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£500 to spend - what should I get? (1 Viewer)

JRE

JRE

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In October, I was in a serious car crash. The car was completely written off, and my mother and I sustained various injuries. The compensation I am likely to receive is in the region of £500.
I currently have a Kenko 70mm scope and a cheap velbon tripod, so I'm looking to upgrade.
Can anyone give me advice on the best scope, tripod and eyepiece combination available for that price? I'm willing to use E-bay, but do not know any good makes in that price range.
Help much appreciated,
Many thanks,
Jyothi
 
Hello Firecrest,
glad you got out of the wreckage ok. I'm no optical expert but i know In Focus do open days at Slapton Ley and Dawlish. I'd check their website, be patient and get some ideas from there unless someone else knows better. Good luck.
Perry
 
This might not be the advice you wish to have but I would suggest concentrating on a solid pair of binoculars instead of a scope.

You have a scope for now which will do until you get another opportunity to upgrade.

I went for a good scope and skimped on the bins. Big mistake. My bins are decent enough but I wish I opted for top of the range bins and bided my time with the scope as our bins are what we use ALL the time.
 
The Firecrest said:
In October, I was in a serious car crash. The car was completely written off, and my mother and I sustained various injuries. The compensation I am likely to receive is in the region of £500.
I currently have a Kenko 70mm scope and a cheap velbon tripod, so I'm looking to upgrade.
Can anyone give me advice on the best scope, tripod and eyepiece combination available for that price? I'm willing to use E-bay, but do not know any good makes in that price range.
Help much appreciated,
Many thanks,
Jyothi
Click to expand...

What bins do you have? Maybe if you get a nice pair of Nikon Sporter 8 x 42, thats £100. A 'good tripod will set you back £75 which leaves £300 or so so I'd be looking towards the opticron which are very reliable and certainly keep you busy for a couple of years. I started with an opticromn and learnt my field craft so when I moved up to a more expensive model it was really worth it.

If you are just getting a telescope and tripod then I would again look Opticron at the OPTICRON ES80SD. This has specially coated lenses to provide superior perfromance.
 
Hmm, thanks, tough one. I have a good pair of bins that I'm very happy with, Avian F 8x42. My scope is pretty much useless!
*ponders*
 
I'd go somewhere and have a look. A little over budget would be the Opticron ES80ED but its a good scope.

Oh and where is Scampo to recommend the Nikon ED50?

Have youn considered second hand? Buying from a good dealer should be fine.
 
pduxon said:
I'd go somewhere and have a look. A little over budget would be the Opticron ES80ED but its a good scope.
Click to expand...

I quite agree, it's a really good scope... keep your eyes open for a secondhand one, you should be able to get one within your budget.
 
pentax pf 80mm or 65mm or nikon fieldscope 60mm or 50mm all of these are as good as the euro scopes & much cheaper .At least here in the US they are .
Brian.
 
I recently got a Nikon ED50 and I can't recommend it highly enough. I know it's a "mini-scope", but it goes far beyond that, and with a fixed low-mag wide-angle eyepiece, it's a revelation. (They also do a zoom which is handy but pretty narrow in FOV). So good that I'm thinking of getting the Nikon ED82A to replace my Swarovski ATS65HD - a caprice, I know, but I'm that impressed with the Nikon ED. Just be careful - there are two types of Nikon Fieldscope eyepieces that go with the ED range, one is called "DS" and is really designed for digiscoping, which I don't do. I really didn't like the DS eyepiece for normal use (doesn't have retractable eyecups). The other set of regular eyepieces are called "MC" and they're great. I side-by-side tested the Nikon ED50 against the Swaro ATS65HD, and at the same magnifications, there wasn't a lot in it. Congratulations on your recovery, best of luck with your choice!
 
Brian, in UK the Pentax angled bodies are ca £400 and £500 which is certainly competitive with Opticron models of similar spec.

The Opticron model metioned seems to be the most often recommended if aperture/large magnification are required and the Nikon if it's light weight and compactness. Check cassowary's post at the bottom of this thread for the extremely lightweight travel outfit he settled on based around the ED50 :
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=55427&highlight=ED50

Jyothi, was wondering do you feel your Kenko scope was an OK purchase (perhaps as a first scope?) or was it a disappointment from the first?

Ditto Sancho's sentiments; hope you are both fully recovered now.
 
The Firecrest said:
In October, I was in a serious car crash. The car was completely written off, and my mother and I sustained various injuries. The compensation I am likely to receive is in the region of £500.
I currently have a Kenko 70mm scope and a cheap velbon tripod, so I'm looking to upgrade.
Can anyone give me advice on the best scope, tripod and eyepiece combination available for that price? I'm willing to use E-bay, but do not know any good makes in that price range.
Help much appreciated,
Many thanks,
Jyothi
Click to expand...

This http://search-completed.ebay.co.uk/...ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1
would have been a superb solution it would be worthwhile waiting for something similar to turn up. The image is comparable in every way with whatever scope you could buy.
 
As i have mentioned before on this forum. The PENTAX pf,S on top of being an exellent pair of scopes, have the advantage of being able to use all of the 1.25 EP,s
available at much more reasonable prices than the EP,s available for the euro & nikon scopes .
Of course its hard to beat the great XW EP,s from pentax.
Brian.
 
Hi Jyothi,

I've got a Kowa 613 (angled) with x30 WW eye piece and stay on case. Nice and lightweight for a younger fella. Was one of the last produced and in excellent condition. Surplus now with having a new Swaro. Was thinking around £400.
Have a look around though first as there are loads of options, and if your interested PM me.
 
Sancho said:
I recently got a Nikon ED50 and I can't recommend it highly enough. I know it's a "mini-scope", but it goes far beyond that, and with a fixed low-mag wide-angle eyepiece, it's a revelation. (They also do a zoom which is handy but pretty narrow in FOV).
Click to expand...

the narrowness is not noticeable at low mags. the FOV at 13x is wider than many fixed eyepieces. at 40x yes it is comparively narrow but I tend to scan at 13x and then zoom in.
 
I'd forget the ED50 for now (ooh controversial) it is good for close up, nice and wide, can be hand-held and great in hides on a clamp etc.

I took mine out recently and forgot to take the zoom - As I was near the coast i soon wished I'd took the ED78 and 25-75x for the extra reach.

Opticron is the way to go for that price range, and as Mr Duxon said (wotch yer Pete) second hand will be fine from a dealer

S
 
John Eaton said:
Hi Jyothi,

I've got a Kowa 613 (angled) with x30 WW eye piece and stay on case. Nice and lightweight for a younger fella. Was one of the last produced and in excellent condition. Surplus now with having a new Swaro. Was thinking around £400.
Have a look around though first as there are loads of options, and if your interested PM me.
Click to expand...

I got one of them too - excellent with the flourite glass - great lightweight scope/eyepiece combo.

Replaced by the ED50 - even lighter!
 
I'd recommend the kowa tsn 821 with the 32wide angle.With the kowa stay on case it would all set you back £545 from ''that famous mail order specialist''

I've actually owned this scope and it's great,weight and bulk might be an issue though.

Undoubtedly some quality secondhand kit available at this price range.

Matt
 
bill lord said:
This http://search-completed.ebay.co.uk/...ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1
would have been a superb solution it would be worthwhile waiting for something similar to turn up. The image is comparable in every way with whatever scope you could buy.
Click to expand...

Hi,
there is another ED78 on e-bay at the moment, the eyepiece appears to be the old style MC not MCII but you can always change that later. For the price there is nothing that comes close to the ED78.
HTH

Nick
 
Nick-on said:
Hi,
there is another ED78 on e-bay at the moment, the eyepiece appears to be the old style MC not MCII but you can always change that later. For the price there is nothing that comes close to the ED78.
HTH

Nick
Click to expand...

Do you have a reference for it I did a search for Nikon ed78 and came up with no results. I would almost agree with you when you say that there is nothing that comes close for the price, though I would say that you will actually find it very difficult to find anything that is an improvemnet upon it's optics. I have had mine now for three years and the only thing that would be nice would be waterproof instead of water resistant, though it has never been a problem for me. The nearest comparable scope is the Nikon ED82, if you have an opportunity to look through that then you will see what is to all intents and purposes the view you get through an ED 78.
 
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