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Nikon ED50A Eyepiece 24xW 30xW (1 Viewer)

C

calpal11

Member
Hello,
I have read a thread here of Nikon ED50 enthusiasts and have a question concerning the eyepiece that comes with this particular scope I am looking at as a possible purchase. there is a Japanese company selling this combination at a reasonable price. Is the 24W 30W DS a good match for the body? I read here on the forums where the 27W might be the best choice. I know little about scopes in general and less about eyepieces. I got to check out a few at the Snow Goose Festival here in Chico CA this past weekend. Is the 24W 30W DS a zoom? I'm wondering about the two powers. Also I have a decent pair of Zeiss 10X25B binoculars. They are great bins but perhaps I could do better with an upgrade that's why I'm thinking about the Nikon ED50 I like the portability though I have no idea on what to expect visually.
Can anyone compare what I am seeing with my binoculars and what I would see with the ED50? Difficult question.... Thank you in advance!
 
At the risk of the blind leading the blind, here we go.

24W = 24X Wide

30W = 30 Wide

IF this is one eyepiece, then it means that it's 24X or 30X depending on the mm of your objective.

These are not accurate, but an example:

60mm = 24X, 82mm = 30X.

The DS means Digi-Scoping, or it can be used with a digital camera. As I understand it, DS is slightly different than a standard eyepiece, but the optic quality should be the same.

Now PM me how you are able to buy from Japan, other than from eBay, because I have the Fieldscope TD-III and had an eyepiece in my cart, but can work out the shipping. eBay is easier, but I can't find what I need there. Thanks
 
http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/scopes/ds/index.htm

the first DS 16 x in 50ED 24x in 60mm ED and non 30x in 82ED[78ED the older scope] say way for the higher power eyepieces [27x @ 40x in 50ED

http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/scopes/mc/index.htm

I hope this helps some. Click on specifications for both series.The 24x 30x DS eyepiece you talk about would be 16x in the ED50. The DS eyepieces do not have the moveable eyecups, but you can move out the eyecups some for non eyeglass use, I have, but is not as convenient as the MC series. I never tried it you could use a o-ring under this DS eyecup so it stays in place better[up] to allow for non eyeglass use.
 
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The Nikon Fieldscope eye pieces will fit on the various models of that series, giving higher magnification on the larger scopes. The specification shown in the Nikon link provided by 'mooreorless' give the exact details.
In your case, the 24W DS eye piece is only 16x on the ED50, but is 24x on the 60mm Fieldscope, as 'dougnik' has indicated above.
The DS eye pieces differ from the conventional MC eye pieces in that they have a broad flat rubber surround for the ocular so a camera lens can fit evenly on it. A little clumsy for visual observing, but perfectly acceptable.
Scopes give a dramatically more detailed view of the birds, at the price of convenience and speed. The scope needs a tripod to shine, which makes it a handful to carry and deploy, but you see much more once you have the bird in view. Getting little passerines into scope view will of course be challenging, as they flit out of the field of view before anyone has a chance to observe, but for shorebirds, waterbirds and raptors, there is no substitute for a scope.
The ED50 is a wonderful little scope, super portable and optically excellent, ideal for travel with a lightweight tripod such as the Velbon UltraLuxi. It is not cheap however, plus Nikon seems to have discontinued it. So you might get more bang for your buck with a larger, less costly scope such as are discussed on other threads, from Celestron, Theron etc.
 
Dougnik said:
So that eyepiece would fit a Fieldscope III? The rest I understand. Just don't want to buy the wrong eyepieces if the opportunity presents itself.
Click to expand...

Best to ask Nikon.
That is an early model Fieldscope, the optics may have changed in the more recent designs.
Note that 20x in the 60mm scope would be about a 13x in the ED50 and that there is no indication it is a wide angle unit.
 
Yep. That was my concern. I already purchased my scope. However, I found an older model, labeled only Fieldscope, and for the price I was thinking the eyepieces would be worthwhile. My scope is coming this week, with a 20-60X on it. I also bought a 30X wide, but was wanting the elusive Nikon 7464, for a fixed 40X. Might even settle for the 6950 (DS version). Thanks for all of the advice.
 
To the OP, Yes, the 16/24/30x DS eyepiece not only works well on the ED50, it is IMO brilliant.

Very bright, with a >3mm exit pupil, and very easy to acquire the subject. A sharp 16x on a tripod yields surprising detail.
 
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Kevin Conville said:
To the OP, Yes, the 16/24/30x DS eyepiece nor only works well on the ED50, it is IMO brilliant.

Very bright, with a >3mm exit pupil, and very easy to acquire the subject. A sharp 16x on a tripod yields surprising detail.
Click to expand...


On the ED50 enthusiast thread different individuals were saying that 27X W would be the ideal eyepiece. Do you think 16X to be a bit weak on the magnification? What would be an equivalent camera lens size when the 16X W would be on the ED50? Would it be 1000mm or more? The longest lens I use now is a 300mm with a 1.4X teleconverter=420mm I'm trying to get an idea of what I would be seeing through the ED50. Would the ED50 be hand holdable?
 
calpal,
I have all the DS and MC wide EPs. I like the 16xDS, 20xMC wide, and the 27x MC wide or 27xDS EPs on the ED50. They're all good.

I know the 27x EPs have a strong following, and the little scope supports that magnification quite well, especially in good light. I usually have either the 16x or 20x EPs on there most of the time. Many (most?) people are looking for significantly more mag from their scopes than their bins and the 27x delivers here. If I could have but one EP for the ED50 it would probably be the MC20x wide.

As I said before, a steady 16x (tripod mounted) will show a lot of detail, but I wouldn't bother trying to hand hold. Anything above 16x would start to become ridiculous. Mag would probably be close to a 1000mm lens on full frame.
 
Dougnik said:
Are the MC all interchangeable with even the earliest Fieldscopes?
Click to expand...

No. The original Fieldscope (60mm, earliest examples labeled "Spotting Scope") will not take any of the eyepieces that extend into the body of the scope. Consequently, the only wide field eyepiece that fits that scope is the 24/30x MC. All of the Fieldscope eyepieces will fit the later scopes (Fieldscope II, III, 78ED, 82ED, 50ED; and with adapters will fit the EDG scopes. Not sure if adapters will be available for old eyepieces to fit the new Monarch scopes).

--AP
 
Kevin Conville said:
To the OP, Yes, the 16/24/30x DS eyepiece not only works well on the ED50, it is IMO brilliant.

Very bright, with a >3mm exit pupil, and very easy to acquire the subject. A sharp 16x on a tripod yields surprising detail.
Click to expand...

Having several scopes, I tend to use different ones for different purposes where they excel and IMO this little scope excels at scanning large open areas which I do a lot of. And for that the 16DS is ideal. It gives a fantastic[for a scope] wide view, excellent detail for the magnification, bright, great eye relief and just fun to use. If I need more magnification to look at something, I can use a doubler held to the eyepiece or I can switch out a higher mag eyepiece or just grab a bigger scope with more magnification.

Some might ask, why not just use the bigger scope all round. Its a good question easily answered the first time you sit down side by side and compare the two. The big scope has a narrower FOV even with a fixed eyepiece lesser mag. IMO its the beauty of the ED50 second only to the size/portability. To me its really a large time saver for scanning at long distances where the binoculars don't have quite the mag you want.
 
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