Nikon ED82 eyepiece quandry .. (1 Viewer)

Kevin Purcell · Feb 19, 2011

Hermann said:
Possibly. But I'm not all that happy about the Leica and Swarovski 25-50x zooms, simply because they don't offer high magnifications. Sure, there aren't many situations when you can use 75x in the field, but there are some, and the difference between 50x and 75x can make the difference between being able to identify a small shorebird or not being able to identify it.

It could be that Zeiss is looking for users like you (and those that bought the 82ED) that go for the big magnifications. Or who bird in particular habitats.

I prefer to optimize for the most frequently used case and use another solution for the little used extreme case. I suspect Leica and Swaro are thinking along the same lines.

The answer I think is to carry a 1.25 astro EP for something in the 60x to 75x range along with the 2x range zoom. The same with those using a fixed 30x EP.

Zeiss 2x Vario would do 25x to 50x on the 85mm and 19x to 38x on the 65mm. That would work nicely most of the time.

There is nothing to stop Zeiss from giving their users a choice of a x2 with better ER and FOV or more than 3x zoom for ultimate magnification.

cassowary · Feb 20, 2011

In my experience all refractive scopes are limited above 50x mag. If you want to punch through this magnification barrier with tack sharp bright images I would recommend going with a Questar Birder or similar. By the way I barely ever use my Nikon zoom.

henry link · Feb 20, 2011

30 years ago that would have been true, but nowadays there are small APO refractors that punch right through the 50x "barrier", with images just as sharp, but brighter and higher contrast than a Questar.

cassowary · Feb 20, 2011

I am very much an amateur when it comes to the technical details of optics. Henry I know is very much an 'optical expert'. When I said refractive scopes I meant the spotting scopes commonly used by birders. I don't know what the specific term for these scopes are. I used the Questar Birder as an example as it is a scope I have used and it is rugged enough to be considered a birding scope. I have little experience with APO refractors and don't know if any are rugged. By the way I find I rarely want to use any mag above 30x let alone 50x so for me it is pretty much a mute point.

henry link · Feb 20, 2011

Mike,

I was including the best birding scopes among APO refractors. I think you might be surprised to see how far the image quality of the Questar has fallen behind modern APO spotting scopes, like the Kowa 883 just to mention one with a similar aperture.

Henry

Bird spotter · Apr 24, 2012

I realise this is an old thread but being new to owning a Nikon ED 82 spotting scope with a x 30 DS wide eyepiece,I'm considering buying the x 50 DS eyepiece for increased magnification.
I'm really just looking for advice to ensure the x 50 DS eyepiece offers considerably more magnifciation or should I jump up to the x 75 DS eyepiece.

Alexis Powell · Apr 24, 2012

Bird spotter said:
I realise this is an old thread but being new to owning a Nikon ED 82 spotting scope with a x 30 DS wide eyepiece,I'm considering buying the x 50 DS eyepiece for increased magnification.
I'm really just looking for advice to ensure the x 50 DS eyepiece offers considerably more magnifciation or should I jump up to the x 75 DS eyepiece.

The magnification of the 50x is 1.7x greater than the 30x. The 75x is 2.5x greater. Both are only modest increases over bins compared to eyes or scope compared to bins. Neither is very helpful except in calm air. I have both and much prefer the 50x for routine high-power scoping.

--AP

Bird spotter · Apr 24, 2012

AP - Thanks for the reply.

Pileatus · Apr 26, 2012

Bird spotter said:
I realise this is an old thread but being new to owning a Nikon ED 82 spotting scope with a x 30 DS wide eyepiece,I'm considering buying the x 50 DS eyepiece for increased magnification.
I'm really just looking for advice to ensure the x 50 DS eyepiece offers considerably more magnifciation or should I jump up to the x 75 DS eyepiece.

I own the 30X and 50X DS eyepieces. Both are perfectly sharp, colorful, etc.
I haven't used the 50X in a few years for a few simple reasons. (1) It's darker than the 30X, (2) the image is more susceptible to distortion (heat, shaking, etc.) and (3) it's not as "pleasing" as the 30X image.
The 30X is a compromise BUT it's a superb compromise.

Bird spotter · Apr 27, 2012

Pileatus - Thanks for the reply.

kwikstaart · Apr 27, 2012

I owned the ED 82A a few years ago and I can only recommend the 30X DS for general birding. It will serve you best in 99% of the occasions and for digiscoping. I but the zoom for "just in case". With my new scope (KOWA 883) I still use the 30x 99% of the the time and the zoom only for faraway birds when it's not too hot. For the record: I have no experience with the 50x but have never spoken to a birder who used it frequently or missed it any other way.

Good luck,
Marijn

Kevin Conville · Apr 28, 2012

I have an ED82. I have all the DS eyepieces, 30, 50, 75x.
I pretty much never use the 75x EP, rarely use the 50x, and the 30x lives on the scope. It not only gives me plenty of horsepower for visual use, with the nice wide field, but allows me to slip my digiscoping adapter on in a flash, for that duty.

The 16/24/30 DS EP is my favorite on both an ED82 -and- an ED50.

Tord · May 31, 2012

Hi

I acquired an ED82A fitted with the 25x-75x MCII Zoom. Later I acquired the DS 30x, intended for digiscoping. Ever since I have found the DS eyepiece providing such a nice experience when observing that it sits on the scope 95% of times.

/Tord

looksharp65 · May 31, 2012

Tord said:
Hi

I acquired an ED82A fitted with the 25x-75x MCII Zoom. Later I acquired the DS 30x, intended for digiscoping. Ever since I have found the DS eyepiece providing such a nice experience when observing that it sits on the scope 95% of times.

/Tord

I totally concur with you. The DS 50x is a nice addition too. Lately I have found out that the Bushnell Elite doubler (2.5x) provides a fine 75x view with the DS 30x without needing to unscrew and exchange the eyepiece. Just hold it against the eyepiece.
The zoom, though, has a better view at 75x in terms of brightness and AFOV.

//L

CthIngo · Aug 13, 2012

Tord said:
Hi

I acquired an ED82A fitted with the 25x-75x MCII Zoom. Later I acquired the DS 30x, intended for digiscoping. Ever since I have found the DS eyepiece providing such a nice experience when observing that it sits on the scope 95% of times.

/Tord

Same here. I rarely use the zoom anymore (though it's still a fine piece of optics).

SeeToh · Aug 18, 2012

CthIngo said:
Same here. I rarely use the zoom anymore (though it's still a fine piece of optics).

Me too. 30x DS EP on the scope 99% of the time. The zoom and 50x rarely on scope.

Regretted buying 50x. Btw, I used scope solely for digiscoping.

rrepp · Feb 12, 2013

eyepiece

I'm in the minority, it seems, but I believe the 30x / 25x-75x to be a much better tandem than the 30x / 50x. But I live on the Pacific coast so the 25-75 is most often on my scope (82) for the reach it provides. But these are spotting scopes, made to spot objects one can't 'spot' otherwise so having the 75x power is what the others should be striving for, in my humble opinion. And if you've received a 'good' specimen of the Nikon 82 then the loss of light and or detail at 75x is minimal and you will enjoy the added magnification available to you. Of course there will be times when the 'air' will not be the best for using high power but the times when everything is favorable could be memorable. And in my case at least there have been several times when our group has been able to ID birds that we would not have been able to ID unless the 75x was there. And these were times when several high dollar scopes were being used by the group!

mooreorless · Feb 12, 2013

Hi Bob, I am glad you like the big Nikon Fieldscope!

Birdbrain · Feb 12, 2013

Yeah i second rrepp:t: I use the ED82 with MCII zoom and have looked through a 30DSW on a mates ED82 yes its bright but lost count on times we end up at 75x to ID the bird. It works very well with a Alignment collar from http://www.srb-griturn.com/ for only about £30 with a Canon Ixus 65 for digiscoping B

Picture added is a Spotted Redshank from Titchwell 09 (i think) digiscoped at nearly 75x with this setup.

The Kingfisher · Feb 12, 2013

rrepp said:
I'm in the minority, it seems, but I believe the 30x / 25x-75x to be a much better tandem than the 30x / 50x. But I live on the Pacific coast so the 25-75 is most often on my scope (82) for the reach it provides.

I have the 30, 50 and 25-75x eyepieces. The 50x allways stay on my little ED50 scope. The 30x normaly stays on my ED82 most of the time and only if I need really high power the zoom will get used. But..in periods I actually use the zoom as my primary eyepiece on the big scope. I would estimate that I use the 30x 80% of my birding time, whereas the zoom is used about 20%. Both are really nice eyepieces!

Nikon ED82 eyepiece quandry .. (1 Viewer)

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