Pentax and Nikon Scope. (1 Viewer)

P

perdu

Member

• Oct 5, 2013

• #1

Hi Everyone,

I am from Houston Texas and have started birding over the last 2 years. I have always used binoculars but I ordered a Nikon Fieldscope ED82 and a Pentax FP 80ED with the idea of sending one back. The problem with the Nikon is finding eyepieces for it but it's nice and light weight. The Pentax is a heavy beast but eyepieces are no problem. Does anyone have experience with these two scopes and have any words of wisdom on which to keep.

I'll post this in the Pentax forum too. Thanks for any observations and advice.

 

RJM

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

• Oct 5, 2013

• #2

Nikon is the clear optical winner. Not even close.

 

looksharp65

Well-known member

• Oct 5, 2013

• #3

RJM said:

Nikon is the clear optical winner. Not even close.

Click to expand...

Although I haven't used the 80 mm Pentax but have owned the PF-65EDAII and now own the Nikon ED82A, I think Rick is right.
When I bought the Nikon ED50A, I found that it was nearly equivalent to the Pentax.

The Pentax 80 mm is a huge scope compared to the much more manageable Nikon. And I read the focusing mechanism of the Pentax makes the usable aperture considerably smaller when not focused to infinity. I think the actual aperture, probably calculated using the exit pupil size, goes down to about 70 mm, but I can be wrong. I admit it has a very nice view with the XW eyepieces, though.

//L

 

mooreorless

Well-known member

• Oct 5, 2013

• #4

Perdu welcome to Birdforum. There is a Nikon Fieldscope 30x eyepiece for sale right now on BF for a decent price. I have the Nikon 50ED and a 60ED and like them very much, but wish I had the 82ED instead of the 60ED. Let us know what you think.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=267989

 

Last edited: Oct 5, 2013

P

perdu

Member

• Oct 8, 2013

• #5

I choose the Nikon because in size and weight it's so much more managable. Image is great too.
Thanks for the replies.

 

mooreorless

Well-known member

• Oct 8, 2013

• #6

I am glad you like it.

 

Kevin Conville

yardbirder

• Oct 8, 2013

• #7

I've owned a Pentax ED80 for years but sold it to buy the Nikon ED82 some 3 years ago. Funny thing, when using Pentax' own XL or XW EPs for visual, the ED80 performed brilliantly. I could never get satisfactory results digiscoping however. When I went to the Nikon, also with fixed wide EPs, the visual performance was as good or better -and- the image quality digiscoping improved dramatically.

One thing that I never liked about the Pentax design was the collet for mounting eyepieces. It's not waterproof. Yeah I know there's a window inside that keeps water from entering the body of the scope, but what does one do if water gets past the EP and into that cavity? Though I never had a problem with this, I also avoided using the scope in the rain.

I'm a big fan of the Fieldscopes and also have an ED50 and all the wide field EPs and zoom. Good choice IMO.

 

Last edited: Oct 8, 2013

S

Sancho

Well-known member

• Oct 14, 2013

• #8

Hi Perdu, I had a Nikon ED82A scope and loved it, and got the ED50 and a horde of eyepieces to match. It was a lovely set-up, but I wanted a wide-field zoom when Swaro et al brought these out, and Nikon didn´t follow suit. I sold the ED82A and kind of regret it (but I don´t think I could go back to fixed ep´s on a large scope).
Dipped of BF is selling an ED82A scope with case at a knock-down price:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=268803

 

mikefreiberg

Well-known member

• Oct 17, 2013

• #9

The ED82 is a fantastic scope. Best of luck in the field. If you are ever in need of fixed eyepieces you can reach out to New Jersey Audubon. They still have a stockpile of older eyepieces that are currently discontinued.

All the best,
Mike
Nikon