Baltimore newbie (1 Viewer)

[Marichi3411]

Hello everyone! I fell in love with birds on our trip to Costa Rica two years ago. I went on three birding tours in the wee hours of the morning and just loved it! I appreciated so much more from the local guides trained by their university who really knew their birds and bird calls. We invested in a regular Nikon Aculon 8x44 and a Gosky monocular 12X 44 just to see if we would like it. And we did so - I got myself a Leica Televid 77 from Japan in EBay and would like to ask you if there is something wrong with the front lens? Should I return it? Thanks for your expert opinions!

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum

We're glad you found us and thanks for taking a moment to say hello. Please join in wherever you like

 

[KC Foggin]

Ya know, I'm going to move your thread to the Bin section of the Forum and you'll be notified when someone posts an answer

 

[Marichi3411]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum

We're glad you found us and thanks for taking a moment to say hello. Please join in wherever you like

Thanks! Such a warm group. I’ve been reading the posts and learning a lot.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum! I am sure that you will find lots to interest you here and I hope that you enjoy your visits.

 

[Marichi3411]

Welcome to Birdforum! I am sure that you will find lots to interest you here and I hope that you enjoy your visits.

Thanks Kits! I enjoy every visit and every conversation. I’m kind down now because I may have a problem with my Televid 77...I don’t know if the lens coat is an issue. I have 3 cameras with prime lenses and none of them look like this.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Marichi and a warm welcome to the forum from me too.

I'm so sorry to see the state of that lens (I've had a Leica APO77 for about 20 years and the lens is still in good condition).

I'm sure someone will be along soon to advise you.

 

[jring]

Hi,

welcome to birdforum!

This looks not too good. I see two potential problems - the white dots at the bottom (and less elsewhere) might just be dust - can you blow those away or move them with a brush?

But the wide spots in the middle look like coating damage and the history of the earlier Leica Televid 77 and 62 series with coatings dissolving when exposed to salt water make that probable...

How is the view? It might be better than expected as even if the coating damage is well visible from the front, it's still a small fraction of the total objective lens area... so if the price was very cheap, it might still be ok to use - unless you want to sell it later...

Btw. APO or not?

@Moderators - maybe move to Spotting Scopes, Leica subforum?

Sorry,

Joachim

 

[Binastro]

The coating damage may get worse with time.

However, even uncoated objectives can perform well.

An extended lens hood should help.

If the scope was expensive then ask for a reduction in price for this clearly obvious damage.

Is there any sign of damage in the eyepiece or on the prism?

Regards,
B.

 

[SUPPRESSOR]

Looks like the dreaded salt spray issue.
Pete.

 

[jafritten]

May be a silly piece of advice but have you tried a liquid lens cleaner? Otherwise I'd return it. I once was given an old porro from the 70s and the lenses showed similar damage. A liquid lens cleaner did the job.

 

[Marichi3411]

Thank you so much everyone! I followed all your advice and nothing worked. It was clear when you looked through the lens - but I’d rather listen to you all. It’s on its way back to Japan now via DHL. Got it for $989. I wish I became a member first even before I bought the scope. I’m on the hunt again - A Swarovski STS non-HD or HD 80mm with 20-60 eyepiece? How old is the non-HD by the way?

 

[KC Foggin]

When I was digiscoping, I loved my Swarovski


KC's Pics

 

[Marichi3411]

😃

 

[Marichi3411]

Wow - inspiring! My favorite is the waxwing - and the birds in flight. I’ll have to open it up on our TV to see them all. So these shots were with the Swarovski and Nikon?

 

[jring]

Thank you so much everyone! I followed all your advice and nothing worked. It was clear when you looked through the lens - but I’d rather listen to you all. It’s on its way back to Japan now via DHL. Got it for $989. I wish I became a member first even before I bought the scope. I’m on the hunt again - A Swarovski STS non-HD or HD 80mm with 20-60 eyepiece? How old is the non-HD by the way?

Hi,

Televid non APO for $1000 is really expensive, and for an APO it should be in very good shape (both assuming with the 20-60 zoom EP).

S/ATS non HD is early 2000s... they first had non HD and HD versions of the S/ATS, then the optically identical (but with lighter body) S/ATM series and then again the new S/ATS as a 2nd tier option alongside the S/ATX series. The new S/ATS are all HD but not called that way (although HD is printed somewhere on the body) - just to confuse the russians...

I would not buy a used plain glass scope unless very cheap or collectible. The image will degrade beyond 40x and that's where the zoom starts to get nice and wide.

Joachim

 

[Marichi3411]

Hi Joachim! Thank you for your advice.