Best eyepiece for ES 80 GA ED... is SDL v3 worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Jakiding]

Hi everyone, I've just bought a used ES 80 GA ED scope (helped along by reading many of the posts on the forum... thank you!). I now need to get an eyepiece for it.

I don't want to over spec it. With this particular scope, would I see a noticeable difference between the SDL v2 and v3? Or even, would I see a difference between the other less expensive Opticron eyepieces and the SDL ones?

If anyone has used this scope and tried a few of the zoom eyepieces, any experiences/suggestions would be very welcome.

I'll use the scope in a variety of locations, typically at estuaries, rivers, reedbeds, lakes, coast.

Thank you!

 

[Gzoladz74]

If you don't want to overspec it, the good news is that Opticron does not make meaningful specs available anyway. Their techical specs are along the lines of "Wider than the previous one", "Lighter ever", etc.

Having said that, I own an HRGAED80 and both eyepieces. I upgraded from the SDLv2 to the SDLv3 and the main difference is the wider field of view, which does seem to match that advertised (c.10% wider).

It is worth noting that the FOV in the HRGAED80 is very narrow, so the additional width made a difference.

Optically, there is no perceivable difference so any improvement is minimum (the SDLv2 performs really well anyway).

I also own the MM3 60 in which I have the SDLv2 permanently installed. As this scope has a wider FOV than the HRGAED80, switching eyepieces for the additional width is not worth it (even though it takes 1min).

I have never tried the HDF, but opinions from other posters is that its performance is very close that of the SDL or marginally lower.

Given the cost difference and that this is a purchase for many years, I would get the SDLv3.

 

[Jakiding]

Thanks very much for that. I will aim for an SDL v3 when they start to hit the used market. I haven't even been able to see any v2 for sale used... except for a few being sold with scopes. As it happens, today I found a used HDF T Zoom eyepiece online and have bought that for now. Thanks again for your advice.