30WF eyepiece (1 Viewer)

Palliam · Dec 9, 2018

Hi,
Can anyone tell me anything about a fieldscope eyepiece simply marked 30WF and nothing else? I have tried to load a photo but can’t seem to do it on my iPhone.. it is not an eyepiece I am familiar with and I suspect it is an older model.
Many thanks
Mark

Vespobuteo · Dec 9, 2018

Palliam said:
Hi,
Can anyone tell me anything about a fieldscope eyepiece simply marked 30WF and nothing else? I have tried to load a photo but can’t seem to do it on my iPhone.. it is not an eyepiece I am familiar with and I suspect it is an older model.
Many thanks
Mark

Looks like an earlier version with a simple rubber eye cup. I've had one on my first Fieldscope III.
I think these were made before the ED82 was on the market (so no need for the 38x marking).

The later version has a twist-up eye cup. There are also an even later model that fit digiscoping adapters (wider with a removable rubber cup). Probably the same optics on all three of them.

Hermann · Dec 9, 2018

Vespobuteo said:
Looks like an earlier version with a simple rubber eye cup. Later versions have a twist-up eye cup. There are also a later version that fit digiscoping adapters (wider with a removable rubber cup). Probably the same optics on all three of them.

Not the same optics and not the same coatings. The early version (the one shown in the picture) has got a concave eyepiece lens and, like all the older Nikon eyepieces, less efficient coatings.

But it's still a very good lens. We've got both versions in the family, and the only difference of note is that the new version is slightly brighter and has better contrast.

If the price for the eyepiece is right, I'd get it.

Hermann

Palliam · Dec 9, 2018

Thanks for your responses, guys. I am finding these eyepieces a little confusing. Herman, what do you call the right price? I took s chance and got the eyepiece for £90. I did get a straight 60mm2 (not the ED) and aSlik tripod and video head included in that price, but I bought it for the eyepiece really and was not sure of the going rate.
I have bought enough stuff lately...

Vespobuteo · Dec 9, 2018

Hermann said:
Not the same optics and not the same coatings. The early version (the one shown in the picture) has got a concave eyepiece lens and, like all the older Nikon eyepieces, less efficient coatings.

But it's still a very good lens. We've got both versions in the family, and the only difference of note is that the new version is slightly brighter and has better contrast.

If the price for the eyepiece is right, I'd get it.

Hermann

I assumed it was a Fieldscope III.
But shouldn't this eyepiece originate from the previous Fieldscope II?
In that case it might be even older than the version I had.
I got the EP with twist-up eye cup later when I upgraded to the EDIII (my first III was non-ED) but never had a chance to compare EP:s side by side.

Here's an EP on the FS II, that seems to match the photo.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0040/lot-09445edf-8837-4c0d-b990-a42601254064

Vespobuteo · Dec 9, 2018

Palliam said:
Thanks for your responses, guys. I am finding these eyepieces a little confusing. Herman, what do you call the right price? I took s chance and got the eyepiece for £90. I did get a straight 60mm2 (not the ED) and aSlik tripod and video head included in that price, but I bought it for the eyepiece really and was not sure of the going rate.
I have bought enough stuff lately...

What scope did you get with the eye piece? Fieldscope II or III?
I assumed it was a III. It was a while since I sold my nikon scopes and didn't think about the II.

£90 for a FS III + eye piece and tripod would be very cheap I guess.
For a II, still a good price.

Palliam · Dec 9, 2018

I think it’s s straight II. Can either move it on or keep it, but I like this classic old gesrI will know more when it arrives! But it could be an even earlier version?

Vespobuteo · Dec 9, 2018

Palliam said:
I think it’s s straight II. Can either move it on or keep it, but I like this classic old gesrI will know more when it arrives! But it could be an even earlier version?

Definitely looks like a II (no red ring on the front indicates no ED glass though).
The EP is likely of similar age/generation.
(But not identical to the one I had on my FS III if I recall correctly).
Can't say much about the optics on the FS II as I haven't tried one.

Palliam · Dec 9, 2018

Thanks for your reply though. I picked up an angled ED 2 last week too so happy that I will have a decent, brighter companion to the ED50. Will have a play with the 30WF eyepiece and see how it goes. Thanks again

Hermann · Dec 9, 2018

Vespobuteo said:
Definitely looks like a II (no red ring on the front indicates no ED glass though).
The EP is likely of similar age/generation.
(But not identical to the one I had on my FS III if I recall correctly).

Yep, I agree. Fieldscope II (straight), the eyepiece was likely bought with the scope. The switch to the other version occured when Nikon started making the III.

Vespobuteo said:
Can't say much about the optics on the FS II as I haven't tried one.

Well, I know that scope ...

That's another one we've got in the family. Now serves as a spare because the family member who used it got a Fieldscope II ED years ago, and the optical differences are quite obvious in the field, even at 30x magnification. Contrast is lower than in the ED version, more obvious chromatic aberrations, lower resolution. Still not a bad scope, but the ED is clearly better.

However, the price the TO got was pretty good. I would have bought it at that price as well, even though I've got a few scopes already ...

Hermann

Alexis Powell · Dec 11, 2018

This 30x WF must have been made before the introduction of the Fieldscope 78ED. I'm very interested from Hermann's post that the optical formula is different from the later 30/38x MC. Does this one perhaps _not_ protrude into the scope body, such that it might have been released for and can be used with the Fieldscope I? If it does protrude into the scope body, a design that would indicate that it was introduced with the Fieldscope II, I'm very surprised that the later 30/38x MC (which definitely does protrude into the scope body) has a different optical formula. As far as I know, all of the other MC series have the same optical formula as the WF series, just with updated coatings and a more bulky housing including a twist-up eyecup. For that matter, I think that the DS series are optically the same as the MC series with the exception of the unique 16/24/30x DS.

--AP

Hermann · Dec 11, 2018

Alexis Powell said:
This 30x WF must have been made before the introduction of the Fieldscope 78ED. I'm very interested from Hermann's post that the optical formula is different from the later 30/38x MC. Does this one perhaps _not_ protrude into the scope body, such that it might have been released for and can be used with the Fieldscope I? If it does protrude into the scope body, a design that would indicate that it was introduced with the Fieldscope II, I'm very surprised that the later 30/38x MC (which definitely does protrude into the scope body) has a different optical formula.

I can't remember if it protrudes into the scope body. I'll check the next time I get hold of that eyepiece, probably around Christmas. I was also quite surprised the newer version was different, but the new version has a flat eyepiece lens, the old version a concave eyepiece lens, so it's clearly a different construction.

Alexis Powell said:
As far as I know, all of the other MC series have the same optical formula as the WF series, just with updated coatings and a more bulky housing including a twist-up eyecup. For that matter, I think that the DS series are optically the same as the MC series with the exception of the unique 16/24/30x DS.

I've got all three versions of the 24x (on a 60mm scope), and the first two versions are definitely the same except for the housing. I'm not sure about the DS. I think it may well be different.

Hermann

Vespobuteo · Dec 12, 2018

Alexis Powell said:
This 30x WF must have been made before the introduction of the Fieldscope 78ED. I'm very interested from Hermann's post that the optical formula is different from the later 30/38x MC. Does this one perhaps _not_ protrude into the scope body, such that it might have been released for and can be used with the Fieldscope I? If it does protrude into the scope body, a design that would indicate that it was introduced with the Fieldscope II, I'm very surprised that the later 30/38x MC (which definitely does protrude into the scope body) has a different optical formula. As far as I know, all of the other MC series have the same optical formula as the WF series, just with updated coatings and a more bulky housing including a twist-up eyecup. For that matter, I think that the DS series are optically the same as the MC series with the exception of the unique 16/24/30x DS.

--AP

Here are some info/photos on a FS I scope and its original? 30x eye piece,
it looks a lot shorter overall than the 30X Wide.

https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=180527

And as you mention, a protruding part into the scope should indicate that it was an original FS II eyepiece and not for FS I. My unqualified guess is that Palliam's eye piece was made for the FS II.

Hermann · Dec 12, 2018

Vespobuteo said:
And as you mention, a protruding part into the scope should indicate that it was an original FS II eyepiece and not for FS I. My unqualified guess is that Palliam's eye piece was made for the FS II.

Yep. There never was a WA wideanglege eyepiece for the FS 1 apart from the 20x. The 30x WA was made for the FS II.

Hermann

Palliam · Dec 12, 2018

Just a quick update. Attached is a photo of the eyepiece compared to an older 20W I use on my ED50. It does seem somewhat bigger but I was quite surprised at the ep/ Fieldscope 2 combination. No doubt I will be even more impressed with the ED2 when it finally arrives...
Does this confirm your thoughts on the30W ep?

Alexis Powell · Dec 12, 2018

Vespobuteo said:
Here are some info/photos on a FS I scope and its original? 30x eye piece,
it looks a lot shorter overall than the 30X Wide.

https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=180527

And as you mention, a protruding part into the scope should indicate that it was an original FS II eyepiece and not for FS I. My unqualified guess is that Palliam's eye piece was made for the FS II.

Ah yes, I remember that old thread now. I had forgotten that Nikon offered a non-WF 30x for the FS I. The 20x and 40x in that series were more widely available and for a much longer time. There was also a 60x.

Returning to the piece of trivia that piqued my curiosity, I find it very interesting that Nikon redesigned the 30x WF such that there were two versions. I wonder what inspired the change. I think the 30x WF must be the only Fieldscope eyepiece that was significantly altered in its optical design over the course of being sold as the same model. When the 20-60x MC zoom was updated, it was labelled as version "II". As I mentioned before, most of the time the optical design didn't even change between WF, MC, and DS models!

--AP

Vespobuteo · Dec 12, 2018

Palliam said:
Just a quick update. Attached is a photo of the eyepiece compared to an older 20W I use on my ED50. It does seem somewhat bigger but I was quite surprised at the ep/ Fieldscope 2 combination. No doubt I will be even more impressed with the ED2 when it finally arrives...
Does this confirm your thoughts on the30W ep?

Looking at the photo the 30X W looks similar to the one I had on my FS III. Except for the missing markings for magnification for 60/78mm scopes.
It's an excellent eye piece with good eye relief, will look even better on the ED version. :t:

30WF eyepiece (1 Viewer)

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