Nikon ED50 dawn / dusk / seawatching (1 Viewer)

F

frootz

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2013

• #1

Hello,

I am seriously considering getting this scope.

I appreciate that it won't perform as well as a larger scope for the dawn / dusk and sea watching.

But how does it perform? Is it completely unusable in these situations or does it perform better than expected?

Thanks in advance if you take the time to post,

Emma

 

Andrew Whitehouse

Professor of Listening

Supporter

• Oct 22, 2013

• #2

I use the ED50 with 27x quite a lot for seawatching and think that it's generally fine and effective. I've also used it in gloomy conditions with some success, so it's a long way from being unusable. You might find that there are a few minutes at either end of the day when it stops performing when larger scopes can continue but that's probably about it.

 

F

frootz

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2013

• #3

Thanks very much for the reply.

That was the kind of information I was looking for. I don't want to id tricky birds at a distance or anything or I would be looking for another scope! The application would just enjoy watching them and get some closer views than the binoculars allow.

 

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2013

• #4

Far from unusable 99%, I have used mine in wet and wild north easterlies on the coast, through to the rainforests of central america and it has never let me down. I consider myself a fairly demanding user and it has yet to let me down. If you can find one for a good price, get it. On another note I am looking to sell mine... All the best.

 

mikefreiberg

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2013

• #5

frootz said:

Hello,

I am seriously considering getting this scope.

I appreciate that it won't perform as well as a larger scope for the dawn / dusk and sea watching.

But how does it perform? Is it completely unusable in these situations or does it perform better than expected?

Thanks in advance if you take the time to post,

Emma

Click to expand...

Emma,

I have used it in sea-watching from shore and have had great success. The glass is sharp and has allowed me to reach out a few miles to get my lifer Cassin's Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet and Black-vented Shearwater years back. It does provide very good low-light performance, but is limited in the way that there is the smaller objective lens. Also, I was using 27x WA eyepiece as well. Those digiscoping wide-angle eyepieces always worked a bit better on that scope for long distant viewing, IMO.

All the best,
Mike
Nikon

 

J

John Russell

Well-known member

• Oct 24, 2013

• #6

mikefreiberg said:

The glass is sharp and has allowed me to reach out a few miles to get my lifer Cassin's Auklet

Click to expand...

At just two miles that would be 16 arc seconds for the whole bird!!!

John

 

dantheman

Bah humbug

• Oct 24, 2013

• #7

John Russell said:

At just two miles that would be 16 arc seconds for the whole bird!!!

Click to expand...

I've been able to id Manx Shearwaters at 8 miles range with the ED50 at 27X (well they couldn't have been much else ), although yes at 2 miles there wouldn't be much fine detail to pick out on a bird, but plenty enough coupled with jizz/flight action I guess.

wrt OP's question, agree with previous comments. I have noticed it isn't as good as eg the Swarovski 60 in poor light, but I guess it is a fraction of the price ... And for seawatching, technique and probably most important, without a good tripod (stable, and especially with a smooth panning action), you may as well have any old scope. ED50 is great though.