ED50 Delight (1 Viewer)

[narawood]

I know that the ED50 has had much said about it here on BF, just received the straight version it and tried it out today.


Just had to say that I am so impressed by this little scope, it is a delight in every way, with the 16xW it can be hand held, with the 27xW it needs a little extra support, with either eyepiece it is a joy.

Love it, just cleared out the glove compartment in the car; its staying close so I can use it frequently.

The attributes of this scope are truly fantastic, (as Sancho said “others can say it more eloquently than me”); I’m really blown away with it

(could you guess).

John

 

[Sancho]

I know that the ED50 has had much said about it here on BF, just received the straight version it and tried it out today.


Just had to say that I am so impressed by this little scope, it is a delight in every way, with the 16xW it can be hand held, with the 27xW it needs a little extra support, with either eyepiece it is a joy.

Love it, just cleared out the glove compartment in the car; its staying close so I can use it frequently.

The attributes of this scope are truly fantastic, (as Sancho said “others can say it more eloquently than me”); I’m really blown away with it

(could you guess).

John

Hard to beat, isn´t it? I´m really glad you like it, have lots of fun using it. There´s a thread questioning the integrity of the tripod attachment, some people have found it falls out. Just to be on the safe side, make sure you don´t screw in the tripod too hard, and maybe avoid walking with the scope attached to the tripod. I recently got the 27xw eyepiece as well, and it´s as good as its advocates have maintained. Try the Cullman Shoulder Pod if you can find one in a store, it´s about the best "non-tripod" support IMHO. Happy Birding!

 

[June Atkinson]

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?binsandscopes/SPOTTING_SCOPES/nikon.html

Just found this, for anyone looking to buy. The bundles appear to offer value for money. I'm greatly tempted, but as yet, wouldn't know which specific eye-piece or other accessories are best.

 

[Sancho]

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?binsandscopes/SPOTTING_SCOPES/nikon.html

Just found this, for anyone looking to buy. The bundles appear to offer value for money. I'm greatly tempted, but as yet, wouldn't know which specific eye-piece or other accessories are best.

You can´t go wrong with the zoom, 16xw or 27xw eyepieces. All brilliant, all have the weaknesses in certain situations that such mags do on any scope (i.e. zoom is a tad narrow in FOV, 16x isn´t huge mag at long range, 27x is slightly more unsteady without tripod and narrower FOV than 16x...sorry for stating the obvious!).

 

[narawood]

Hard to beat, isn´t it? I´m really glad you like it, have lots of fun using it. There´s a thread questioning the integrity of the tripod attachment, some people have found it falls out. Just to be on the safe side, make sure you don´t screw in the tripod too hard, and maybe avoid walking with the scope attached to the tripod. I recently got the 27xw eyepiece as well, and it´s as good as its advocates have maintained. Try the Cullman Shoulder Pod if you can find one in a store, it´s about the best "non-tripod" support IMHO. Happy Birding!

Hi Sancho,

Thank you for wishing me enjoyment with this delightful scope.

I had already read all the posts regarding the tripod attachment before purchasing; I must say that I was concerned about the failures of the helicoil.

On inspecting my newly acquired scope I of course quickly referenced the tripod mount, the uppermost end of the coil sits ever so slightly open, this suggests that I should be particularly careful with the first few turns when threading in, thereafter I will not be afraid to firm the set screw so as to ensure that the scope will not be ‘under-secured’.

This is a lightweight scope, plastics are used and, yes it should probably not be hung off the tripod head when say carrying the tripod over the shoulder on bumpy terrain. I will accept this scope for what it is and handle it accordingly, but I really feel that Nikon could have done better with the tripod mount.

That said; I still love the little darling.

Regards,

John

 

[dogfish]

John, I think it might be worth keeping the scope off the tripod when not in use; the helicoil on my ED50 unravelled when the scope was in my rucksack attached to a light weight tripod. Iy may be that a gentle push from the 'wrong' angle may be enough to cause problems.
As you say, fine scope let down by a bit of poor design. How much would it have cost Nikon to have a proper screw fitting? Very little.

Sean

 

[narawood]

Sean,

My initial thoughts are to fit the quick release plate to the scope and leave it there so as to minimise the number of times the helicoil insert is used.

Did you notice the unravelling when you removed the scope from the tripod head, or are you saying that the entire helicol detached suddenly from the scope?

Regards,

John

 

[dogfish]

I hadn't used the scope for a bit, and had left it in the bag attached to the tripd. When I opened the rucksack, I noticed the helicoil had unravelled. So can only speculate as to how it happened.

Sean

 

[Alex_sk]

I've got an ED50 along with the zoom eyepiece and I have to say it rocks! Nice and light with excellent optics.

 

[Geoff Brown]

I can recommend the Cley Spy stay on case for it as well. about £40

 

[JohnnyH]

So can I just got one, excellent! Off to Gib Point with my ED50 on Tuesday can't wait!

John.

 

[Sancho]

I hadn't used the scope for a bit, and had left it in the bag attached to the tripd. When I opened the rucksack, I noticed the helicoil had unravelled. So can only speculate as to how it happened.

Sean

As a matter of interest, Sean, how did you repair it? I mean, did you put in a bought insert or did you have to send it off to Nikon for repair?

 

[dogfish]

It was repaired (for £41) by Nikon. Further details are on a thread called 'Problems with ED50 tripod mount' or something similar (just to save us all going over old ground).

Sean

 

[Sancho]

It was repaired (for £41) by Nikon. Further details are on a thread called 'Problems with ED50 tripod mount' or something similar (just to save us all going over old ground).

Sean

Thanks Seán, yeah, I was just too lazy to bother going to find the other thread. Shame they stitched you for 41 quid, though; I don´t think they were entitled to a cent.

 

[narawood]

Try the Cullman Shoulder Pod if you can find one in a store, it´s about the best "non-tripod" support IMHO. Happy Birding!

Sancho,

I tried out the Cullman Shoulder Pod and found that I was much better off just using the scope hand held.

Scampo sent me some pictures of the Cullman being used with the ED50 angled version and the combo looked very promising.

It just doesn’t work with the straight version ED50, at least not for me, are you using the angled version?

I've just tried it using a monopod and the results are very acceptable.

Regards,

John

 

[Sancho]

Sancho,

I tried out the Cullman Shoulder Pod and found that I was much better off just using the scope hand held.

Scampo sent me some pictures of the Cullman being used with the ED50 angled version and the combo looked very promising.

It just doesn’t work with the straight version ED50, at least not for me, are you using the angled version?

I've just tried it using a monopod and the results are very acceptable.

Regards,

John

Hi John, no, I have the straight version too, and find the Cullman fine, at least with the 16x and the zoom up to about 20x. The 27x is a different matter. I have a Slik Video Sprint tripod that I use too, it´s light and versatile and with the 27x (or zoom at higher mags) it really is wonderful. I got an ED82A as well (because I was so impressed with the ED50) and to be honest, I hardly take it out. It´s fantastic, but if there´s a lot of walking involved (and let´s face it, there nearly always is), I just find that the lightweight advantage of the ED50 compensates for any loss in other areas. I use the ED82A only for seawatching or other situations where mobility isn´t an issue.

 

[Swissboy]

..It just doesn’t work with the straight version ED50, at least not for me, are you using the angled version?
..

I use it on a straight version. I don't think it makes a difference. I can't really hold it as steady as I'd like, but that would hardly be different for an angled scope, I'm sure.

 

[gandytron]

Hello ED50 lovers,

I'm considering buying one of these scopes to stick in my backpack whilst birding in forest, but I also want to be able to use it for waders - so I'm thinking about getting one of the zoom eyepieces.

There appear to be two zooms on the market: 13-30x MC and the 13-40x MC II. Can anyone tell me if one of these is considered to be optically superior to the other? I've only looked at one of these scopes (about a year ago) and was impressed with it, but I'm not sure which e.p. it had on it...

Thanks

Dave

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Hi Dave,

I've got and ED50 with the 13-40 zoom, which I like very much. The 13-40 is a newer lens than the 13-30 but I think the main differences are in the eyecups. The 13-40 has twist down eyecups whereas the 13-30 uses fold down rubber ones. The 13-40 also has slightly more eye relief, which is a bit short on both lenses.

I can't comment on the optical quality of the 13-30 as I haven't used one but the specifications of both lenses are virtually identical (see the chart here):

http://nikon.topica.ne.jp/bi_e/products/nature_a.htm

Ron

 

[gandytron]

Thanks Ron,

I see on another thread that this e.p. is nicknamed "the zoom of doom"!!! I've used fix eyepieces for the last 20 years, so I'm a bit hesitant to buy something called "the zoom of doom"! Though I heard from friends that Zoom technology has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

I'll keep an open mind and look at several eyepieces when I eventually buy it.

Dave