Harpia 95: A Review on a Scottish Island (3 Viewers)

[Troubador]

Hello, Lee,

Glad I decided to stop by birdforun today. |=)|
Good to finally see your report on the Harpia. :t:
I knew one was coming, eventually. |8)|

If all goes well, I hope to get my own Harpia sometime next year.
It may not be perfect in all categories but it sounds pretty nice to me.
Thanks for your review, Lee.
I appreciate it, greatly. :clap:

Thanks Sagi.

Lee

 

[John-W]

Very enjoyable review, Lee, thank you.

I must mention the Barred Puff Bird photo you posted...through a cellphone at 70x mag, amazing!

 

[Troubador]

Very enjoyable review, Lee, thank you.

I must mention the Barred Puff Bird photo you posted...through a cellphone at 70x mag, amazing!

Thanks John-W, I will pass your comment about the photo to Melissa.

Lee

 

[b-lilja]

Wow, just read this thread for the first time. Mainly, I just wanna say, we wanna spend three weeks in a cottage on a bay on Islay!!!

 

[Will K]

I’m late to the party, as usual, but this was a very interesting read. Thanks!

I’m narrowing down my choices for a scope upgrade, and at this stage the Harpia still looks like the most interesting option. Can’t wait to check it out in person, along with a Meopta S2 and Televid!

 

[tenex]

I need to choose my words carefully here.

No Harpia isn't far superior [to S2] in every respect. For example the S2 is as sharp and contrasty in my opinion.

BUT

What makes Harpia 95 superior than S2 in the field is the super wide field of view at 23x combined with the effortless zoom up to 70x where it is crystal clear. Having the zoom wheel next to the focus wheel means speedy focus and mag changes and with practice you can do it with one hand. When there is a lot of activity you can keep on top of more of it with Harpia than with the S2.

S2 being the scope I'm familiar with and impressed by, I appreciate your care here. Without looking up the dates, I suspect you may have written this before you had a chance to try the 30-60x Meopta eyepiece which likewise offers a wider field of view at 30x and would arguably make a better direct comparison, though it narrows the magnification range a bit. (Of course your point of single-handed operation remains.) I've never used Harpia myself; the only top-end model I've tried was BTX 95 which was of course very impressive though I missed the zoom feature, and find ~82mm a fairly ideal size/weight (and budget).

 

[Troubador]

S2 being the scope I'm familiar with and impressed by, I appreciate your care here. Without looking up the dates, I suspect you may have written this before you had a chance to try the 30-60x Meopta eyepiece which likewise offers a wider field of view at 30x and would arguably make a better direct comparison, though it narrows the magnification range a bit. (Of course your point of single-handed operation remains.) I've never used Harpia myself; the only top-end model I've tried was BTX 95 which was of course very impressive though I missed the zoom feature, and find ~82mm a fairly ideal size/weight (and budget).

I reviewed the S2 with 30-60 eyepiece in 2016 and with the 20-70 eyepiece in 2018, and by the way I own an S2 with the 20-70. I don't use scopes out in the field but use them from our holiday cottage in the west of Scotland. This scope and an old Diascope 65 are the only scopes I own and I am very happy with them.

Lee

 

[tenex]

I reviewed the S2 with 30-60 eyepiece in 2016 and with the 20-70 eyepiece in 2018

So I remembered that reversed, should have checked the dates. Anyway let me reformulate the question: did Harpia strike you as having a significantly wider field at low magnification than S2 with 30-60x, or for that matter other scopes' WA eyepieces?

 

[Troubador]

Yes, with magnification backed off to 23x Harpia's fov was enormous