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To ED or not to ED? (1 Viewer)

lucznik

Inspector Gadget
How important/necessary is ED glass?

I want to get a good, useable image and I do want to do (some) digiscoping but, I can get a non-ED scope for about 1/3 the cost of the ED version. How critical is it to have this special glass?
 
Actually, you can likely get a decent ED glass scope in the Bushnell Elite 80mm. You can purchase it new for less than $700, a third of what you'd pay for uberglass from Swarovski, Leica and Zeiss.

That said, I don't have any experience with the scope, but it would seem to be worth checking, based upon what various merchants say about it's quality.

Bear in mind that at this price point you're not going to get the same level of performance as the Euroglass; however, optics are a good example of the law of diminishing returns - you pay a heck of a lot more to get small increases in performance. Only you can decide if a small increase in optical performance is worth the money.

Just a reminder to purchase from a retailer with a good return policy.
 
Thank you for your assistance. I have looked at the 80mm Elite and it seems like a good option. However, let me ask this in a slightly different way for a moment:

The 20-60x80 Vortex Skyline can be had in both ED and non-ED versions. The ED scope costs a bit under $700. The non-ED scope costs about $350. Aside from the use of ED glass, the specs, dimensions, etc., etc. are all the same.

How much optical difference is there really going to be between these two scopes?
 
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If the scope is intended just for normal viewing use in good light then there isn't much to tell between ED and non-ED scopes.

However if you want to use a scope for digiscoping then there's a world of difference. ED scopes have better quality glass. The image is sharper and chromatic aberration - colour fringing around objects - is reduced to a minimum if not eliminated altogether.
 
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