Hello
I live in the UK and have been using a Nikon ED50 as my scope for about 10 years. One of my favourite sites is Farlington Marshes on the south coast, near Portsmouth. Although I always get some great views with the ED50 I am left, on occasion, feeling frustrated that I'm missing out on some of the birds that are a bit more distant.
Consequently, I've been thinking of upgrading to a larger scope. I've considered the Swarovski ATX 85, Kowa TSN 880, the Nikon Monarch 82 but I remember looking through a Meopta Meostar S2 82 mm at the bird fair some years ago and, being very impressed by it, added it to my list. Having looked recently I've found that Meopta doesn't seem to have a significant presence in the UK at least not where optics for nature observation is concerned.
So I wondered whether users of this scope in the UK could tell me how they purchased their scopes or whether it would be easy to purchase from a retailer in another European country. Ideally, I would like to try the scope first before deciding on a purchase, although my impression is many people buy online and then return the scope if they are not happy.
Thanks for any advice
Atb
I live in the UK and have been using a Nikon ED50 as my scope for about 10 years. One of my favourite sites is Farlington Marshes on the south coast, near Portsmouth. Although I always get some great views with the ED50 I am left, on occasion, feeling frustrated that I'm missing out on some of the birds that are a bit more distant.
Consequently, I've been thinking of upgrading to a larger scope. I've considered the Swarovski ATX 85, Kowa TSN 880, the Nikon Monarch 82 but I remember looking through a Meopta Meostar S2 82 mm at the bird fair some years ago and, being very impressed by it, added it to my list. Having looked recently I've found that Meopta doesn't seem to have a significant presence in the UK at least not where optics for nature observation is concerned.
So I wondered whether users of this scope in the UK could tell me how they purchased their scopes or whether it would be easy to purchase from a retailer in another European country. Ideally, I would like to try the scope first before deciding on a purchase, although my impression is many people buy online and then return the scope if they are not happy.
Thanks for any advice
Atb