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20x60 vs 25 LER (1 Viewer)

nshaikh

New member
Can someone explain the pros and cons of each scope on the Kowa 880 series for birding and digiscoping? Also, does anyone have experience with the DA-10? Is it easy to remove? vignetting issues. Thanks
 
Why don't you dowload and read the Kowa catalog. That should answer most if not all your questions about the scopes and the digiscoping system. The Kowa system is very well thought out to minimize weight and for easy of use with many cameras. The Kowa 880 series scope is best in class. The only con is it is expensive.

cheers,
Rick
 
Can someone explain the pros and cons of each scope on the Kowa 880 series for birding and digiscoping? Also, does anyone have experience with the DA-10? Is it easy to remove? vignetting issues. Thanks

Hi there,
I have the 883 with which I purchased a 25x LER eyepiece. I purchased this eyepiece with the sole purpose of digiscoping. I have been trying different cameras with it (a620; LX3; C-5050; F30) and have not been particularly happy with the results. Yesterday I recieved a secondhand 20-60 zoom and did some tests late in the afternoon when we eventually had a little sunshine. The difference in quality was immediately apparent! I shot a few off at 20x and finally I was getting the image quality I expected from the scope.
This is the second time I have made a similar discovery. One of my first digiscoping scopes was a TSN3. One day, purely out of interest, I tried the 20-60x zoom and again was amazed to find it produced far better quality images than the fixed mags I'd been using. So, although for general birding the 30x is probably the best, it would appear that yet again the zoom is best for digiscoping. I will be doing a lot more testing today, particularly with higher scope mags just to see what's achievable.
I'd be very interested to hear of anybody elses experiences with either of these eyepieces (25xLER and zoom), particularly someone who owns both and has compared them.
I have now transferred this thread to the digiscoping section.
Max
 
Last edited:
Hi there,
I have the 883 with which I purchased a 25x LER eyepiece. I purchased this eyepiece with the sole purpose of digiscoping. I have been trying different cameras with it (a620; LX3; C-5050; F30) and have not been particularly happy with the results. Yesterday I recieved a secondhand 20-60 zoom and did some tests late in the afternoon when we eventually had a little sunshine. The difference in quality was immediately apparent! I shot a few off at 20x and finally I was getting the image quality I expected from the scope.
This is the second time I have made a similar discovery. One of my first digiscoping scopes was a TSN3. One day, purely out of interest, I tried the 20-60x zoom and again was amazed to find it produced far better quality images than the fixed mags I'd been using. So, although for general birding the 30x is probably the best, it would appear that yet again the zoom is best for digiscoping. I will be doing a lot more testing today, particularly with higher scope mags just to see what's achievable.
I'd be very interested to hear of anybody elses experiences with either of these eyepieces (25xLER and zoom), particularly someone who owns both and has compared them.
I have now transferred this thread to the digiscoping section.
Max

Max,

the 25x LER is, from an optical point of view, very suitable for digiscoping. It has almost no distorsions, gives an image that is sharp to the edge, has very good contrast (I think even better than the 32x and the zoom) and of course it delivers much eye relief. I think the trouble you´re describing is more of a mechanical than an optical problem. Both, exit pupil of the eyepiece and entrance pupil of the camera´s objective lens need to match each other very closely behind the eyepiece. It is not always easy to find this point of best position of the camera. In many cases it´s even more difficult to fix the camera steady at this position. The eyecup of the 25x LER EP is of thick and stiff rubber and surely not wide enough for all lenses. The advantage the zoom EP has probably over the LER is that one could twist the eyecup to shortest position and simply put the adapter over the eyepiece and start to shot with no need of finding the pupils match. I´m convinced that the LER gives images of better quality if all components are well placed.

Steve
 
Max,

the 25x LER is, from an optical point of view, very suitable for digiscoping. It has almost no distorsions, gives an image that is sharp to the edge, has very good contrast (I think even better than the 32x and the zoom) and of course it delivers much eye relief. I think the trouble you´re describing is more of a mechanical than an optical problem. Both, exit pupil of the eyepiece and entrance pupil of the camera´s objective lens need to match each other very closely behind the eyepiece. It is not always easy to find this point of best position of the camera. In many cases it´s even more difficult to fix the camera steady at this position. The eyecup of the 25x LER EP is of thick and stiff rubber and surely not wide enough for all lenses. The advantage the zoom EP has probably over the LER is that one could twist the eyecup to shortest position and simply put the adapter over the eyepiece and start to shot with no need of finding the pupils match. I´m convinced that the LER gives images of better quality if all components are well placed.

Steve

Hi Steve,
Sorry, I've only just found your post; it seems you missed that I'd transferred the discussion to the digiscoping section.
What you say re the importance of accurate positioning of the camera lens to this particular eyepiece may well be true, but if it is, it's not a lot of good for hand holding. Having said that I did try it with an adaptor and delayed release, and still could not get the quality of image I expected. I have more or less concluded that the eyepiece I have may be sub-standard. It is my intention to get it replaced as soon as time allows. However, as I also said, I have previously had a similar experience, where the zoom has proved to produce better quality images even if less good for viewing through.
Max
 
I agree the 25LER is the way to go for contrast and sharpness but I had some good days with the 20~60 zoom on fine facial detail at about 40 to 50 power if the lighting is good for Digiscoping.

Kevin
 
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