´Spotting scope , ED or not ED ? (1 Viewer)

Hi
I would like to buy a spotting scope to make observations of birds and other distant reasons, my question is whether to buy a larger achromatic spotting such as the Celestron Ultima or Trailseeker 100mm or a smaller 80mm but of better optical quality such as the Regal 80mm .. ..
Which of them would give me more brightness, resolution and sharpness? Which of them gave me a clearer visual image at maximum magnification 60X?

Thank you very much
Wachi.

wachipilotes said:

...my question is whether to buy a larger achromatic spotting such as the Celestron Ultima or Trailseeker 100mm or a smaller 80mm but of better optical quality such as the Regal 80mm...

Click to expand...

The bigger one can be brighter in _very_ low light, but the ED is a _huge_ advantage for a sharp clear view. Go ED.

--AP

I agree with Alexis....the ED glass can be much sharper. Not sure on those two models you mentioned so can't be sure, but I know I have had both the HD (or ED) glass on the Swaro 80mm ATS scope and what a huge difference the ED type glass is.

One word of warning is that some manufacturers 'toss out the word' ED.....and make it sound like that since they use ED glass, they compare to any 'better' priced scope. But not so.... All ED glass is not the same. They might all use some materials and some components of ED glass but since there is no true ED formula or grade, you can get easily fooled by the term "ED".... .ED glass for one cheaper scope is not ED glass of a more expensive scope. Not all coatings are the same etc....

So keep that in mind. Depending on the brand, there might be very little difference between ED glass and non-Ed glass with the exception of the term which is tacked on...