ok ,..That ring is the cause of the Baader zoom sitting too high on most spotting scopes,It is about 1 cm thick.If it was only 5mm I think the baader would reach infinity in most spotters..The collar,that is attached to the eyepiece's body ,has a thread to fit this ring im talking about,but im not sure of the size right now,i would have to unscrew the ring to measure them..it is possible that a commercial adapter exists to fit the collar,whatever size thread it has, to M41 or M54...
 
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You may remember Mayoayo I had an adapter from you to fit Nikon eyepieces to my Kowa 824. I use the Nikon MkII zoom on it. Do you think it would be worth trying the Baader on it as it would be nice to have a wider field? What power does it yield on the Kowa?

How hard was it to modify the Baader to the Kowa. Do you possibly have any pictures or can explain a bit more what parts need to be modified? Thanks.
 
I just acquired a new Prominar 883 with the 25-60 zoom. Non-stop rain has kept me indoors but, and it's a big but, I tested the scope through a few different windows (usually a very bad idea) in my home looking at targets 10-200 meters distant. I'm truly amazed at its overall performance and I look forward to putting it through its paces tomorrow in the great outdoors.

Indoor star tests didn't show any problems, something limited use verified. I'm comparing the 883 to my Nikon ED82A with the 25-75X zoom. The Nikon has always been excellent up to 75X so I think it's a good comparison scope. So far, the Kowa (25-60) is brighter, wider and every bit as sharp as any scope I've seen. Chromatic aberration is NOT VISIBLE, something I'm certain contributes significantly to the final image presented to the eye. I considered all the Swaros but CA is obvious and I really don't like CA.

More in a few days.

PS
My wife, an unencumbered observer, simply loved the view.
 
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Typical, as soon as you buy any new optics they act like a cloud magnet.
Same for me in the NW UK, never stops raining at the moment.
Post us a user review when you finally get out.Lol
 
Good News...
After a full day of observing I am extremely impressed with the 883 and the 25-60 zoom. The scope is definitely a keeper that I'll summarize shortly.

Bad News...
At the end of the day, as I looked at a clearing sky, I noticed three small black spots off-center around 8 and 10 o'clock. They only appear when the zoom is near the 60X limit. Let's say they become visible between 55X-60X. The problem is they are in the center field AND, now that I know they exist, I cannot ignore them. I've contacted Kowa via email and voice mail and I'm awaiting a reply. I'll report on my customer service experience.

883/25-60 zoom observations.
The overall image is exceptionally bright and crisp.
Very good eye relief...no complaints with eyeglasses.
Super sharp edge-to-edge and very relaxing on the eye.
I cannot see any CA in the image.
Colors are true, extremely vivid and natural.
Contrast is excellent.
Dual focus knob(s) work beautifully, especially for my aging eyes!
Parfocal from 25-60X; really simplifies viewing.

The 883/25-60 "image" is as good as I've seen and I'm demanding. It snaps into focus so quickly I was caught off guard the first time I used it. I absolutely love the fine focus and doubt I will ever return to a collar focus. I'm keeping our ED82A but the 883 is the new king of the hill in our house.

More to come...
 
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