Svbony 406P/46P 80mm spotters anyone? (1 Viewer)

[Kaskarria]

Thanks i will give a try

 

[Pepitogrillo]

Which is the maximum field with this Spotting scope?
With which eyepiece?
Best,
Pp.

 

[Pepitogrillo]

Can support 100X-125X with others eyepiece?

 

[BKoh]

Can support 100X-125X with others eyepiece?

I have a 4mm eyepiece (108x), with a screw-on barlow it is 2.5mm (162x). 108x usable but shaky, my tripod is not heavy enough. 162x too dim during the day, at night celestial objects drift too fast.

I also have a 9mm (48x), with the screw-on barlow it is 6mm (72x), image quality is still very good. I suggest 5.5mm (79x) or 5mm (86x) as the shortest focal length, unless you have a heavy tripod.

 

[ivan81]

Hello. Has anyone used 80-82° eyepieces?

 

[LRL]

Hi
Taking advantage of the fact that in this thread there are several owners of the sv406p 80 mm , ive a question for you .
The fine focus wheel feels lose or "soft" , so its somewhat hard for me to adjust focus when im using high magnification (40-60x). Is this something common with this scope ? Im new with spotting scopes , so i dont know if this is "something" or not

 

[JakeM]

Hi. the fine focus wheel is very very easy to turn. imo this is a good thing as it enables one to achieve critical focus easily. whether one calls it "soft" or "loose" ? ... it does feel quit different from the regular focus knob for sure. (which i would prefer to be a little looser), i continue to be impressed with this scope and its supplied zoom eyepiece. very sharp out to 60x. the only "downside" i suppose is overall brightness at all magnifications. but then again, i have been comparing this to my friends kowa 883's...(the most popular high end scope in my neighbourhood)...not a fair comparison ...i know....

 

[OrdinaryLight]

My experience is similar to Jake - the fine focus knob on my scope is much easier to turn than the primary focus knob. This is good because at 60x I can use the fine focus knob without causing vibration by rolling my finger over the top of the knob, but trying to use the primary focus knob shakes the scope.

 

[SGBirder]

Same here, it does feel 'loose' but I believe its by design to have less resistance to not disturb the view when fine focusing. It's also very smooth with no sticky spots which makes for a nice focusing feel. Just takes some time to get used to it

 

[Pepitogrillo]

Thank you!!
PP.

 

[Sailracer]

Hi All- I decided it was time to upgrade my spotting scope from an old Bushnell 15-45x straight field scope. My main requirements were angled viewing, 60X or greater magnification and ED glass. Price wise, I would consider up to maybe $600-700 as long as the scopes could justify that cost to me by noticeably outperforming the low end ED scopes that seem to start at around $350. Anyway, I found what appears to be a great deal on the Svbony 406P 80mm: $265 on Amazon on a limited time deal. Based on this thread I went ahead and purchased it not wanting to risk the deal expiring while I combed the internet doing research . Now, while there is still time to cancel or return it, I have a few questions...

The digiscoped photos people posted in this thread were very helpful. While digiscoping won't be my main use for it, I do want to be able to take a nice photo through it on occasion. I can detect some minor chromatic aberration in the photos here. My question is, do other scopes up to my ~$700 limit perform noticeably better in terms of CA or sharpness, or will they still have detectable CA? Could the lens on the phone used to take the photo introduce noticeable CA?

Can anyone recommend a website that has actual digiscoped photo comparisons between various scopes or even lab measurements of sharpness and CA, light transmission and stuff like that? I'd like to see some evidence of what extra money buys you. When I was binoc shopping a few years ago I compared a $2K Swarovski set with the $300 Vortex and Nikon options in the store and couldn't tell any appreciable difference with my eyes, so I figured that must be close to the point of diminishing returns for increased cost. I still lust after the Swarovskis but don't feel that I'm missing out on much with my Vanguard Endeavor HDs. I'm hoping this 406P is like that- 95% of the performance for 10% of the price.

 

[BKoh]

Anyway, I found what appears to be a great deal on the Svbony 406P 80mm: $265 on Amazon on a limited time deal. Based on this thread I went ahead and purchased it not wanting to risk the deal expiring while I combed the internet doing research . Now, while there is still time to cancel or return it, I have a few questions...
...
I'm hoping this 406P is like that- 95% of the performance for 10% of the price.

You got a good deal.

Binoculars lose a lot of resolution due to handheld shake, so the better performance of a $2k Swarovski against a $300 Vortex/Nikon may not be obvious unless you put them on a tripod.

Scopes are used mounted, so differences will be easier to see. I have not looked through a Swarovski or Kowa scope, but for me it doesn't matter as I am not willing to pay what they cost. So whether my SV406P is 60%, 80% or 90% as good as an "alpha" scope is irrelevant. Certainly in its price range I could not find anything with comparable (let alone better) specifications.

 

[Sailracer]

Binoculars lose a lot of resolution due to handheld shake, so the better performance of a $2k Swarovski against a $300 Vortex/Nikon may not be obvious unless you put them on a tripod.

Interesting point- I never considered that, but it makes sense. The differences may be more noticeable in spotting scopes then, particularly if used for digiscoping.

I still haven't found any good digiscope comparison photos. Some Flickr groups have lots of digiscoped photos, but almost nobody includes any info on what scope and magnification was used on the shot. The best photo I saw (sharp, no CA, great bokeh) did list the scope, but unfortunately it was tagged with "kowa tsn-884", so very expensive. It still didn't mention if it was at 25X or 60X. I also found a YouTube video that showed digiscope comparisons between the Vortex Viper HD and the Razor HD. The Razor was noticeably better but still nothing like that sample from the Kowa. I wonder how much of a role magnification, camera and technique play?

By the way, the Svbony is still on sale for $265 (30% off) at Amazon if anyone else is interested.

 

[BKoh]

I wonder how much of a role magnification, camera and technique play?

From my limited (one scope, one phone) digiscoping experience:

1. Magnification

At long distance (100+ m), low power gives better quality than high power. At short distance (6-30m) I cannot see any difference.

My best pictures have been at 30-40x at moderate distances (birds at 20-50m) and at 60x at minimum distance (insects at 6m).

2. Camera

I have only used my smartphone (Samsung Note 9). Among smartphone cameras the big gap is between those with optical image stabilization (OIS) and those without. Those with OIS are generally higher-end cameras with better sensitivity and resolution as well, so not much to choose between them unless one model is much older than the other.

You can also attach a compact camera instead of a smartphone, or (for some scopes) even remove the eyepiece and attach a DSLR. DSLRs use much bigger sensors than a smartphone and could give better image quality.

3. Technique

If the camera is not parallel to the eyepiece or distance is not correct, it is easy to get SAEP/kidney beans. Some areas will be darker or even totally black. Poor framing can also result in non-circular pictures.

Using burst mode improves the odds of a keeper shot. Many phone cameras need time to focus, during which the bird may have moved. With burst mode the camera will lock the focus and shoot as many frames as its software allows. Later on you can pick out the shots you like.

 

[clemenceau]

Hi everyone,

New to this forum and to optics in general.

So after returning a few different SVBONY products to Amazon, I finally decided that I will keep the sv406p 80mm and a few eyepieces

I'll give some feedback on the product and on the eyepieces in a longer post, but I have a quick question:

I've ordered this Barlow lens: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00462T81U/ but it won't focus with any of the eyepieces I have.
From what I've read it has something to do with the focal length of the scope (? I don't really know what that means)
Could someone explain what I need to look for when I choose a Barlow lens so that it will work with this scope, and maybe even recommend a decent one for less than $100 (I'm in Germany)

 

[wllmspd]

Barlow lenses will move the focal position of your scope, so you may not be able to focus as you found. Different models may do this differently, I would just get a shorter focal length eyepiece (checking that the model comes to focus correctly).

Peter

 

[clemenceau]

Barlow lenses will move the focal position of your scope, so you may not be able to focus as you found. Different models may do this differently, I would just get a shorter focal length eyepiece (checking that the model comes to focus correctly).

Peter

Thanks for your answer, Peter.

Does that mean no Barlow lens would work with my current eyepieces?

I'm quite happy with the eyepieces that I bought, and I wanted to see what x2 magnification would feel like on them, which is why I bought the Barlow lens.
I'm not really interested in buying new eyepieces just to use with the Barlow lens, I'd rather buy eyepieces that have the desired magnification instead.

Let me know if there's something I misunderstood.

BTW I just read this article on the SVBONY website, where they use their Barlow lens but they remove the extension tube, so it seems that it would be an option. Unfortunately, I've read that the SVBONY Barlow lens is not that great. I might try it anyway because it's really cheap ($20)

 

[wllmspd]

You need to test each Barlow in the scope you want to use. Spotting scopes seem to have more limited focus range that Astro refractors. The most sure option is to get a higher power eyepiece, rather then playing about with other Barlow that could well stuffer the same issue. Get a cheap eyepiece to see how bright the image is, you can always buy a more expensive one if you want to use that power more often.

Peter

 

[SGBirder]

Probably better to skip on the barlows and get the eyepiece of your desired magnification from somewhere with a good return policy

 

[BKoh]

Thanks for your answer, Peter.

Does that mean no Barlow lens would work with my current eyepieces?

I'm quite happy with the eyepieces that I bought, and I wanted to see what x2 magnification would feel like on them, which is why I bought the Barlow lens.
I'm not really interested in buying new eyepieces just to use with the Barlow lens, I'd rather buy eyepieces that have the desired magnification instead.

Let me know if there's something I misunderstood.

BTW I just read this article on the SVBONY website, where they use their Barlow lens but they remove the extension tube, so it seems that it would be an option. Unfortunately, I've read that the SVBONY Barlow lens is not that great. I might try it anyway because it's really cheap ($20)

Svbony has a screw-on 2x barlow, that could be worth a try. Personally I would not bother, either buy a cheap eyepiece to try, or buy a good one that you can return.

I bought the Svbony 2x and 3x barlows, they don't work in normal drop-in configuration. The removable cells work as 1.5x when screwed on but I find them a hassle. I only use them on my 9mm to get 6mm, for views of Jupiter and Saturn.

If you insist on a conventional drop-in barlow, the only ones likely to work are the telecentric designs from Televue (Powermate) and Explore Scientific (Focal Extender). They are large, heavy and expensive.