Old Fieldscopes now being discontinued? (1 Viewer)

Both B & H and Adorama are now listing the Straight version of the ED iii Nikon Fieldscope as “Discontinued”:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/482963-REG/Nikon_8331_Fieldscope_III_ED_2_4_60mm.html

http://www.adorama.com/NKFSZED.html?discontinued=t

B & H also lists the angled version of the non-ED scope as discontinued, although that one is still in stock at Adorama at the moment.

Additionally, at this link at Hayneedle

http://www.hayneedle.com/product/fieldscopeiii2060x60straightbodyedwzoomeyepiece.cfm

if, under “Body Type” and “Lens Type” you select Straight & ED, the price that comes up is referred to as the “clearance price”. Same when you select Angled & non-ED (“regular glass”). If you select the other 2 possibilities, Angled ED & Straight non- ED, the respective prices that come up are simply referred to as the “sale price”.

Is Nikon finally discontinuing the Fieldscopes for real (at least in the US)? Or, only the Straight ED iii & Angled non-ED iii versions? The second possibility would seem pretty odd, although in the USA Nikon’s choices concerning its products of interest to birders often do seem to me like they might be being produced by some kind of computerized Random Decision Generator.

Oh hey, and just now saw that the ED82-A is now listed Discontinued at B & H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/482969-USA/Nikon_8337_Fieldscope_82mm_ED_3_2_82mm.html

Not sure- But,... all I do know is that I got a smoking deal last week when I bought a straight ED 60mm Fieldscope. I bought it at the listed price which was at $450 less than the angled version price ( Adorama and then B&H ). Crazy I know. And the thing is I wanted the straight version all along.

After placing my order at night time, I called Adorama the next day to make sure it was for real and not some sort of refurb or used price deal. They said it was legit. And the next day I saw that B&H had also lowered their price on the straight 60mm ED to the same price as Adorama. Both places had them ( the straight ED 60's) up until just the last couple days.

Got my scope on Thursday and it is brand new and is a wonderful scope.

Another 2 places listing fieldscopes as "discontinued"- guess it's really true- too bad:

http://www.brownells.com/optics-mou...kon-fieldscope-spotting-scopes-prod45178.aspx

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/46...g-scope-25-75x-82mm-angled-body-armored-green

Well, if this turns out to be true Nikon won't sell many more scopes in Europe (and presumably the US). The EDG with its ludicrous weight and size simply isn't competitive against the Kowas and the Swarovskis. They should have focussed on making a better zoom instead of introducing a range of scopes that simply doesn't work for the great majority of birdwatchers.

But some fool decided they needed a new range of scopes, so a team of fools designed the EDG.

What a shame.

Hermann

Hermann said:

But some fool decided they needed a new range of scopes, so a team of fools designed the EDG.

What a shame.

Hermann

Click to expand...

I don't think Nikon has a team of fools who designed the EDG series. There is a market for it. Scope is not built only to cater birdwatchers. So there is a reason why EDG was introduced to the market :king:

If you don't like EDG series, other models offered by Nikon is there to cater your needs. If there ain't any, other brands is available too.

This link did not show any discontinuity of ED series scopes http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/scopes/index.htm

I don't work for Nikon but proudly using their products and was with their team for few years helping to promote birdwatching activity in my country. I never met any fools working with Nikon too

Happy birding folks

horukuru said:

I don't think Nikon has a team of fools who designed the EDG series. There is a market for it. Scope is not built only to cater birdwatchers. So there is a reason why EDG was introduced to the market :king:

Click to expand...

I was careful to stress the EDG doesn't work *for the majority of birdwatchers*. It seems to work for you and your style of birdwatching, but I'm pretty much sure it won't work for the majority of birdwatchers in Europe and presumably the US, for a number of reasons:

1. The EDG is too large and too héavy, quite a bit heavier than the competition, thus needing a heavier, more stable tripod and tripod head. A 65mm scope with a weight of ~2000 gr. for the body alone is far too heavy.

2. The zoom isn't as wide as the zoom of the competition *and* loses the one big advantage of the "old" Nikon zoom for the fieldscopes, the high magnifications.

3. Nikon switched from the oversized Schmidt prism to a standard Schmidt-Pechan with all the problems that involves, namely the need for extremely low tolerances in manufacturing. This may well lead to more lemons being sold than was the case with the fieldscopes. And if this is the case, word will spread quite quickly once a few people do decide to get one.

Hermann

BTW, Kimmo's assessment on the Lintuvaruste website doesn't sound very optimistic. However, so far it's only available in Finnish, and the Google translation is, shall we say, pretty strange ...

I think it should be obvious the EDG fieldscope was designed as a supertele lens for photography first and foremost, and as a visual instrument second. The VR option puts it another league entirely.

I think it is also fair to point out for the widest FoV/brightest image at low power and/or the highest magnification in the ~80mm aperture class, the EDG with the 20x and 75x eyepieces is top of the class.

And the EDG uses the same angled prism configuration as its top competitors, and the same straight prism as Zeiss/Leica, so any perceived disadvantages are shared by all.

Here in Japan the EDG 85 VR w/20x-60x regularly discounted price is JPY370,000 vs JPY396,000 for the Swaro ATX85 kit. Catching sale or a little negotiation will usually knock another 10% off the Nikon. I would find it a tough choice between these if I were spending this much.

Stupendous deals on Nikon Fieldscopes

B+H has the 82ED straight w/the 25-75 zoom (and free Stedi-Stock brace) for $999. Adorama has the 82ED straight w/the 25-75 zoom for $1049, and the 60ED with 20-60x zoom for $750. I get the feeling this is the last we'll see of these, and I can't imagine a better deal on a scope.

--AP

a new nikon scope is on the way, posted some info here:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=264478

it probably replaces the old fieldscopes 60ED and 82ED,
but nikon could have different strategies for different markets,