Leica APO 77 (1 Viewer)

Brendan Doe · Feb 19, 2004

Dear BF

Ace Optics of bath are doing the Leica Apo 77 +32 x lens for £799 just now.

This seems a good buy - but before i take the plunge can anybody offer me their opinions on this scope? I want to use it for birding and digiscoping. Any pointers would be welcomed. Is the new Swaro reallly £400 pounds better?

cheers, Brendan

robinm · Feb 19, 2004

I have a Leica APO 77 and the 32w eyepiece which I use for birding and digiscoping and I am very happy with it. I chose it because along side other makes because I preferred it, although we are talking fairly marginal differences. I also use Leica bins and maybe my eyes just work better with their optics - I don't know.

I have not tried the new Swaro so can't comment on whether it is £400 better.
Whatever you buy if you are spending that much money I would recommend you try first. There may a feature of a particular scope that affects your decision.

Good luck.

dogfish · Feb 19, 2004

The Leica looks a good buy at those prices. It's a fine scope, so highly personal judgements come into play. I decided against one years ago because to my eyes there was a strong yellow-brown cast, but others would probably not see this. Eyes are different. Also in those days the zoom was not very good but has since been greatly improved, I believe. I think you'll find both old and (especially) new Swarovskis are brighter.

robinm · Feb 19, 2004

dogfish said:
I decided against one years ago because to my eyes there was a strong yellow-brown cast, but others would probably not see this. Eyes are different.

Brendan, this illustrates perfectly why you should try before buying. The reason I prefer Leica to Swaro is I think the colour is more natural. I find Swaro (and their bins in particular) give a yellow cast. The fact that dogfish and I can both be right is why you need to try.

Jane Turner · Feb 19, 2004

The Leica was the sharpest scope when I did a pre Swarowski comparison... it a heavy beast though

tomreid24 · Feb 19, 2004

Brendan,
I used to have the leica but increasingly found myself leaving it at home if I intended walking any distance.Now have swaro 65,much easier to carry,much less bulky and optics on a par with the 77.The only thing now is to swap my manfrotto tripod for a carbon fibre.If you've any experience of hill walking you'll know that every ounce counts.But it is an excellent scope.

Pie Face · Feb 19, 2004

Sounds like some of you Leica 77 owners should visit the gym more often

I have an apo77 with a zoom and regularly carry it around, on my Manfrotto tripod, all day, without any troubles. A simple answer to the Swaro' question is no it's not worth another £400. Whilst the Leica is heavy it also feels very well built and gives you the impression that you could knock nails in with it. The Swaro' whilst very light (an attraction for the wimps among us) feels very fragile and delicate. I have compared the 2 together and much prefered the more natural brightness, contrast and true colour feel to the Leica. I would seriously recommend that any would be purchaser tries them out, and don't forget the Zeiss, Nikon and Kowa's. Though the latter really is very fragile.

Mark

deboo · Feb 19, 2004

Brendan,

I have a secondhand Apo 77....I love it!
Try the others too.....they're bound to be good.

Dave.

Brendan Doe · Feb 19, 2004

Thanks for the replies and advice.

The Leica apo scopes at £799 had all been snapped up by the time i rang up :C

I have looked through both the Apo 77 and the new Swaro but never side by side for comparison. My feeling is that the Swaro couldn't possibly be worth £400 more than the APO

I quite like the look of the new 82mm Nikon as well - I know there have been some good reports from BF members about them. Has anybody bought this set up with Nikons Didgi adaptor and could comment on how good or otherwise this adaptor is?
There are some cracking bundle deals with this scope and nikon coolpix 4500 and Nikon adaptor at the moment.

Ragna · Feb 19, 2004

I use the Swarovski Ats80 hd and am very pleased with it,not sure its worth £400 more than the Leica.But i do think its very well made.The reason the Leica is such a good deal at the moment could be its been out a long time and must be due for replacement.If your thinking of digiscoping then the deal that W/House Express are doing at the moment with the Nikon 82 scope and coolpix 4500 camera looks excellent value.Had a very quick look through a Nikon82 scope the other day at some Tree Sparrows (but was'nt able to compare it with my Swarovski) and considered the image to be very sharp and bright.Well worth considering.

Leif · Mar 7, 2004

Brendan Doe said:
Thanks for the replies and advice.

The Leica apo scopes at £799 had all been snapped up by the time i rang up :C

I have looked through both the Apo 77 and the new Swaro but never side by side for comparison. My feeling is that the Swaro couldn't possibly be worth £400 more than the APO

I quite like the look of the new 82mm Nikon as well - I know there have been some good reports from BF members about them. Has anybody bought this set up with Nikons Didgi adaptor and could comment on how good or otherwise this adaptor is?
There are some cracking bundle deals with this scope and nikon coolpix 4500 and Nikon adaptor at the moment.

Did you make a decision?

scampo · Mar 7, 2004

Brendan Doe said:
. Has anybody bought this set up with Nikons Didgi adaptor and could comment on how good or otherwise this adaptor is?
QUOTE]

The Nikon adapter is superbly made and works a dream with the Nikon 900/4500 series being very easy to remove and replace/lock.

Edward woodwood · Mar 7, 2004

and don't forget the Nikon ED78 at a MUCH cheaper price. Don't be fooled by high prices....there are real bargains to be had these days as manufactures introduce new models with no 'real' advanyages over the old

the old Nikon ED60 mk 111 is def. worth a punt too...

scampo · Mar 8, 2004

Isn't the Mk.III the latest ED60 scope, Tim? I was looking through one two days ago that was only a month old - the view through it, with a 30xW, was astonishingly bright, wide and clear.

Brendan Doe · Mar 8, 2004

Leif said:
Did you make a decision?

Hi Leif

went for the Leica Apo 77 in the end. To my eyes all the top end scopes were cracking so therefore i went for the "cheapest" at the moment. I got the APO 77 + Zoom + 32xwa, leica case,eagle eye adaptor i had already and remote release, xtend -a -view and brackets for less than a Swaro + eyepiece.

Brendan

Leif · Mar 8, 2004

Brendan Doe said:
Hi Leif

went for the Leica Apo 77 in the end. To my eyes all the top end scopes were cracking so therefore i went for the "cheapest" at the moment. I got the APO 77 + Zoom + 32xwa, leica case,eagle eye adaptor i had already and remote release, xtend -a -view and brackets for less than a Swaro + eyepiece.

Brendan

It is indeed a cracking scope, as they all are.

scampo · Mar 8, 2004

Brendan Doe said:
Hi Leif

went for the Leica Apo 77 in the end. To my eyes all the top end scopes were cracking so therefore i went for the "cheapest" at the moment. I got the APO 77 + Zoom + 32xwa, leica case,eagle eye adaptor i had already and remote release, xtend -a -view and brackets for less than a Swaro + eyepiece.

Brendan

Brendan

Can I ask from where you bought the extend-a-view from as whenever I go onto Eagle's website, I just get fed up with the utter confusion of it all and leave in frustration? If their products are anything like their website then I don't know what to say. Did you buy the "Wing" bracket and cable release adapter, too, btw?

Edward woodwood · Mar 8, 2004

Steve

yes I did mean the mk 111 ED 60 - is it very new....I'm not up to speed.

For the record the cheapest top end scope is surely the Nikon ED78 at the moment. Just because it's on offer doesn't mean it's not as good as the others.

I would expect a couple of the 'old' fluorite Kowas to be extreemly good buys at the moment. Remember the price of these scopes when they all came out first time round.........

scampo · Mar 8, 2004

I'm sure you're right about that bargain Nikon ED78 - but that price is exceptional. And, if people choose to accept the findings of a certain magazine's recent so-called "scope test", the Kowa 77 seems to be the bargain of bargains.

postcardcv · Mar 8, 2004

Hi Brendan

I upgraded to the APO77 last year and have not regretted it for a moment - I'm sure you'll be very happy with the scope.

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