-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
New Leica Scopes (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter hampers
- Start date
PYRTLE
Old Berkshire Boy
As far as most know the 82 APO will be on demonstration at this years Birdfair and will be the first in the range to have stock. I believe the 65mms will be phased in much later in the year (if this year at all!). Prices, your guess is as good as anyones' but don't expect much change out of £2k.
stevetb
Registered user
Well south west optics has the prices and info on release dates now, and OMG are they expensive! Over 2k for the smaller scope and eyepiece!!! And 2.5 for the 82mm!!! I thought the Kowa scopes were pricey!
http://www.swoptics.co.uk/list.asp?CAT=22
http://www.swoptics.co.uk/list.asp?CAT=22
SUPPRESSOR
Well-known member
Makes the zeiss and nikon scopes look even better value.Still would be nice strutting around Tichwell posing with one, though you would have to leave the case off as the doubting thomas' would think you only had the HD model and that would never do. Looking forward to having a butchers through one all the same.
fiddler.
AC/DC, thanks for that. Had a look at SWOptics site. By my reckoning that is £791 more than the small Swarovski, which includes a case, and £931 more than the large one, again including case. These are existing stock and pre price increase I think. As much as I would like the new Leica, not sure there will be enough improvement to justify the additional cost. Mind you they are small and very light which is a big bonus. Its amazing that existing eyepieces are not upwards compatible in my view.
I'm retiring soon and looking to replace my existing equipment, just bought Leica Ultravid HD bins which I really like. Think my next scope may well be a Swarovski though.
Cheers
Phil
I'm retiring soon and looking to replace my existing equipment, just bought Leica Ultravid HD bins which I really like. Think my next scope may well be a Swarovski though.
Cheers
Phil
ColonelBlimp
What time is bird?
Until they raise their prices accordingly that is!
I cannot imagine that they will get much trade with a scope/eyepiece/case combination now costing £2740!!! Especially with credit being rather crunchy at the moment.
paulwfromtheden
Well-known member
Ha ha!! Would expect Kate Humble to be thrown in with the scope at that price!!
Ridiculous!
graham catley
Well-known member
it is a complete joke --- just compare the complex stuff which goes into a camera for that price and then look at a scope -- a few bits of glass in a tube however it is dressed up is not that difficult to make surely? I looked at them at the BF and in the heat haze and sun it was impossible to tell if they were any better than other big scopes in the same over-heated tent--- if anything I would not expect more than a 5% improvement on anything currently available with regard to optics and there may well not be that much difference; simple logic would dictate that they will only sell a few to people who just have to have the latest craze but anyone with any sense will surely choose a scope which is 60% of the price but produces 90% or more of the performance; and I did not think the ones at the BF felt light at all; apparently also they are forcing you into having a zoom eyepiece on purchase and then you can choose to have a different EP for another small fortune if you wish -- very gracious of them
Buy a Nikon ED50 and 27x for £423 and get 85% of the optical brilliance for 20% of the price -- you can even get it in pink
Buy a Nikon ED50 and 27x for £423 and get 85% of the optical brilliance for 20% of the price -- you can even get it in pink
I'm in agreement with Graham about cost v optical quality. I'll spend time at my local supplier and test the scopes available, unless the Leica is better by a huge factor (when they have them) then the decision is made. I cannot belive it will be that much better.
Just hope the other manufacturers don't jump on the bandwagon and bump up their prices because Leica think they can charge this amount.
Just hope the other manufacturers don't jump on the bandwagon and bump up their prices because Leica think they can charge this amount.
tittletattler
Well-known member
I too had a good look through the Leica at the Birdfair yesterday and it was indeed very impressive. Being the cheeky so and so that I am, I asked the Leica staff if I could take the scope up to the Kowa and In-focus stands in order to compare it to the other brand leaders and they said 'OK'! So I did.
I lined up the Kowa 88mm with 20-60 zoom alongside the Leica 82mm with 25-50 zoom and stuck them both on 50x. In bright light was there little difference between the two except that the field of view with the Leica 'wide-angle' zoom was awesome and blew the Kowa away. So, at this point, I was starting to favour the Leica. However, once the sun went behind a cloud, the Kowa started to come into its own and it clearly had the edge over the Leica in terms of brightness which is no doubt due to the extra 6mm offered by the objective lens. Kowa also suggested that the flourite lens of the Kowa is better (well, they would) but I can't quantify that. The Leica also has a 'blueish hue' to the 'whites' which meant that the Kowa had a more natural look. Still, there was little to choose between the two and I was torn between buying the Leica for the 'wide-angle' zoom or the Kowa for the extra brightness.
I do alot of digiscoping and whilst I've always enjoyed excellent results with a Leica and Coolpix combo, I reckon the extra brightness from the Kowa could improve upon that further. In the end I parted company with £1850 and bought the Kowa. This decision was made easier by the fact that the Leica won't be available until November at the earliest. I should point out that the list prices for both scopes are similar so it is possible that the street price of the Leica may be less than the £2500 quoted currently (maybe £2100?).
I might buy the 30X wide angle at a later date for seawatching/digi-scoping. I'll see how I get on the the zoom first.
Many thanks to Andy Button in the In-Focus tent and also to the very helpful staff in the Kowa and Leica optics marque.
Andy.
tittletattler
Well-known member
Alas I didn't consider the weight although suffice to say, they were both heavy. When I stuck my coolpix on it a short while ago, my tripod did struggle not to start tilting backwards so I guess it might be quite a bit heavier than my old Leica 62mm APO.
Anyway, a couple of test shots are attached. My Eagle-eye adaptor didn't fit over the eyepiece so I removed the inner ring and placed the adaptor onto the eyepiece and this just about worked. I then used the Coolpix 990 with its 3 second timer. Both shots are of course reduced in size and quality but both are sharpened: The flower slightly and the ivy massively.
Cheers,
Andy.
Attachments
Graham,
Leica may be pricing their new scope/eyepiece combos quite optimistically, but calling it a joke and implying that those who still buy it are somehow lacking any sense, is IMHO not very constructive. I give kudos to Leica, because they have chosen to radically re-develop the eyepiece instead of marginally improving the scope. It may have been a commercially expensive route, but why not just let the free markets decide, whether or not the products are too expensive. At least there is no longer such a need to buy (and hassle with) a separate eyepiece for digiscoping or "wide-angled" viewing - like many do (including me) with those other scopes.
Best regards,
Ilkka
For the cost of the new scopes against the perceived benefits I most certainly will not buy one. Its not a question of being able to afford it or lack of sense, I can, in my opinion its a question of the economical value of cost against benefit. I am sure as Graham says that people will buy it though. What they (Leica) will do, in my humble opinion, is put it out of reach of many at the cost its pitched at.
Our hobby is about the feathered things, the equipment allows us to view them better. I think they are pricing many out of the market and I believe that is Graham's point, I may be wrong. One thing I do not doubt is the quality of the Leica product, already having bins and scope from them.
If the current eyepieces were upwards compatible I may have bought one but my existing are no good. It all a question of personal preference and choice. Having said all that when I come to change in October all the other scopes may have gone up and be nearly as expensive. Perhaps Zeiss have a new one on the horizon.
On a slight digression I would like to say how much I enjoy reading everyone's opinions about all aspects of birding and to me that is the essence of this forum - its just excellent. Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread.
Our hobby is about the feathered things, the equipment allows us to view them better. I think they are pricing many out of the market and I believe that is Graham's point, I may be wrong. One thing I do not doubt is the quality of the Leica product, already having bins and scope from them.
If the current eyepieces were upwards compatible I may have bought one but my existing are no good. It all a question of personal preference and choice. Having said all that when I come to change in October all the other scopes may have gone up and be nearly as expensive. Perhaps Zeiss have a new one on the horizon.
On a slight digression I would like to say how much I enjoy reading everyone's opinions about all aspects of birding and to me that is the essence of this forum - its just excellent. Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread.
Enjoyed looking at the Leica stand along with many others. A friend was seeking a possible purchase of the new scope and we both lined up next to each other and first off it seemed superbly compact and had the looks of a premium product. We both liked the nice wide grip of the zoom eyepiece very much. Initial views for me were very good but the "blue" cast to the image stood out straight away. Lovely clear although as others found friday was sunny anyway.
I was focussing with the fine adjust focus wheel and oh my God my heart sank as I switched to the fast focus and swung it back and forth. The focus wheel was terrible and I say this with no malice as I own a pr of Ultravids with the contentious focus issue that I am more than happy to live with. It was at best notchy and at worst well I can't put a name or descriptive text to it. I know some will be upset with this remark but both of us felt this issue although the two we tried out again had varying degrees of "focus issues".
Nobody else detect this? The fine wheel was silky smooth though.
I am happy to keep my Zeiss 85 and even more so after seeing the price !Wow!
I was focussing with the fine adjust focus wheel and oh my God my heart sank as I switched to the fast focus and swung it back and forth. The focus wheel was terrible and I say this with no malice as I own a pr of Ultravids with the contentious focus issue that I am more than happy to live with. It was at best notchy and at worst well I can't put a name or descriptive text to it. I know some will be upset with this remark but both of us felt this issue although the two we tried out again had varying degrees of "focus issues".
Nobody else detect this? The fine wheel was silky smooth though.
I am happy to keep my Zeiss 85 and even more so after seeing the price !Wow!
