Zoom eyepieces versus fixed (3 Viewers)

[Keith Reeder]

I find myself at the lower end of the Zeiss zoom's range for most of the time, but - even here in the dull and dreary North East England - having that ability to go closer when it's needed is a real joy.

And unlike Bill, I find the zoom very usable beyond 30x.

I'm already habituated into finding the bird at 15x (with its class-leading FOV) then giving the zoom a quarter turn automatically, which turns the zoom up to 35x, and if necessary I'll ratchet it up a bit more: unless it's really dull, the view at the top of the zoom range is very useful, if not exactly sparkling.

But up to 35-38x (ish, obviously!) it's a dandy thing indeed in anything better than mediocre conditions.

In brighter conditions, the 45x is fine, and is plenty of power: more than that and you're back to dealing with magnified effects of atmospheric disturbances anyway.

 

[Bill Atwood]

What Keith said.

Sometimes I wish I could zoom to 80x.

 

[Bill A]

Hello, I posted a reply but it seems to have vanished. So I'm trying again, with apologies if another message with more or less the same content comes back from somewhere in cyberspace.

Maybe I just have bad eyesight, but I have no doubts that 1) The view through my excellent 65mm Diascope is dark at 45x, and that 2) Sometimes 45x is extremely useful. For example: Yesterday, a very bright day (for November, with the sun always pretty low in the sky) I was on a Tundra Swan search. Way, way across a lake, at a distance I would estimate to be nearly a mile (having kayaked it numerous times) were some big white birds. At 45x I could satisfy myself that the birds' bills were orange, thus Mute Swans, and not worth the considerable time and effort it would have taken to get closer (the lake having limited access). Also, now and then, I can id a hawk way out there with 45x. So, yup, nice to have. But I really can't imagine how 60x, let alone 80x, would be useful on a scope with a 65mm objective, at least to me.

Tim: I DO find those low 15 and 20x ranges very good: The view at these powers is brilliant and very, very wide. Just great for things like scanning rafts of ducks, surveying large tracts of mudflats, or following flocks of Sandhill Cranes at great distances.

In short, I'm very happy with the 15x45 zoom; if one's eyes can handle even higher magnification, more power to you, pun intended.

Good birding,
Bill

 

[mattpau]

Many thanks to all for the very useful and interesting contributions. Sounds like for the type of birding I like to do, i.e. get great views, not try to run up a big list, the 45X limit won't be much of a drawback at all. And I must say that my wife has tried her hand at digiscoping with the current scope, and I'd like to give it a whirl myself. As has been mentioned, the 15X at the lower end could actually be an advantage to get the composition right on close birds. Again, many thanks.