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cheap Nikon Fieldscope eyepieces (1 Viewer)

Alexis Powell

Alexis Powell

Natural history enthusiast
United States
Adorama has drastically cut prices for most Nikon Fieldscope eyepieces. Like drastically. I presume this is related to the impending release of the new Fieldscopes. If you're a committed user of your Fieldscope and always wanted another eyepiece (bought new), now's the time.

--AP
 
Hmm, which ones? I checked and the prices look normal for the fixed MC Wides to me. The 20x-60x zoom is now half-price but isn't that the old MC and not MCII?

Rick
 
Hehehe very cheap !!!

I'm thinking of the zoom eyepiece, but a bit confused too either it is the MC or MCII ?

The MC zoom in Adorama website stated the power 25-75x if using with ED82. Do they forget to write down the "II" ?
 
RJM said:
Hmm, which ones? I checked and the prices look normal for the fixed MC Wides to me. The 20x-60x zoom is now half-price but isn't that the old MC and not MCII?

Rick
Click to expand...

Some examples:

I just got the last 16/24/30x DS for $79.95
The regular 24/30x MC is $59.95
The 27/40/50x DS is $69.95.
The 40/60/75x MC is $129.95.

--AP
 
I just sold my set of DS eyepieces. I no longer have the ED82 for digiscoping and they were just too hard for me to use visually without a raised eyecup in the ED50. Beautiful views though once you got the right eye position and could cup your hand around it to block sunlight. I really want the 27x/40x/50x MC Wide but if that zoom is the MCII I may give it a try as $90 is cheaper than I can get it here in Tokyo. Anybody know for sure?

Thanks Alexis,
Rick
 
No matter I just ordered anyway. Can't lose money at $90. Even less for me because of the strong Yen. I like to use the ED50 at high mags and I hated having to literally screw with changing the eyepieces.

thanks again,
Rick
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tip, Alexis. I've just ordered a 13-40 MC zoom. Even with the high shipping costs, VAT and import duty, it's still less than half the cost here.

Michael
 
Hi everyone,
I took delivery of a secondhand ED82 a couple of days ago. It has a 30x DS with it. I am really looking forward to trying it out with a full days birding at the weekend.
This dicussion has raised a few questions for me so I hope you can answer them for me.
What is the difference between the MCI & MCII types? Is there an eye relief issue as I wear glasses?
What other e/p would you recommend to me? I was thinking 25-75x zoom for distant waders, etc, or do you think a higher magnification fixed e/p would be better?

I have had a quick trial of the scope in the local park and my first reaction to it is that I feel that 30x mag is too much. I know Nikon don't make a lower mag e/p for this scope so is there a way of fitting another make's e/p or astronomy e/p to it to achieve lower mag (and therefore wider fov)?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Here's hoping for a good weekend,
Martin.
 
I use 30x fixed for 95+% of my scoping. I find the wide FOV makes it easy to point the scope, and the DOF is great enough for easy focus. If 30x is too much, I switch to my binos. What problem are you encountering? Maybe with digiscoping large birds? I use my scope only for viewing. Or is it a stability issue--perhaps you need a better tripod and/or head?

I've not had interest in lower magnifications and I've not heard of anyone adapting a telescope eyepiece. If you did, you'd have to go with one of the little .965 inch ones because the ED82 won't accept the larger diameter standards. I don't think you'd find anything with a wider FOV than the 30x DS, I'm not sure what advantage the lower power would offer.

The only eyepiece that I know of that was available as MCI and then II is the 25-75x zoom. My recollection is that the MCI suffers from a bit of ring halo around the sides of the view, but the zoom ring is wider and easier to use. Neither has very good eyerelief for glasses. Both have a narrow field of view in comparison to the fixed eyepieces. I use an MCII grudgingly on those rare occasions when I want to try higher powers with my big scope because my 50x WA now lives on my 50ED as a 27x.

--AP
 
Alexis Powell said:
Some examples:

I just got the last 16/24/30x DS for $79.95
The regular 24/30x MC is $59.95
The 27/40/50x DS is $69.95.
The 40/60/75x MC is $129.95.

--AP
Click to expand...

Have these bargains all gone? The only one I can find is the Nikon MC 20-60x which I already have. I was hoping to pick up a fixed wide-angle eyepiece with better eye relief for my ED50?

Graham
 
My zoom came today, which was quick service. I was expecting it to be the old version, but it's the MC II and is super quality. I've had it out already—here—on a dull, rainy windy day. This was my first time using a zoom, but it seemed pretty straightforward. At 40x it does darken appreciably, but the lower magnifications were excellent. I began to discover the Joy of Zoom. Even my wife, the world's greatest optics sceptic, thought the zoom was a nice thing to have.

Of course, now that I've got two eyepieces, I'm already thinking I'm going to need another, bigger scope. Perthaps you could let me know when Adorama start selling off Nikon Fieldscopes at $100, Alexis?

Michael
 
horukuru said:
Do you like the DS eyepiece Alexis ?
Click to expand...

It's wonderful! I don't digiscope, but I wear glasses and this one works better than my old eyepiece because it has more eye-relief and is wider in diameter (blocks light from sides better). I've been intrigued by this eyepiece for a long time because it is, I think, the only totally new fixed power Fieldscope eyepiece design/optical formula in over a decade, but until now I was able to resist buying it because its advantages over my older 30x WF (model with folding eyecup that preceeded the still current MC version) are not of practical significance. Besides the longer eye-relief, it has better off-axis sharpness (less astigmatism and field curvature) which is undoubtedly quite important for digiscoping. On the practical downside, this eyepiece is so huge compared to my older 30x, it barely fits inside the case for the scope (it doesn't fit with rubber lens cap installed). It is impressive to behold, and makes my whole 78ED scope look more impressive if you're used to the appearances of modern alpha scopes with their enormous eyepieces in comparison to the old Nikon standard.

--AP

P.S. Michael--glad you like the zoom. Yeah, I'd like to see cheap 82 ED bodies too! Keep an eye out for possible deals now that the new 85 ED Fieldscopes are coming. But I'm crying for the (I presume) loss of the old 60 and 82 ED scopes which while not cheap, became a bargain next to the competition due to flat prices over the past 10 years as everyone else's went up. The new Nikon 85 ED is something like $3300, whereas you can get the 82ED for ~$1300. To anyone who's been holding off, get the old 60 or 82 ED while you still can!

Graham--there are still super deals on the 20-45x and 20-60x zooms, and the 40/60/75x MC eyepieces, but that's all. The old 20/25x is actually a simple but very nice eyepiece despite having a slightly narrower FOV than the WF/MC/DS equivalents, but I'm not sure what it would do on the ED50 as a 16x.
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?...and Accessories&cat3=Spotting Scope Eyepieces
 
Last edited:
Alexis Powell said:
Yeah, I'd like to see cheap 82 ED bodies too! Keep an eye out for possible deals now that the new 85 ED Fieldscopes are coming. But I'm crying for the (I presume) loss of the old 60 and 82 ED scopes which while not cheap, became a bargain next to the competition due to flat prices over the past 10 years as everyone else's went up.
Click to expand...

The 82 EDs are a bargain now, IMO. Them and Pentax 80EDs are the last of the big scope bargains I think and the new Nikon EDG is some kind of joke it seems. $2000. more, much longer, and MUCH heavier. Just who are they targeting to buy these, wealthy foolish weight lifters?

Frankly the Leica starts to look good by comparison. Yeah it's $3995. but you get a four element fluorite objective and by all expectations a state of the art zoom EP in a lighter, more compact package. For the $600. difference, the EDG Nikon makes a good case for Leica!

If I didn't already have an 80mm scope, I'd snap up one of the 82mm Fieldscopes in a heartbeat.
 
gadus said:
Did it come via UPS and if so what was the cost levied for VAT, Duty etc?
Click to expand...
It did come by UPS and the COD amount was £24.68. This was on the total of $129.50 ($89.95 + $39.55 shipping). It was more than I was expecting, but the receipt said that this was an estimate and that a final invoice would follow. The total value of the package was given as $129.50, which includes the shipping. That doesn't seem right.

Michael
 
MacGee said:
It did come by UPS and the COD amount was £24.68. This was on the total of $129.50 ($89.95 + $39.55 shipping). It was more than I was expecting, but the receipt said that this was an estimate and that a final invoice would follow. The total value of the package was given as $129.50, which includes the shipping. That doesn't seem right.

Michael
Click to expand...
If you work on about 30% of the total paid (inc. postage!) you usually get a rough idea of the damage , this covers VAT, import duty and UPS service charge for collecting the taxes. So the figure you quote is on the good side of about right!

Thanks, Peter.
 
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