• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Mid-range high quality for money spotting scope (1 Viewer)

DutchSparrow

Active member
High quality for money spotting scope

Hi all, I really love this forum!

I'm looking for a new spotting scope to replace my Bynolyt T80ED. I'm not able to pay for the 1500+ top of the line scopes, so i'm looking at scopes with a max of 1000 Euro's with a high quality for money ratio. After a lot of reading I came to this shortlist.

- Vortex Viper 20-60x80
- Meopta Meopro S1 75 APO/HD
- Hawke Endurance ED 20-60x85/Frontier ED 20-60x85/Sapphire ED 20-60x82
- Opticron ES80 GA ED v3 Angles 20-60x80
- Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 20-60x80
- Vanguard Endeavor HD 82A 20-60x82

Which one of these would be the best in terms of optical quality (especially sharpness, light sensitivity, clarity, chromatic aberrations)? Build quality is less, but also important.

Do you have other suggestions that will be less than 1000 Euro and better than my shortlist?

Will this be a enough improvement over my Bynolyt T80 ED that is 8 years old, especially when zooming in? Or will I gain a lot more improvement if I up my budget to, say, 1200 euro's?

Thank you so much in advance for your help. Most of these scopes are not widely available in the Netherlands, let alone in the same store for a good comparison so I could use the extra input and info before checking scopes in the store.

Kind regards
Theo
 
Last edited:
I would also add the Celestron Regal M2 80mm scope to your list. Excellent value for money and can accept any of the great fixed magnification 1.25" astro eyepieces that are available. There are a lot of comments about these scopes on here if you try the search facility. With the supplied zoom the 80mm can be had for less than £550 here in the UK.
 
Hi LesR, thanks for your comment. I've read a lot already here on the forum and it gave me so much great info, but now I'm wondering how these scopes hold up against each other, what is the best choice when looking at optical quality and what comes closest to the top line, or will a little more investment bring me signifcantly closer to that top line or just very little?

I researched on the Celestron and there was a review here on the forum against I thought the Vortex or Hawke where it was valued significantly less in some important areas, so that's why I didn't list it.

I'm really curious about these six scopes, especially from people who have used 1 or more and the comparison between them.
 
Nederlandse Spreeuw, Theo, post 1,
I have investigated the meopta telescope in comparison with two other onse, but I have not published the results yet, so I will add the report in the attachment.
Gijs van Ginkel
 

Attachments

  • TEST MEOPTA S1-75 APO TELESCOOP.doc
    181.5 KB · Views: 433
I also would like to know more about the 3 Hawke scopes; Frontier 85mm ED, Sapphire 82mm ED, Endurance 85mm ED. Which was is the best optically? The Sapphire is the most expensive of the 3, but they all have Bak4 ED Glass, Dielectric, Fully Multi Coated, Phase-correction, quite impressive.
 
Theo, in post 5 kun je de file zo openen,
Gijs

I've read your review. Thanks a lot for sharing. I'm amazed that on the area of light transmission and low light performance the Meopta beats the Leica's, that's impressive. Of course, the price difference is reflected somewhere, hence the lower performance on sharpness.

I have 3 questions:

- Is it still useable past 40x magnification with the sharpness getting worse? I'm not surprised it can't keep up with the Leica's in this area, but would I see improvement over my Bynolyt T80 ED? Would it still give me a better view with more details of a far away bird's characteristics, or is it more or less usable only up to 40x?

- How harmful is it to use the scope without a stay-on cover? From what temperatures? Is it save to use it without a cover in the Netherlands?

Do you think it will outperform the Vortex, Opticron, Hawke, Bushnell and Vanguard or are the serious competitors in that list or elsewhere in the same price class as the Meopta?

Thanks again!
 
Pentax PF80ED if you can find one. Last year I tried a few scopes, Didn't like the Hawke, compared to the others I had at the time. Kowa TSN883, Opticron ES80ED, and an old Optolyth TBS80 ED. I found the image to be "grainy" not really sure how to describe it, but it wasn't for me. I settled on on Pentax PF80ED, one of the reasons for this was the range of eyepieces you can get, and you don't have to spend much money to get a first class image. The BST Explorer EPs are brilliant.
I also tried the Opticron HR80ED and a HR66ED, my main gripe with the Opticron was the screw fitting. Other people find it ok, I didn't like it at all. The image through the Pentax is stunning, very, very close to to the Kowa TSN883. I had them side by side for a week with and the Kowa wasn't worth the difference for me.
Having used a scope with the 1.25 inch EP fitting, I would buy anything else. Mainly because I like fixed EPs and they are so easy to change.

Ron
 
Dutch Sparrow, post 8, I will try to answer your questions.
-1- Above 40x the image of the Meopta bcomes "softer in Dutch wolliger", but you have to look yourself.
-2- It is not harmful to use the telescope without stay-on cover, but in some circumstances it can be wise to use one for example if you transport it on your bike and it can hit the frame or when you want absolute silence and that could be hampered if you hit your telescope by accident with your binocular or pocket knife.
-3- I can not answer that question, since I have not used any of those telescopes, so the only thing you can do is to check it yourself by going to a shop that has these telescopes in stock, but Meopta is a very good brand by itself, so....
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Pentax PF80ED if you can find one. Last year I tried a few scopes, Didn't like the Hawke, compared to the others I had at the time. Kowa TSN883, Opticron ES80ED, and an old Optolyth TBS80 ED. I found the image to be "grainy" not really sure how to describe it, but it wasn't for me. I settled on on Pentax PF80ED, one of the reasons for this was the range of eyepieces you can get, and you don't have to spend much money to get a first class image. The BST Explorer EPs are brilliant.
I also tried the Opticron HR80ED and a HR66ED, my main gripe with the Opticron was the screw fitting. Other people find it ok, I didn't like it at all. The image through the Pentax is stunning, very, very close to to the Kowa TSN883. I had them side by side for a week with and the Kowa wasn't worth the difference for me.
Having used a scope with the 1.25 inch EP fitting, I would buy anything else. Mainly because I like fixed EPs and they are so easy to change.

Ron

Hi Ron, I would love to buy the Pentax, but just the body is already past the 1100 euro's, and then I need an eyepiece with it. I'm looking for a zoom eyepiece, so it will be 1500 euro's for the set and I'm looking around a 1000 max. I don't think there is a store selling the set for 900 pounds or less.

Dutch Sparrow, post 8, I will try to answer your questions.
-1- Above 40x the image of the Meopta bcomes "softer in Dutch wolliger", but you have to look yourself.
-2- It is not harmful to use the telescope without stay-on cover, but in some circumstances it can be wise to use one for example if you transport it on your bike and it can hit the frame or when you want absolute silence and that could be hampered if you hit your telescope by accident with your binocular or pocket knife.
-3- I can not answer that question, since I have not used any of those telescopes, so the only thing you can do is to check it yourself by going to a shop that has these telescopes in stock, but Meopta is a very good brand by itself, so....
Gijs van Ginkel
Thank you!
 
Try to get a seller with a return policy. Some of these may not balance well on a tripod. And get a good tripod.

I have a Vixen 300 dollar eye piece for my Pentax. In fact I have two of the same zoom.
 
Hi Ron, I would love to buy the Pentax, but just the body is already past the 1100 euro's, and then I need an eyepiece with it. I'm looking for a zoom eyepiece, so it will be 1500 euro's for the set and I'm looking around a 1000 max. I don't think there is a store selling the set for 900 pounds or less.


Thank you!

Not sure what the price is, but there is such a Pentax with zoom offered on Astromart right now. You may need to subscribe for $15 to be able to contact the seller.

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=931146
 
They must be cheaper in the U.K. I paid £539 for the scope and you can get the Pentax zoom for £330 new. I bought a s/h zoom for £240. I like the fixed ep,s though. The 15mm BST 34x on the PF80, is a superb combo. And costs less than £600 for for the pair. The BST ep,s are not weather proof though.
 
I see a lot of comments about the Pentax (I assume we are talking about the Pentax PF-80ED? I've read some great reviews about it. Is it true it is significantly better than my shortlist en comes closer to the topline? Does it also beat the Meopta S1 75 APO/HD, Vortex Razor en Opticron HR80, whoe are an upgrade to the ones in my shortlist and in the samen price range as the Pentax?

Try to get a seller with a return policy. Some of these may not balance well on a tripod. And get a good tripod.

I have a Vixen 300 dollar eye piece for my Pentax. In fact I have two of the same zoom.
Hi, I've got a very sturdy tripod with a video head, very heavy, but strong :)

Not sure what the price is, but there is such a Pentax with zoom offered on Astromart right now. You may need to subscribe for $15 to be able to contact the seller.

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=931146
Thank you. Unfortunately i do have to pay 15 dollars only to get to know the pice, and the chance is it will be over 1100 dollars, so that's to much of a risk for me, also because of buying second handed optical from abroad, could be something wrong with it very easily without being able to check.

They must be cheaper in the U.K. I paid £539 for the scope and you can get the Pentax zoom for £330 new. I bought a s/h zoom for £240. I like the fixed ep,s though. The 15mm BST 34x on the PF80, is a superb combo. And costs less than £600 for for the pair. The BST ep,s are not weather proof though.
Wow, I would love to get a link if you can find it, I can't find it for nearly as cheap as that in the UK or elsewhere. I see the Pentax PF-80ED angled body-only for 749 GBP, with eye peace it will be 1100, so more than 1200 Euro, without shipping or maybe taxes.


Thank you very much for the URL, i've read some very good reviews about that Nikon, but it is a little bit outdated. Is it still the best choice for me against the Meopta, Vortex and Opticron? Is also as good or better than the Pentax? Is it still coming so close to the scopes of Kowa, Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica?


I wonder how it would do against the recent spotting scopes as listed above or the Pentax PF-80ED.
 
Last edited:
Dutch Sparrow,
Do investigate how the service level is of the different brands, since some of them are so bad, that you do want to climb the Dom tower in Utrecht and try to fly without wings...!!
Gijs van Ginkel
 
I got mine from Microglobe in London. Mines a straight, not sure they have any angled ones in stock though.
 
Last edited:
Good point, Gijs I will keep that in mind!

@giosblue: wow, thank you so much. I do have to check how much it costs to get abroad, but with the zoom eyepiece it is 955 euro, great price!

This brings me to a question that maybe throws all the other scopes of the table, looking at optical quality:

Which one is better and closer to top of the line scopes and should be my best option, a new Pentax FD-80ED with 20-60x zoompiece or a second handed (but from a store, with 1 year warranty) Nikon ED82 with new 20-60x mcII eyepiece for 1200 euros? (They also have a second hand Nikon 16x/24x/30x eyepiece, that would make the set 150 euro cheaper to 1050 en maybe delivers more optical quality, but 30x max zoom wouldnt be close enough for me and I dont want a second eyepiece ).
 
Hi,

don't know about Nikon service in NL nor would I care if I was buying a functional used scope.

The ED 82 will beat any of the mid range scopes mentioned if in good order. Its main gripe is the lack of a good zoom EP (the ones available are quite narrow and have short ER) and limited availability of the (very good) fixed EPs.

So if you think you could settle for fixed EPs - maybe the 30 and 50 wide ones, this will give great views.

Joachim
 
Warning! This thread is more than 7 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top