Diascope 85FL

Best optics I have ever used (for birding watching ships out at sea, birding, general observing etc. I traded it for credit toward a Tele Vue 85, and I am more satisfied with it. However, there are many times when the Tele Vue is too heavy to take. As much as I like the TV 85, there are many times that I wish I could have the Zeiss back again.

Excellent scope with very bright warm image

Hi:

I was surprised when I have looked througth a new biggest-best Swarovski ATS HD 80 scope and my Diascope 85 T*FL (during the last hungarian birders championship at Hortobgy-Halast, in 31 aug.- 2 sept. 2007) Both scopes had zoom oculars and angled bodies.

The realization of the image is more comfortable on my Zeiss telescope, because the image is bigger, wider and closer to my eye, than on the Swaro scope. Looking througth the Swaro, the "tunnel view" was very strong and unconfortable.

On the Zeiss Diascope, the image was virtually more closer to my eye; and in all zoom option (20x, 40x and 60x) the image was wider than on the Swaro. And not for last: at the 60x magnification, the Zeiss was very, really very sharp.

The critical voices often say the blurry edge of the view on the Zeiss, but the really wide FOV need compromises.

The last and very strong surprise for me was the difference between the colors of the images. The Swaro offered a very neutral, little bit blueish, but much more colorless and cold image(I have said: ":eek!: "It has no colours!"), very sharp at 20x and 40x magnification; but the Zeiss offered a very colour-rich, warm, more vivid and natural coloured image. (Swaro owners said: "Oh my god, it is yellow!!!")

O.K., choosing a scope is very big excercise, depending on the wallet, but at the end of the test I was very happy and relaxed to choose this scope, I think that in the price-and-value competition the Zeiss should win much more better position that the Swarovski.

The only problem at Zeiss the image quality difference between telescope specimens. Often impossible to tell by naked eye but the digiscoped photos don't lie. I am absolute content with mine but I have to confess that it should be better than it is. Some astigmatism was detected in mine:eek!:.

I think that it worths its price because of its building quality and confortability.

this is a seriously good scope. shorter than expected, you forget this has one of the largest objective lens available.

and what a difference the large (85mm) front lens makes! - super bright and stunning detail, even at 60x zoom this is good enough to provide a very useable image, probaly THE best zoom lens available.

super focus ability, both rough and smooth for different situations is a real bonus.

overall a light scope, and lighter on the wallet also. i purchased the scope, tripod, head and zoom eyepiece for less than 1300, a real good deal.

easily in the top 3 scope available, not as common as the swaro, but in my eyes, slightly better!

try one and be surprised.

Great scope! Angled lens and body swivel very good for \"Mutt & Jeff\" couples with large heigth difference. Coarse focus knob suddenly became free spinning - has to go back to Germany for repair but agent promises a loaner for the 6-8 weeks. Great being able to turn \"dots\" into identifiable ducks from dawn to dusk!

Although this scope has a larger objective lens than most, it is one of the lightest scopes on the market and is surprisingly compact as well. The scope body weighs in at 1,450g and the length is only 345mm, so compares extremely well against its competitors.
The Diascope has twin focus knobs, fine and coarse, with sufficient space between the two for my fingers to operate one without accidentally moving the other, fat fingers coupled with gloves may prove problematic in the depths of winter.

Gearing of both knobs was suitable for the task, the fine being very smooth and allowing the tiniest of focus adjustments. My own preference is for a single well-geared focus knob on a scope, a secondary fine tune knob seemed to provoke more fiddling than necessary, time that could be better spent viewing the subject. I do know many birders who couldnt live without their dual focussing systems, so its just a personal matter and Im sure that it wouldnt be long before this slight annoyance would be forgotten.

The Diascope has an amply proportioned sunshade that can be pulled out to give the objective lens protection from rain and sun. Atop this sunshade is an elongated sighting vee, allowing rapid and reliable subject acquisition with no parallax problems that are associated with small single foresights.

I tested the angled version of the Diascope 85, rotation of the body was a simple affair that only required a small lever switch to be operated to enable body rotation.
Another feature of the scope body was the ability to lay it on a flat surface, a rubber underside grip gave it a solid feel in this position, though the opportunities to use this feature in the field may be limited for the birder. Almost without saying, the scope is fully waterproof and Nitrogen filled.
The colour of the scope tested was a non-reflective satin silver/grey, though green is available.

Eyepieces tested with the 85FL were the 40x and 20-60x zoom, a 30x is also available along with an astronomical eyepiece adapter and SLR camera adapter. All the eyepieces feature the popular pull-up/twist eyecups,

The 40x eyepiece gave a very impressive image, field of view was as wide as most 30x eyepieces and the resolving power with optimum air conditions was class leading.

The 20-60x zoom eyepiece was no less impressive in the ability to resolve detail at higher magnifications and again it was class leading at beyond 40x. The field of view with this zoom is exceptional but there is a small visual penalty to pay when the zoom it at lower magnification, notably at 20x. This minor problem takes the form of distortion around the edge of the image, this does limit the useable field of view slightly at lower magnification but is not apparent at higher magnifications. At magnifications above 50x, the wider than average field of view becomes quite noticeable in comparison to other zooms on the market.
Depth of field wasnt quite as impressive as the field of view, though still comparable with many scopes on the market.

Glass wearers were particularly impressed by the zoom eyepiece and the image it presented to them, a number commenting that it was the best image they had seen thorough a zoom eyepiece.

Having had over two months to use this scope in a variety of conditions, its quite clear that 85FL scope provides excellent viewing in almost every situation that the birder is likely to encounter. As would be expected of a scope with an 85mm objective lens, the image is brighter than that from any 80mm scope and also capable of resolving more detail

The image from the Zeiss Diascope was on the colder side of neutral, which makes a change from the numerous scopes providing a slightly yellow cast to the image. Chromatic aberration was all but non-existent during testing.
The feel good factor of the image presented was high, but this would have been increased to the very highest levels if the extra brightness of the image hadnt had an impact on the contrast, I felt that the contrast was slightly lacking in comparison to the very best scopes.

Though slight, the extra brightness that this scope gives can make a difference to what can be resolved in trying conditions. At the end of the day, literally, this could be a major factor in deciding if this is the scope for you.