Eyepiece recommendations for IS60 WP (1 Viewer)

First post here, so hi

Last year I bought an Opticron IS60 WP scope on ebay that came with the 40916s (25x WA 46) eyepiece. I'm finding the magnification's not enough for the type of bird watching I do most often (estuary and sea watching) though, so I'd like to get a more powerful eyepiece (an eyepiece is the most I can stretch to at the moment, I definitely can't afford to upgrade my scope).

I'll be honest and say I'm a bit lost looking at the range on the Opticron website. I had hoped to find a local outlet that might let me try different ones, but nobody around here supplies them (I got a right stuck-up reply at my local huntin'/shootin'/fishin' shop when I asked for Opticron and not Swarovski |:x|).

£75 could get me the 40918s (18-54x 30/13)

Or for £99 I could have either the 40860s (58xWA 20)
Or the 40861s (72x 14)

That's really as much as I'm able to spend. A (much) higher level of magnification's what I'm really looking for, but how much of that is at the expense of image quality and light, and ease of finding things too?

I really don't know which to go for, so any advice or experience of these eyepieces on this scope would be appreciated!

Hi,

I would avoid the zoom you mentioned since it is very narrow.
Both fixed magnification EPs offer reasonable field of views. I would choose the 58x since 72x is a bit over the top for a 60mm body.
Or maybe wait a bit and save up until you can get one of the better zooms, which helps a lot with finding
stuff. Even the 40933S for 149 quid (plus a tener for the adapter) seems to have a quite usable field of view.

Whatever you do, order from a store with good return policy.

I am very satisfied with my SDLv2 (it better should be good at its price).

Joachim

WeeGrebe,
welcome to birdforum!

Niels

Thanks for the advice jring, I think I'll go for the 58x as you suggest.

Here was me thinking I could just buy direct from the Opticron website, but no, I'll have to find a decent stockist (any particularly good ones?).

(Hi njlarsen, thanks for the welcome )

The opticron web page says this about ordering

3. Mail Order
In the unlikely event that you are unable to find a stockist we offer a comprehensive mail order service that includes:

Expert advice on the right equipment
Free delivery throughout the UK on orders over £50.00*
Full 14 day money-back guarantee or exchange plan
* Excludes Channel Islands & Eire.
* Postage charged at current rates for all orders anywhere in the UK under £50.00

Click to expand...

It may be correct that you can save £10 to whatever, but I do not think you cannot order directly.

Niels

WeeGrebe,

If most of the birding that you do is estuary and seawatching then you do not want to put on 40860 (58x) on the IS 60. The magnification is too high, and I would only ever put that eyepiece on larger diameter ED scopes. You can improve the image quality and the magnification of the IS 60 by attaching an eyepiece that delivers better resolution, however not for your £75.00 budget. A better solution would be to find a pre-owned 40862 HDF zoom eyepiece, these regularly appear on the well known online auction site. If you want to buy new then the retail price is £199. Alternatively look at the 40858 HDF (32xWW) eyepiece.

Chris Galvin
Opticron

Thanks for all your advice. I went for the 58x and that arrived a couple of days ago, but today's been my first chance to try it out properly in decent light. I'm gutted to say that it doesn't work at all well with my scope . It's nice and clear on nearby things (but then so are my binoculars!), but at any kind of distance it doesn't focus well and the image is quite dark. There's a fixed scope in the hide, and in comparison it was lovely and bright and sharp.

Obviously it's just too much for my little scope. I'm going to send it back (the site I bought it from seems to have a decent returns policy, which is why I chose there). I'm just going to have to save up and get myself a bigger scope, right after I finish studying and go back to full time work... in 4 years time

Having a little browse of a local place that sells second hand optics, there's a Leica Televid 77 with a 32xWW eyepiece on sale at £549 (I'd post a link, but I'm not sure if that's allowed on here?). That's a huge step up in price for me, but I'm wondering if instead of trying out loads of different eyepieces trying to make my little scope do more than it's built for, I wouldn't just be better selling it and upgrading altogether.

I need to stop browsing before my student loan pays the ultimate price!!

You need to consider whether it's a Televid 77 APO or not. The APO, having the higher quality glass in it, is worth more.

WeeGrebe said:

Thanks for all your advice. I went for the 58x and that arrived a couple of days ago, but today's been my first chance to try it out properly in decent light. I'm gutted to say that it doesn't work at all well with my scope . It's nice and clear on nearby things (but then so are my binoculars!), but at any kind of distance it doesn't focus well and the image is quite dark. There's a fixed scope in the hide, and in comparison it was lovely and bright and sharp.

Obviously it's just too much for my little scope. I'm going to send it back (the site I bought it from seems to have a decent returns policy, which is why I chose there). I'm just going to have to save up and get myself a bigger scope, right after I finish studying and go back to full time work... in 4 years time

Click to expand...

I,ve had that scope in the past,and an ES80 ed,the IS will just not be any good at all with over 30x , and IMHO the ES80 is quite dim over 45x
,a good compromise would perhaps be a second hand ES80 ED with a fixed 30x eyepiece?,sometimes the lower mag but extra brightness will a more comfortable view with more detail.



PH

WeeGrebe said:

Having a little browse of a local place that sells second hand optics, there's a Leica Televid 77 with a 32xWW eyepiece on sale at £549 (I'd post a link, but I'm not sure if that's allowed on here?). That's a huge step up in price for me, but I'm wondering if instead of trying out loads of different eyepieces trying to make my little scope do more than it's built for, I wouldn't just be better selling it and upgrading altogether.

I need to stop browsing before my student loan pays the ultimate price!!

Click to expand...

Hi,

If it's an APO Televid 77 with 32WW at that price it's a good deal which I would consider. For the regular Televid 77 it would be just ok.

Also you should consider if 32x is enough for you - it certainly will give you a bright & glorious wide angle view but not so much stronger than your existing 25x. The 20-60 zoom is one of the better ones and stays quite usable at least up to 50x - it is very narrow at lower magnifications though but widens up after 40x. Thus the 32W plus the zoom was a popular combination.

If you are looking for a higher mag maybe the zoom as first EP is a better deal...

Joachim