leica zoom for spectacle wearers (1 Viewer)

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #1

Hi ,I'm looking to upgrade my scope to a second hand Leica APO televid 62. Although I wear contact lenses quite alot for birding i'm tending to wear glasses more. I've heard the 16x48 zoom eyepiece works great with the scope but how good is it for use with specs. Is the eye relief enough or would I be better off with a fixed eyepiece. Would prefer the versatility of the zoom though. How does it compare to the swaro 20x60 zoom when using glasses

 

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henry link

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #2

Charltonfan,

Go to this site:

http://www.tvwg.nl/

Scroll down to Testrapporten and then go to the test of the Kowa 883/773. There's a chart showing the eye relief of various zoom eyepieces across their zoom ranges. There was an earlier Leica zoom than the one in the test, so be sure which one comes with the scope you are considering.

Henry

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #3

Thanks Henry. Although the site come s up in German I've managed to find some figures. The eye relief on the Leica zoom varies from 18mm to 16.5 mm which seems pretty good.The swaro zoom had less eye relief particularly at full zoom

 

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henry link

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #4

It's Dutch rather than German, but just as unreadable to me. Here's the eye relief chart from the Kowa review.

 

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badger1962

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #5

Hi Charltonfan,

I wear glasses and bought an APO Televid 62 with zoom before Christmas; absolutely no problem with eye relief. It's a great scope - enjoy.
Cheers,

H

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2013

• #6

Good to hear ,Badger. I've got my eye on a couple if scopes. Just looking for the best deal

 

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14Goudvink

Well-known member

• Feb 21, 2013

• #7

Regarding the Swaro 20-60x zoom with glasses: very good at 20x and reasonable at 60x, but not much fun in between and I have tight-fitting glasses.

George

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Feb 21, 2013

• #8

A quick update. I've just bought a Leica Apo 62 with stay on case and 32xww(26) eyepiece for £650. I would have liked the zoom but I'll see how it goes with the fixed eyepiece and upgrade later when a good deal comes along.Should have the new scope in a few days. I'll post how I get on with it in due course. Next thing will be to upgrade my velbon tripod to maybe a Manfrotto. Any recommendations for the best set up with this scope bearing in mind I want to keep the weight down

 

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Sharpbill

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2013

• #9

Charltonfan said:

I would have liked the zoom but I'll see how it goes with the fixed eyepiece and upgrade later when a good deal comes along.

Click to expand...

I may well be selling my Leica 20-60x (16-48x) zoom in the next few days. Most recent design with locking pin and screw eyecup. Keep an eye of the For Sale forum.

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Mar 6, 2013

• #10

So I've had my Apo 62 a few days now and took it to Dungeness RSPB recently. Really pleased with the view through the fixed 26x eyepiece. Lovely and bright with a wide fov. Still thinking about the zoom(I'll email you Sharpbill)but undecided at the minute. Compared to my friend's Swaro HD 65 with 20-60x zoom I preferred the view through my Leica. Difficult comparison I guess as his zoom obviously had less fov and was maybe not quite as bright at lower mag but the flexibility of extra power is still tempting even if the leca zoom only stretches to 48x. One slight minus with my scope is that there is something slightly loose inside the main housing. When turning the body over i can sometimes feel and hear something moving inside.Any ideas? What ever it is it makes no difference to the scope's performance-focussing is smooth and the image is nice and sharp

 

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #11

Hello, I've only just seen this thread. I have also recently bought an APO62, and I have both the 26x and zoom lens. I am also a specs wearer. I had previously been using an ATS65HD with 30xw for a few years, but for financial reasons I have had to sell the scope. My inital thoughts on the Leica is that it isn't such a big step-down from the Swarovski, and when using the 26x the image is just as bright (I was using in heavy snow and leaden skies yesterday!) and I thought it was maybe a tad wider. I did try the zoom, but I after using a fixed lens I couldn't get used to the width of the FOV. To my eyes it seemed very narrow at 16, and zooming up it increased a small amount. The issue I had is that the view was slightly dull at the top end of the scale, though I must point out it was still very sharp. Personally I think I would prefer the 40x WA lens for that extra bit of reach. If you are still looking for the zoom, then I will also be selling mine (If Sharpbill sells his of course!). Enjoy, it is a lovely bit of kit!

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #12

Daniel, what tripod set up do you use?

 

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #13

I use a velbon CF series and Manfrotto heads. The 128rc is a classic, but I've aquired a 200 series head which is also very good. I would recommend utilizing the 2 additional holes in the mounting foot to reduce any movement.

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #14

I currently use a Velbon d600. It's quite heavy although reasonably sturdy. Definitely going to go for a carbon fibre upgrade. How does the velbon cf compare to the Manfrotto variants?

 

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #15

I don't have much experience with the Manfrotto carbon fibre tripods to be honest. I have used Sherpa tripods for 5 years, and they are well constructed, fairly cheap and lightweight. I have managed to snap the legs off/in half and lost the rubber feet on the alloy tripods, but so far my carbon fibre sherpa has taken a lot of abuse with no issues. The foam leg grips are a particularly nice touch.

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Mar 11, 2013

• #16

If you are after the 40x eyepiece I notice Bartolli is selling one in the classifieds

 

Swissboy

Sempach, Switzerland

Supporter

• Mar 13, 2013

• #17

Charltonfan said:

I currently use a Velbon d600. It's quite heavy although reasonably sturdy. Definitely going to go for a carbon fibre upgrade. How does the velbon cf compare to the Manfrotto variants?

Click to expand...

Hi, I have had a Velbon Carbon tripod for some time, actually my second one after I realized which improvements they had made in the meantime. One reason was that I wanted one with lever locks instead of the twist locks I had. And in my old Velbon, there was always the problem that one had to use both hands to lock tightly.

I have the 640 model, but you might prefer the 630 as it is set up a bit faster. My reason for the 640 (four instead of three sections) is that it collapses to a shorter piece. Anyway, don't go for the 400 or 500 series. The 600 series is what is best for scopes. I only have the link for the Swiss ebay listing, so it's in German. But if you scroll down, you get the comparative table.
http://www.ebay.ch/itm/VELBON-GEO-E...09?pt=UK_Tripods_Monopods&hash=item19c71528e5

This is from a seller in China. I have bought one for me (model 640), and later another one (model 630) for my brother. Both times excellent and very fast service. And the tripod came very securely wrapped. Thus, I can highly recommend it. Unfortunately, the UK Velbon site seems not to list the full range of the carbon tripods. That might be an alternative otherwise in your case.

I use a Manfrotto 700RC2 head, and my brother has a Manfrotto 701HDV. Both go very well with the Velbon tripod. I selected the 700RC2 because I wanted to save some extra weight. But if weight is not that critical, the 701HDV may be the better choice.

Regarding Manfrotto carbon tripods, I have no experience. Their early version did not have a very good reputation, but they probably have improved.

 

Last edited: Mar 13, 2013

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Apr 9, 2013

• #18

Thanks for the advice re tripods but have put the upgrade on hold for now as I got a great deal on the 16-48 zoom and decided to go for it! Tried it at Pulborough brooks and it is excellent. Did a side by side comparison with a swaro hd 80 with 25-50 zoom. At full zoom the swaro was slightly brighter as expected but with both scopes at 32x the view was the same to my eyed apart from the narrower fov of the Leica. The swaro owner even thought the view through the Leica was slightly sharper! To be fair the weather conditions were excellent. On a dull day I guess the advantage of the bigger objective would have paid off. Time will tell whether the zoom will get the most use as the 26 x is a great lens too

 

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Liquid Len

Well-known member

• Apr 12, 2013

• #19

Nice one Charltonfan; I'm sure you'll be pleased with your scope long term. I've been using the APO 62 since 2004 and it still never ceases to amaze me with its performance and image quality, even in low/poor light. I tested it extensively against the Swaro 65 at the time and thought it had a slight edge on it, even taking in the basic physics of the brighter image through larger objective etc. This surprised me as I have never been able to get on with Leica bins at all and am a long standing Swaro bins user! Just goes to show that not all alpha optics manufacturers can get it right for all users every time and that its always best not to buy goods unseen.

 

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Charltonfan

Well-known member

• Apr 12, 2013

• #20

Liquidlen, interesting point about the bins as I prefer the swaros to the leicas as well and have a pair of EL 8.5x42. A friend I bird with regularly has the swaro 65hd scope with 20-60 zoom but I prefer the view through the Leica scope too!