Bushnell Elite 80 ED Review (1 Viewer)

I purchased the Elite a month ago with a 3001BD tripod and 701RC2 head. The scope is good quality, lightweight, small, no defects, star test results were good, view is bright and clear, focus is smooth, zoom eyepiece is smooth, comes with a nice case with strap, screw on front lens cap, eyepiece cap and the eye relief is very good for use with eyeglasses. I do not like the fold down rubber eye cup but nothing is perfect and it might be better at blocking stray light when used without glasses. This is a good scope, has a cheap slr adapter (800mm), which is not my bag (I have the FZ50 with 1.7X telephoto), optional eyepieces and the cost is around $700. Tripod is short, a little heavy but very stable, head is very smooth. The hole package works very well together. I tried several Pentax 80 scopes and could not get a good one and they are very long and very heavy, not too impressed. Have looked through all the other scopes and could not justify the added cost.

Hi
Thanks for your thoughts.

While you're here I wonder if you have the zoom with this scope or if you've thought about trying the wide field Baader Hyperion zoom on this scope. What eyepiece mount does the scope use?
Present knowledge with the Baader is despite being the "best" zoom available it will only fit the high end scopes (Zeiss,Swaro with adapter) and the low end (celestron,Acuter). The Bushnell may be a possible quality middle ground alternative.

Did you have to star test many Bushnell's or hit on a good one?

This scope only uses Bushnell bayonet eyepieces, I assume the Baader is a 1.25". I just tested this one, I got the feeling that Bushnell has a good quality control program. The box was taped and sealed at the factory and double boxed. The star test is not easy and I am no expert but I had some samples of what it should look like and it seemed good. I also used a optical chart set at 50 feet and it was very sharp at all powers and mostly edge to edge.