Eye relief 30x vs. 38x on ED82; solid tripod? (1 Viewer)

First of all, sorry for my stumbling English.

After years of frequently frustrating experience with an old Optolyth 22-60x70 collapsible scope and some other years without a scope – the Optolyth convinced me of the superior mileage I got from my Leica Trinovids 8x42 and 10x25 – I decided to give the Nikon ED82A a try. Today the parcel arrived with the scope and two eyepieces, the 30x MC and the 25-75x zoom. I examined both on the ED82A from afternoon until darkness and concluded that I don’t like the zoom: Sharp and contrasty, colours are right on, but the eye relief and the FOV are poor in comparison to the small and handy 30x wide angle. (I wear glasses.) Moreover, the zoom ring is narrow and stiff so the zoom loosens easily when I change magnifications. But the optical quality of the ED82A/30xMC combination is simply great!! I also love the large focusing ring and the overall build quality. Compared to the Optolyth, the Nikon plays in a totally different league, like the Leica Apo-Televid 77 I use sometimes. The tripod connection plate is ways too small, but, well, so is the price of the scope. I think I will keep the Nikon! :t:

But I still have two questions:

- The 15.1mm eye relief of the 30x, while sufficient, is not too generous. The 38x eyepiece offers 17.9mm instead – is the difference perceptible in the real world?

- I was really disappointed of my tripod, a like-new Manfrotto 055 triminor with the centerpost removed to gain stability and equipped with the (much too slow) Manfrotto 410 junior geared head. The whole assembly is awfully shaky, even with the 30x! :eek!: (Don’t even think of 75x… :C) Would a wooden tripod like the Berlebach solve the problem? (I cannot afford a carbon Gitzo in the foreseeable future.) If so, is the Berlebach 520 video head a good choice?

Thanks and kind regards, Walther

Congratulations on your new ED82, Walther. I also love this scope (and changed from Swarovski HD!). I have the zoom, the 30xw and the 38xw. I don´t find the eye-relief difference noticeable, but I do notice the slight loss of light, sharpness and FOV from 30x to 38x. I think the combination of eyepieces you have is perfect....I hardly ever need more than 30x, and carry the zoom only when I think I´ll really need it. I have a standard Manfrotto 128RC head, with 190D tripod, and they work fine for me. :t:

Thanks for your helpful reply, Sancho! I will now definitely keep the ED82A/30xw combo and after some further testing maybe return the MCII zoom because at the moment I cannot justify the additional expense. And perhaps Nikon will surprise us with an updated wide angle zoom in the near future, who knows? But even if not I can still buy the zoom later. This would save me money today for a vibration-safe tripod because my alloy Manfrotto is just not up to the Nikon's level.
Best regards, Walther

hohoho welcome to the club forent :king: