freediver111
Member
So I replaced my Luepy GR 50mm spotter with a Pentax EDII 65mm a month ago.
First off, great decision. Looking through the Leupy at 30X was not very good, especially compared to the EDII. I bought the EDII used with an XW14 eyepiece for a great price.
Likes with the XW14: The view is awesome, super crisp and bright with a huge FOV.
Dislikes: Once in a while I would like a little more zoom, but really I'm splitting hairs since I don't really need more zoom very often at all, although I'm trying to convince myself otherwise.
I've been doing some research and stumbled across the mod billb9430 posted regarding the GSO 2x Barlow in order to make it work through full focus on a Pentax. I bought one, made the slight mod, and began testing it out.
Thoughts: With the lower Barlow lens unscrewed and screwed into the XW14 it yields a very acceptable 40X, although the little extra zoom is hardly that much of a boost to consider it a big improvement.
When using the full Barlow tube, getting a magnification at 56X, the view is rather bad. A little too dark and fuzzy.
Now I'm thinking about getting a zoom eyepiece instead of the Barlow and carry the XW14 with me, and if need be, use a zoom for a little more oomph.
The issue is that I always see bad reviews for zoom lenses. My thoughts were to either buy a Celestron zoom at $60, a Vixen 8-24mm zoom for $180, or a Pentax XF 6.5-19.5mm that yields 20-60X at a cost of $250 or so.
Is all of this ridiculous? Am I just overthinking all of this? I have a sneaking suspicion I should jut forgo the zoom. I don't have a ton of experience with spotters, so my knowledge is limited. I know if I purchased a $2500 Swaro I could attain perfectly acceptable views at 60X, but something tells me I should forget about that notion with a Pentax 65mm. I'm just trying to get a good feel for what are reasonable expectations for this spotter.
Thoughts?
First off, great decision. Looking through the Leupy at 30X was not very good, especially compared to the EDII. I bought the EDII used with an XW14 eyepiece for a great price.
Likes with the XW14: The view is awesome, super crisp and bright with a huge FOV.
Dislikes: Once in a while I would like a little more zoom, but really I'm splitting hairs since I don't really need more zoom very often at all, although I'm trying to convince myself otherwise.
I've been doing some research and stumbled across the mod billb9430 posted regarding the GSO 2x Barlow in order to make it work through full focus on a Pentax. I bought one, made the slight mod, and began testing it out.
Thoughts: With the lower Barlow lens unscrewed and screwed into the XW14 it yields a very acceptable 40X, although the little extra zoom is hardly that much of a boost to consider it a big improvement.
When using the full Barlow tube, getting a magnification at 56X, the view is rather bad. A little too dark and fuzzy.
Now I'm thinking about getting a zoom eyepiece instead of the Barlow and carry the XW14 with me, and if need be, use a zoom for a little more oomph.
The issue is that I always see bad reviews for zoom lenses. My thoughts were to either buy a Celestron zoom at $60, a Vixen 8-24mm zoom for $180, or a Pentax XF 6.5-19.5mm that yields 20-60X at a cost of $250 or so.
Is all of this ridiculous? Am I just overthinking all of this? I have a sneaking suspicion I should jut forgo the zoom. I don't have a ton of experience with spotters, so my knowledge is limited. I know if I purchased a $2500 Swaro I could attain perfectly acceptable views at 60X, but something tells me I should forget about that notion with a Pentax 65mm. I'm just trying to get a good feel for what are reasonable expectations for this spotter.
Thoughts?