The Kingfisher
Well-known member
I have both the Nikon ED82 and the ED50 with three eyepieces (16x/30x, 27x/50x and 13-40x/25-75x). I like them both very much, but non of them are really perfect for me, I think.
The little ED50 is great with the 16x attached to it. I really like the low power because it´s easy to scan the surroundings with such a low mag, easy to find birds in the sky etc..but sometimes I need higher magnification than 16x. The 27x eyepiece is OK when its sunny - otherwise the ED50 gets a little bit to dark to be comfortable to use. I prefer the zoom over the 27x, but the zoom has bad eye relief and a small field of view.
The ED82 is large and heavy..but has very good optics. With the 30x eyepiece it´s very nice to use - sometimes though..I miss both higher and lower magnification. It is a hazzle to change eyepieces back and forth and if the zoom is attached I miss the great field of view and the better ER of the 30x DS.
I have tried the Opticron MM3 60 ED with the SDLV-zoom. It was a nice package, but not opticaly as good as the Nikon ED82.
I would like to have "alpha-class" optics in a relatively light scope which also should be useful in dawn/dusk. Could the Vortex Razor HD 65 with 16-48x be the scope for me to buy?
I have unfortunately not had the chance to try it yet. But on paper it´s lighter than the ED82, the zoom has better ER and FOV (I think..) than the Nikon-zoom, no need to change eyepieces, the zoom range (16-48x) seems to be almost prefect and it will be brighter than the ED50 at higher powers. Do you think the Vortex Razor HD 65 with the 16-48x zoom can replace my ED82 + ED50 for general use?
I will not sell my Nikon scopes..the ED50 can still be used when I need a really small scope (when traveling etc). The ED82 would maybe be superfluous, but sell?..no no!
The little ED50 is great with the 16x attached to it. I really like the low power because it´s easy to scan the surroundings with such a low mag, easy to find birds in the sky etc..but sometimes I need higher magnification than 16x. The 27x eyepiece is OK when its sunny - otherwise the ED50 gets a little bit to dark to be comfortable to use. I prefer the zoom over the 27x, but the zoom has bad eye relief and a small field of view.
The ED82 is large and heavy..but has very good optics. With the 30x eyepiece it´s very nice to use - sometimes though..I miss both higher and lower magnification. It is a hazzle to change eyepieces back and forth and if the zoom is attached I miss the great field of view and the better ER of the 30x DS.
I have tried the Opticron MM3 60 ED with the SDLV-zoom. It was a nice package, but not opticaly as good as the Nikon ED82.
I would like to have "alpha-class" optics in a relatively light scope which also should be useful in dawn/dusk. Could the Vortex Razor HD 65 with 16-48x be the scope for me to buy?
I have unfortunately not had the chance to try it yet. But on paper it´s lighter than the ED82, the zoom has better ER and FOV (I think..) than the Nikon-zoom, no need to change eyepieces, the zoom range (16-48x) seems to be almost prefect and it will be brighter than the ED50 at higher powers. Do you think the Vortex Razor HD 65 with the 16-48x zoom can replace my ED82 + ED50 for general use?
I will not sell my Nikon scopes..the ED50 can still be used when I need a really small scope (when traveling etc). The ED82 would maybe be superfluous, but sell?..no no!
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