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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

do I need ED glass? (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

As I have no intrest in digiscoping, do I really need ED glass?

It depends on how important image esthetics are to you. In general, particularly at higher magnifications, ED glass provides a cleaner crisper image than non-ED, with little or no color fringing. Personally (and I'm not a digiscoper) I would always go for ED glass if my budget would stand it.
 
I have two main scopes, one a Pentax ED, the other a non-ED Kowa. The Kowa is extremely sharp. It does have fringing but its image is so bright and sharp that it's not a huge issue. On the other hand, I used to have a non-ED Bausch and Lomb Discoverer (the cool looking all in one guys) and it very bad CA and was not very sharp. So if you get a non-ED, make sure it's sharp!
 
When I was looking for a new scope I was rather sceptical about the value of ED glass. I tested a non ED Kowa against a Nikon ED50 and at minimum magnification there wasn't a huge difference. As soon as I zoomed in, however, the image on the Kowa seemed to fall apart with terrible purple fringing, especially at the outer edges. For me it was no contest.

The only way is to test them yourself and if a non ED scope stands the zoom test to your own satisfaction, buy it. If not I think the ED glass is worth the extra.

Ron
 
Hello all,

As I have no intrest in digiscoping, do I really need ED glass?

ED glass comes into its own in low light levels so if you bird at dusk and dawn you will see a benefit. In good light conditions the difference is hardly noticeable. At dusk and dawn can see more through my scope than I can naked eye. Too dark to see sometimes yet through the scope you can still see gulls in a roost. Swarovski ED80 the new one.

Joan
 
The best thing to do is to compare a standard and ED version of the same scope, this is the easiet way to see the effect of ED glass. I've done this on a number of occassions with various makes of scope and have always found the ED versions to give a noticeably better image. For me ED is well worth paying for even if you're not digiscoping with it.
 
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