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Maven s.1 80mm or Nikon ED82a ? (1 Viewer)

The cabelas will whitout No doubt be better than both the Maven and the Nikon fieldscope. Tried them all, owning the meopta s2.
 
That's a good catch on the cables but I'd really like to swap out eyepieces and at least a wide zoom:(

There seems to be all kinds of opinions on the new nikon:) I didn't see a wide zoom they made for it though. I wish someone else made the dual eyepiece swaro has on their real pricey line. That would fit my use case perfectly.

The Maven ended up going for 1125 btw in case anyone is curious.
 
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That's a good catch on the cables but I'd really like to swap out eyepieces and at least a wide zoom:(

There seems to be all kinds of opinions on the new nikon:) I didn't see a wide zoom they made for it though. I wish someone else made the dual eyepiece swaro has on their real pricey line. That would fit my use case perfectly.

The Maven ended up going for 1125 btw in case anyone is curious.

Well ... This saying always seem to pop up " You get what you pay for " and in the world of optics its proven to be true more times than not. Unfortunately good glass cost alot. When I told a friend what I paid for my last purchase, the Nikon EDG with all its goodies. I was reminded it cost me more than my first full size Chevy Malibu automobile which I purchased back in the fall of 1971. The way I figure it. To own one of the top end scopes with a resonable wide zoom with the most comfortable eye relief you are going to have to purchase in alphabetical order either a ..... Kowa 77 or 88 Prominar , A leica APO Televid, A Meopta S2 series, A Nikon EDG , Or the Latest & most expensive Swarovski ATX. The problem is these do not have a wide variety of fixed eyepieces with good eye relief accept the Nikon EDG. If you want those you will have to purchase the very pricey Nikon EDG FEP eyepieces. All of the above kills your budget. New or used ? , Like I said all of these can be purchased used a lot cheaper. .... Good Luck In Your Search and remember to browse the Forum classifies here.
 
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I'm definitely going for the used market so hopefully that will help me out.

As a side note. I'm a member of a few various forums but the amount of help, expertise, and class here is heads and shoulders above what else I've seen.
 
I bid on that Maven, just for kicks...$967.00 plus shipping was a much as I was willing to bid..... Kind of an unknown entity.
 
No experience with the Maven (or any of its clones) but I am a user of the ED82, and can only echo the comments of others here. I've previously had the following high end scopes - Leica APO 77 & 62, Swarovski 65HD, Kowa 823 and Optolyth 80HD and personally I feel the Nikon ED82 aces them all. I have also used mine against a friends Leica 80HD scope, and at 30x there is little difference in the image, with perhaps the Nikon being marginally brighter. The only limitation is the zoom, which I struggle with at the top end (difficult to obtain a sharp image in certain atmospheric conditions) and as a result of the short eye-relief. It is an incredible scope with the 30x DS eyepiece.
Can you please explain how the short eye relief on the ED82 makes it hard to focus at higher magnification? I am in the market for my first spotting scope and have seen lots of good reviews on the Nikon…but I don’t want one that is difficult to focus at high magnification. I had read that the variable speed focus Nikon used on that scope makes it easy to focus. Are you still using that same spotting scope? Thank you.
 
Can you please explain how the short eye relief on the ED82 makes it hard to focus at higher magnification? I am in the market for my first spotting scope and have seen lots of good reviews on the Nikon…but I don’t want one that is difficult to focus at high magnification. I had read that the variable speed focus Nikon used on that scope makes it easy to focus. Are you still using that same spotting scope? Thank you.
I'm just going to jump in here and wish you a warm welcome from those of us on staff here at BirdForum (y)
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like ;)
 
Can you please explain how the short eye relief on the ED82 makes it hard to focus at higher magnification? I am in the market for my first spotting scope and have seen lots of good reviews on the Nikon…but I don’t want one that is difficult to focus at high magnification. I had read that the variable speed focus Nikon used on that scope makes it easy to focus. Are you still using that same spotting scope? Thank you.

I don't think it's a fault of the eyepiece or the scope. More like any spotting scope used for terrestrial views is hard to achieve a sharp focus at 75x simply because of mirage (heat shimmer). It takes very steady air to look across a landscape and get a razor sharp image at 75x.

If you can deal with the narrow FOV and short ER the Nikon MCII 25-75x zoom is optically excellent. The fixed power Nikon eyepieces are also excellent. If you get the Nikon with a zoom, buy a fixed 30x as well.

I don’t have an issue focusing my 82a, but it isn't as fine as a high quality two speed astro telescope focuser, no spotting scope is.
 
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Can you please explain how the short eye relief on the ED82 makes it hard to focus at higher magnification? I am in the market for my first spotting scope and have seen lots of good reviews on the Nikon…but I don’t want one that is difficult to focus at high magnification. I had read that the variable speed focus Nikon used on that scope makes it easy to focus. Are you still using that same spotting scope? Thank you.
Apologies, I missed a comma in that sentence - it is the combination of short eye relief and atmospheric conditions that cause issues - this has been partially mitigated by using the older MC 20 - 50x (?) zoom, but largely isn't an issue as I use fixed 30x and 50x eyepieces for the most part.
I'm still using the Nikon, and recently had the chance to upgrade to an 883 but didn't - to my eye there was little discernible difference.
Hope that helps!
 
Can you please explain how the short eye relief on the ED82 makes it hard to focus at higher magnification? I am in the market for my first spotting scope and have seen lots of good reviews on the Nikon…but I don’t want one that is difficult to focus at high magnification. I had read that the variable speed focus Nikon used on that scope makes it easy to focus. Are you still using that same spotting scope? Thank you.
Which Nikon ED82 are you asking about? The only Nikon ED82 with a variable speed focuser is the current Monarch ED82.

It looks like the old Fieldscope ED82 was the original subject of this thread. It's now discontinued, but pretty readily available on the used market.
 
Which Nikon ED82 are you asking about? The only Nikon ED82 with a variable speed focuser is the current Monarch ED82.

It looks like the old Fieldscope ED82 was the original subject of this thread. It's now discontinued, but pretty readily available on the used market.
My bad, I thought the thread was about the Monarch ED82, and that is the one I’ve been considering purchasing. I was confused about the mention of the 25-75x zoom because as far as I knew it comes with a 20-60x. But now it makes sense knowing this older thread was obviously about the older version. Thanks Henry for the clarification. I am new to this world and wasn’t aware of the existence of the older Fieldscope ED82.
 
Apologies, I missed a comma in that sentence - it is the combination of short eye relief and atmospheric conditions that cause issues - this has been partially mitigated by using the older MC 20 - 50x (?) zoom, but largely isn't an issue as I use fixed 30x and 50x eyepieces for the most part.
I'm still using the Nikon, and recently had the chance to upgrade to an 883 but didn't - to my eye there was little discernible difference.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much - I now realize (thanks to Henry) that you’re talking about the older Nikon Fieldscope ED82, but I thought the thread was about the Nikon Monarch ED82. Now I’m going to try to research what was upgraded/changed on the Monarch ED82 (the eyepiece is different, but beyond that I am not sure). I replied to Henry as well - I don’t mean to create confusion with so many replies!
 
I don't think it's a fault of the eyepiece or the scope. More like any spotting scope used for terrestrial views is hard to achieve a sharp focus at 75x simply because of mirage (heat shimmer). It takes very steady air to look across a landscape and get a razor sharp image at 75x.

If you can deal with the narrow FOV and short ER the Nikon MCII 25-75x zoom is optically excellent. The fixed power Nikon eyepieces are also excellent. If you get the Nikon with a zoom, buy a fixed 30x as well.

I don’t have an issue focusing my 82a, but it isn't as fine as a high quality two speed astro telescope focuser, no spotting scope is.
Thank you! As you may have seen in my replies to a couple other folks, I mistakenly thought this thread was about the current Nikon Monarch ED82! But I appreciate your thoughtful response, which obviously is still relevant regardless of which scope we’re talking about
 
Thank you! As you may have seen in my replies to a couple other folks, I mistakenly thought this thread was about the current Nikon Monarch ED82! But I appreciate your thoughtful response, which obviously is still relevant regardless of which scope we’re talking about

There is a long running thread about the Monarch in the Nikon spotting scope forum. Worth a read. It is pretty well regarded. The big turn off for me is Nikon outsourced it's construction to China. If that doesn't bother you it is probably the best new buy under $2000 USD.
 
There is a long running thread about the Monarch in the Nikon spotting scope forum. Worth a read. It is pretty well regarded. The big turn off for me is Nikon outsourced it's construction to China. If that doesn't bother you it is probably the best new buy under $2000 USD.
Ok thank you, I will find that thread - it does actually bother me. I was about to pull the trigger after a bunch of research, and then realized it is made in China. I’m still considering it based on the solid reviews but at the same time i’m on the hunt for another option!
 
(...) I’m still considering it based on the solid reviews but at the same time i’m on the hunt for another option!
That other option could be the Meopta Meostar S2 82 HD with one of the available two eyepieces: 30-60x (super wide zoom) or 20-70x (giant zoom ratio). The scope and both eyepieces deliver alpha performance at a reasonable price, 30 years transferable warranty and are made in the Czech Republic.

But in any case I would recommend not to to buy on paper specs and reviews only and not before you could evaluate the specimen in kind for yourself. There is a lot to like and to dislike in field scopes depending on personal conditions and tastes.
 
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