Fieldscope ED82A

Excellent scope, which still provides one of the best views on the market. I've owned Kowa TSN3/823, Swaro ATS65HD/AT80HD and Leica APO77, all of which are of a similar vintage, but none of which surpass this scope optically. It can be purchased used for as little as 500, which can only be described as a bargain. Such a shame that Nikon never developed a WA zoom for the scope. The 30x DS provides one of the best views available, and for a little more power, the 50X offers an excellent higher power alternative to the zoom.

Having used this scope for some time now i really cant put a word against it (only fov with zoom lens)

I used to own the Leica 77APO (which was a cracking scope) but really cant see much difference, many scopes have been put up against this scope and no difference IMO.

I would put this scope forward for anyone that dont want to spend there hard earned pennies.

Only thing that lets it down (if using the zoom) is the fov as very small indeed! (but you soon get used to this)

But seen this scope with a 30w DS on and it is like switching a light on.

Also using for digiscoping is a treat!

Belting scope and a Very Happy Birder :t:

I went to a field day and had over 4 hours use of 4 tripods and 5 scopes - ES80ED & HR80ED from Opticron, latest 80 Swarovski 20/50, Kowa 883, Nikon ED82

Conditions bright but cold, looking North over the Exeter estuary.

I cant give much if any technical evaluations however -

I focused 4 scopes side by side at a time on one very distant object.

I Came home with the Nikon ED82 25-75 zoom. I was satisfied with the performance & value for money of the Ed82 compared to the others tested.

In use its just great to have that extra magnification when conditions are suitable.

It does have a narrow field of view and I have also noticed the focus wheel rubs on the stay on case but I hope to make a modification to prevent this.

Longer term I want to digiscope with the 25 x 75 lens hence why I am looking for a small old metal working lathe to turn some plastic to make some adaptors up. I know the results of digiscoping through the 25 - 75 will not be good however I only need something for ID purposes

I use an assortment of fixed (wide field) focal length EPs and all are great. Superb really. I also have the MCII zoom and am less impressed with it. This is my 4th scope and for several reasons, the best. Great for visual and digiscoping. Good build quality as well.

I have both the ED82 straight and an ED50 angled and I think this the best combo in the spotting scope world.

After months of looking at scopes I bought the ED82mm in March this year and have used it often since. At the time I compared it to scopes of a similar price range and was satisfied that it had brighter clearer more brilliant sharp images. Looked at some more expensive ones as well.

Yesterday I visited the British Birdfair 2009 event and spent time playing with the high price range scopes such as Leica HD, Kowa, Swarovski and Carl Zeiss and was pleasently suprised how well my Nikon stood up to these both in terms of optics and build quality. The only significant difference I noticed was the cost. The new Nikon EDG is very good but is heavy and expensive. The experience was very reassuring and I will be keeping the ED82.

Now I have an ED50 which uses the same eyepieces. Having purchase a couple of wide eyepieces I much prefer these to the zoom. My next experiment will be digiscoping.

Together with the 30x Wide Angle you've got an excellent scope for an reasonable price (compared to the other top-range spotting scopes). Every day I go into the field with this scope I'm enjoying it's performance. I also bought the 25x - 75X zoom eyepiece which is very useful when checking for bridrings. In all other occasions I prefer the 30X WA. The only cons I can think of are already mentioned above (protection caps and FOV of the Zoom eyepiece)

After I started with a cheaper model I switched to a 5 year old secondhand Swaro ATS 65. But in dull weather (and in The NEtherlands it's more often dull than not) looking through an APO, HD, etc -scope, gave such fine extra''s I started looking for one myself. After looking through many scopes and reading many articles I opted for either the Kowa TSN 883 or the Nikon 82 ED A. There was no difference between them, only when I looked against the sun, then the Nikon had no yellow glare and the Kowa just a little. As the Nikon is much cheaper and I like the helical focus ring, the choice was easy. I bought mine with 30x DS wide angle and it's a very nice combination! A con is the very tight look through case. Another point for improvement: the protection caps fit a little loose (why not tether them?). In the Netherlands this Nikon is hard to get and Nikon does not cooperate to provide testing scopes, not even normal binoculars (which also seem to be very good). Apparently other countries are more important to market (UK, USA). Although not heavier than a Leica Televid, a Swarovski weighs less. In the field I love the brightness en it's very sharp view, quick focusing and lovely eyepiece which is very easy to look through. I prefer angled versions. Comparing one on one with the Leica Apo Televid 77, my Nikon was a litthe brighter and I saw no difference with a Swaro ATS 80 HD. In Holland the Swaro is almost twice as expensive as the Nikon and the rest at least 450.

I've got several eyepieces, but the 30XDS is the best of the bunch. Huge light gathering ability.

I am joining the ranks of satisfied users. I purchased my scope in 2004.
I have compared this scope with Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski and many others.

As with all optics, in my comparisons I found one may outperform another on a particular situation.
Overall, I was pleased to see this Fieldscope 82 image quality is still outperforming the others. The high power zoom is sharp even at the full power (trade offs that have to be made for high power).

I recently purchased a fixed 30X eyepiece and it provides a tack sharp bright image. An improvement in image quality over the versatile zoom I may purchase the 38X. If you want to see what the scope is truly capable of I recommend trying the fixed eyepiece.

I seek out the best image I can get. None of the comparisons I have done has proven to me that any of the Euro scopes is a better performer even though they cost twice the price.

The case is tailor made for this scope and well thought out. The front and back attach via Velcro and can be fully removed. Or just flipped open. The focus cover can be rolled back and Velcro it out of the way. Or you can slip your hand under it in foul weather. There are magnetic (snaps) to hold the focus cover in place. I have not seen any scope with a better designed case at any price.

The scope has a generous sun shade that slides out

The only nits I have are minor .
There is a sighting groove on the sun shade that is only useable if the case is removed (I never remove the case).
The focus is a tad resistant or tight. I would prefer a less resistant focus. If I could move it with one finger rather than my hand I would be happier.

I believe this scope provides no compromise performance at a price performance point that would cost you double with any other scope. At double the price - you would only be equaling the performance, not exceeding it.

I have the Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED angled version (Nikon 7555) with two fixed DS eyepieces: 30X (Nikon 6954) FOV 126 and 50X (Nikon 6950) FOV 79. Both eyepieces have a 72-degree Apparent Field of View.

The scope body is rugged and dependable and the included case is elegantly functional. In a matter of seconds, I remove the scope from my shoulder, mount it on the tripod, and start viewing. I generally leave the plastic objective cover in the car and just use the case to protect the objective when moving locations.

The DS eyepieces offer exceptional fields of view and crisp images. Lifelike color transmission is a characteristic of both lenses and the 82mm objective keeps delivering strong coloration as darkness falls. The DS lenses were designed for digiscoping and, therefore, utilize a non-folding rubber eyecup when used as a traditional eyepiece. The MC versions have retractable eyecups.

The magnificent image in the 30X DS eyepiece is a dead ringer for the incomparable image I enjoy in my Nikon SE 8X32. Need I say more?

The 50X DS eyepiece is not far behind the 30X. Image quality is virtually identical, limited only by a narrower, but still generous, FOV. Truthfully, after looking at several scopes, I didnt expect to see such exquisite definition at 50X. The ability to easily track distant birds in flight at this magnification was an unexpected pleasure.

The helical focus is, in a word, sensitive. Actually, its ultra-sensitive but I find it easy to manipulate and much prefer it to the alternative one or two knob focus mechanisms. After a few hours practice, I can now track and focus on birds in flight with relative ease.

Visually, Im often stunned by the quality of the image and anyone familiar with Nikon high-end optics will instantly recognize the Nikon view when they look through this scope. I think of it as an SE on steroids and the best I can say is that I forget Im using a scope and just enjoy the lifelike images captured by the eyepiece. If youre a fixed magnification fan, I doubt you will find a better scope than this beauty from Nikon.

Used it for a year and was able to compare it
in the field with the Swaro, Leitz and the
Leica and it stood up to those.
Optical quality excellent, ease of use
somewhat less, however you get used to it.
Very good price-quality relation.

Price includes Nikon stay on case and wide angle eyepiece, inclusive of P&P. Shop around I think price can now be a bit lower.

Excellent piece of kit. Certainly competes (even betters) with anything else currently in the market.

The fieldscope is very compact and its resolution is excellant. I have only just received it so have yet to give it a full testing but my intial thoughts are that I am very glad to own it. By the way if you own a Nikon coolpix ( i have a 4500) there is much confusion over the digiscope attatchments they really only are clear about the product used with the field scope. If you own a nikon spotting scope make sure that you are sold the right attatchment SSA and not FSA the one does not fit the other.

I'm not an expert in spotting scope, but this one is excellent! I made some very good observations, and nice picture with it. Surprisingly, this scope is not yet on Nikon Canada website...