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Eyepiece question for ED82 (1 Viewer)

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member
A quick question - I have 3 eyepieces between my ED50 & ED82 (mag. stated for the latter scope) 30xDS, 38xMC and the MKii zoom. My local patch is a large reservoir, and recently I've been struggling with the zoom at long range (1km+) - I wear glasses and the short eye relief is causing strain when I use it for long periods.
Would anybody be able to offer an opinion on the practicalities of the 50xDS lens over the zoom please? I prefer fixed focal length lenses, and am mostly interested in 1) eye relief 2) exit pupil 3) usability.
I really love the combo of these two scopes, but I'm getting a bit frustrated when viewing over long distances/trying to pull out plumage details and I'm half contemplating getting a newer scope with a more modern wide angle zoom - hoping this won't be necessary though!
 
I have the 27/40/50 DS EP but I just occasionally use it on the ED82 and more frequently on the ED50 for 27x. What can I say? It's one of the classics.

I'm almost certain that all the DS EPs have the same eye relief. A digiscoping thing, I believe. If you're getting along with your 16/24/30 DS EP now you'll be OK with eye relief.

The bigger scope is still cruising at 50x, so where can you go wrong? It has a much wider FOV than the zoom as well as the increased eye relief.

The 16/**/30 DS, the 20/**/38 MC, and the 27/**/50 DS are my three favorites and the others rarely see light.
 
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A quick question - I have 3 eyepieces between my ED50 & ED82 (mag. stated for the latter scope) 30xDS, 38xMC and the MKii zoom. My local patch is a large reservoir, and recently I've been struggling with the zoom at long range (1km+) - I wear glasses and the short eye relief is causing strain when I use it for long periods.
Would anybody be able to offer an opinion on the practicalities of the 50xDS lens over the zoom please? I prefer fixed focal length lenses, and am mostly interested in 1) eye relief 2) exit pupil 3) usability.
I really love the combo of these two scopes, but I'm getting a bit frustrated when viewing over long distances/trying to pull out plumage details and I'm half contemplating getting a newer scope with a more modern wide angle zoom - hoping this won't be necessary though!
I have the 30,50,75 DS eyepieces and the 25-75 for my ED82.
I'll use the 75X for some astronomy purposes when conditions warrant. Otherwise, it's a non-starter.

I used the 50X a few times but found it was too limiting, though it has good eye relief and FOV. Eye relief is less than the 30XDS.

The 30XDS could be used exclusively (I did for many years). It's perfect, except for limited magnification.

The 25-75X is a pain with eyeglasses BUT I've adapted and can use it without glasses. At 25X it delivers a great view with decent eye comfort and the details at 75X are superb, depending on conditions. I only use high mag to verify ID's or tags. I cannot use it at 75X for extended periods BUT it does retrieve details when necessary!
 
Interesting, many thanks for the replies. I'd love to try one out to see how I could get on with it, but it seems that Nikon e/p's are as rare as the proverbial. Perhaps I'll take a punt and sell the zoom in order to put towards the 50x. I can use the zoom (without glasses) but I find it difficult; the fov and exit pupil are tiny at the highest powers and give me eye strain, and it is also quite hard to get a totally sharp image at maximum magnification - I suspect due to the combination of atmospherics and the fast focus of the scope, strangely not an issue I notice when using it on my ED50.
Would anybody be kind enough to measure the exit pupil of the 50x on an ED82?
 
A quick question - I have 3 eyepieces between my ED50 & ED82 (mag. stated for the latter scope) 30xDS, 38xMC and the MKii zoom. My local patch is a large reservoir, and recently I've been struggling with the zoom at long range (1km+) - I wear glasses and the short eye relief is causing strain when I use it for long periods.
Would anybody be able to offer an opinion on the practicalities of the 50xDS lens over the zoom please? I prefer fixed focal length lenses, and am mostly interested in 1) eye relief 2) exit pupil 3) usability.
I really love the combo of these two scopes, but I'm getting a bit frustrated when viewing over long distances/trying to pull out plumage details and I'm half contemplating getting a newer scope with a more modern wide angle zoom - hoping this won't be necessary though!

Hello Dwatsonbirder,

I also have only fixed eyepieces (as for 82x model: 30x MC wide and DS, 38x MC wide, 50x DS and MC, 75x MC wide) and am very happy with them all.

Here are the eye relief values of the DS eyepieces

30X DS: 18.7mm
50X DS: 17.8mm
75X DS: 17.0mm

Best
 
My 50x arrived this morning. First impressions when viewing from my flat - pretty good. Rain has stopped so going to try it out properly now. I'll post some comments later if anyone is interested.

EDIT: I used the e/p today for a few hours - firstly a big thanks to all who offered their opinion, it's exactly what I was after.
Images are sharp and surprisingly bright, with a surprisingly good field of view for such a high power. D.o.F isn't too bad, and I find it easier for the scope to snap into focus in comparison to the zoom. Not sure if I could use it as a one-and-only e/p on the ED82, but using it with the ED50 I can certainly see why it is popular. I was really impressed by the level of detail I was able to pull out - my local patch is a large reservoir approx. 1km across, and I was able to locate the long-staying 1w drake scaup at approx. 900m (moulting scapulars even visible!), quite remarkable.
I should say that I wasn't able to source a DS, so ended up with an MC, but still good eye relief.
 
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Hi Daniel,

your new EP sounds great - Nikon Fieldscopes with the fixed wide angle EPs tend to be stunning.

Regarding the 50x on the big body - if your ED82 is angled and don't know and use the cable tie trick by Kimmo, please try that - it really helps a lot to quickly find birds in the scope without a zoom - that is, if you could at least see them in your bins...

Joachim
 
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