Monarch 82ED, a Perfect Ten (3 Viewers)

[Steve Babbs]

This scope is getting very hard to get in the UK. I wasn't particularly planning on getting a new scope but my Zeiss Diascope 65mm is getting on a bit and now I use a Vortex Razor 50mm when I don't want to carry a larger scope - so most of the time - I have thought about getting a larger scope with 60X mag for twitches, when I finally splash the cash on snow leopard in Mongolia etc. I find it hard to justify the huge price of Kowa/Swarvoski for something that I won't actually use that much but this is starting to sound like a real bargain.

Just making sure I have got this correct: this is a scope that really does compete with the very best at about half the price?

 

[henry link]

Just making sure I have got this correct: this is a scope that really does compete with the very best at about half the price?

Hi Steve,

Yes, you are correct. The Monarch competes optically with "the very best" and beats most of them. The unit I tested was a sensibly perfect telescope. I've never seen a birding scope with better optics at any price. However, since I've only seen one specimen I don't know how many units are that good. Mediocre units and outright lemons are almost certainly out there just as they are with even the most expensive scopes.

Henry

 

[Steve Babbs]

Hi Steve,

Yes, you are correct. The Monarch competes optically with "the very best" and beats most of them. The unit I tested was a sensibly perfect telescope. I've never seen a birding scope with better optics at any price. However, since I've only seen one specimen I don't know how many units are that good. Mediocre units and outright lemons are almost certainly out there just as they are with even the most expensive scopes.

Henry

Yes that is a worry as I can't find anywhere where I could test one out. In fact the only place I can find selling them is based in Holland.

 

[dipped]

Yes that is a worry as I can't find anywhere where I could test one out. In fact the only place I can find selling them is based in Holland.

You could order from Nikon UK and still be able to return it under mail order legislation. Or are you going to the BirdFair where they will surely have them?

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Just making sure I have got this correct: this is a scope that really does compete with the very best at about half the price?

Even more of a bargain are the ED82 Fieldscope series. Here is one for sale on the forum, I think if you could get it for £650 it would be a great deal. I've still yet to see another scope which out-resolves my sample.

 

[mooreorless]

Hi Daniel, I did post on that Nikon 82EDA for sale on here but I agree with you about these 82ED Fieldscopes 100%

 

[Steve Babbs]

You could order from Nikon UK and still be able to return it under mail order legislation. Or are you going to the BirdFair where they will surely have them?

The BirdFair is never going to be an option for me due to the time of year.

What I'd really like to do it is compare it to mine and a Kowa. Buying nothing is definitely an option. I wasn't actually planning to but this post caught my eye and I am now wondering, if they are such a bargain, I should snap one up while they are available.

 

[Alexis Powell]

...Just making sure I have got this correct: this is a scope that really does compete with the very best at about half the price?

I don't disagree with the above responses, but to add a cautionary note, it depends on what you mean by "really does compete with the very best at about half the price." If your concern is optical quality with respect to resolution of either zoom or fixed power eyepieces, and to FOV and eye relief of fixed power eyepieces, the answer is yes. When it comes to wide angle zoom performance, the answer is more nuanced. I've no experience with the wide zoom available for the Monarch scopes, but even if it is top quality it is pricey and makes the scope less stunning as a budget option (since it seems, at least in the USA, that Nikon is no longer offering it with the scope body, only separately, and the scope is not available body only, only with the 20-60x zoom). You should also consider the Kowa and Meopta wide angle zoom competitors.

You can get the same optical performance from the (even cheaper, used) Fieldscope 82ED or (much cheaper still!) Fieldscope 78ED, but those scopes do not have the option of a wide zoom. I don't find zooms very useful for birding, so I have used the 78ED and 82ED scopes for many years very happily. In 1994, the 78ED was the best birding scope optically, in my opinion (certainly nothing better from Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, or Kowa at that time), and it was amazingly compact for a 78 mm scope. It is so good that I have not been tempted by the beautiful scopes that other companies have released since, and with the 30x WF eyepiece it is still my favorite scope for most birding.

--AP

 

[Steve Babbs]

I am a big zoom fan. It is available from Holland at a good price for the body only + the 30-60 x .

 

[yakyakgoose]

I don't disagree with the above responses, but to add a cautionary note, it depends on what you mean by "really does compete with the very best at about half the price." If your concern is optical quality with respect to resolution of either zoom or fixed power eyepieces, and to FOV and eye relief of fixed power eyepieces, the answer is yes. When it comes to wide angle zoom performance, the answer is more nuanced. I've no experience with the wide zoom available for the Monarch scopes, but even if it is top quality it is pricey and makes the scope less stunning as a budget option (since it seems, at least in the USA, that Nikon is no longer offering it with the scope body, only separately, and the scope is not available body only, only with the 20-60x zoom). You should also consider the Kowa and Meopta wide angle zoom competitors.

You can get the same optical performance from the (even cheaper, used) Fieldscope 82ED or (much cheaper still!) Fieldscope 78ED, but those scopes do not have the option of a wide zoom. I don't find zooms very useful for birding, so I have used the 78ED and 82ED scopes for many years very happily. In 1994, the 78ED was the best birding scope optically, in my opinion (certainly nothing better from Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, or Kowa at that time), and it was amazingly compact for a 78 mm scope. It is so good that I have not been tempted by the beautiful scopes that other companies have released since, and with the 30x WF eyepiece it is still my favorite scope for most birding.

--AP

If its helpful, I just got the 30x-60x and started a thread to do a review. I need a little help with how to do the technical tests though.

 

[henry link]

I'm quite sure that an 1.25" adapter can be quite easily printed - if you can get measurements for the threading, I can try it and send to you.

Joachim

Thanks again for the offer, Joachim. I just saw the Monarch ED specimen I reviewed for the first time again yesterday. As I thought there are no threads on the back of the scope or on the eyepiece, only the bayonet mount.

The opening on the scope is large enough to easily accommodate 1.25" eyepieces, but I think a proper adapter would need to be formed as a mate to the bayonet on the scope body. Possibly a simple press-fit semi-soft tube just to span the space between the 1.25" OD of the eyepiece tube and the ID of the bayonet opening on the scope body would work in a pinch.

Henry

 

[Taylor Ellis]

Does anyone have experience with both scopes, the ED82 and the Monarch 82, to compare those with the standard zoom? Would you trade an ed82 for a monarch 82?

 

[henry link]

I haven't directly compared the old Fieldscope 82ED scope to the new 82mm Monarch, but I did compare the old Nikon MC zoom used on the Fieldscope to the new standard field Monarch zoom in the first post of this thread. The new zoom is quite similar to the old one in most performance categories except for longer eye relief and for me it's also more comfortable to look through because of its larger eyecup. Looks like I forgot to include my eye relief measurements in the review, so here they are:

20x - 16mm

35-40x - 11mm

60x - 12mm

Measurements were taken from the eyecup rim. From the eyelens glass the eye relief is about 2mm longer.

Anyone with a cherry sample of the old Fieldscope 82ED would lose a useful 15x at the top end of the magnification range from switching to the Monarch and as always might wind up with a worse specimen from sample variation. The new wide field zoom for the Monarch might be an attraction, but it hasn't been tested in detail yet and since in the US the scope body can't be bought without the standard zoom (or a 30x fixed with reticle) the wide field zoom adds $500 to the cost of of the scope and then leaves the purchaser with an unwanted extra eyepiece.

 

[mayoayo]

but those scopes do not have the option of a wide zoom. I don't find zooms very useful for birding,

--AP

The Nikon FS zoom has more reach than any other zoom,due to the long focal of the scope and the short focal of the eyepiece( 7-21mm),but the price in FOV and Eye relief is too high,and the eyepiece is hard to use at all focals... But a wide zoom with long eye relief is another thing Alexis,..I think is very useful for birding,..heck i dont know what can be more useful!..i also used fixed power eyepieces with my old 823 and loved It..Had the old 32x, the old 50x, the new 21x, Nikon WA eyepieces adapted and lately settled in a wonderful BST Explorer 12 mm granting 38x,.my favorite magnification alrounder,but then i got the Baader Hyperion zoom..same fov as most the eyepieces i mentioned at their correspondent magnifications, pretty much as bright and as sharp or sharper, and i can push the view to 57 x or get super bright image at 19x..

 

[etudiant]

The Nikon FS zoom has more reach than any other zoom,due to the long focal of the scope and the short focal of the eyepiece( 7-21mm),but the price in FOV and Eye relief is too high,and the eyepiece is hard to use at all focals... But a wide zoom with long eye relief is another thing Alexis,..I think is very useful for birding,..heck i dont know what can be more useful!..i also used fixed power eyepieces with my old 823 and loved It..Had the old 32x, the old 50x, the new 21x, Nikon WA eyepieces adapted and lately settled in a wonderful BST Explorer 12 mm granting 38x,.my favorite magnification alrounder,but then i got the Baader Hyperion zoom..same fov as most the eyepieces i mentioned at their correspondent magnifications, pretty much as bright and as sharp or sharper, and i can push the view to 57 x or get super bright image at 19x..

What does it take to adapt the Baader zoom to the Fieldscope series?
Is there an adapter available for purchase?
I use both the ED50 as well as the EDIII and agree that that the Nikon zooms are niggardly in terms of eye relief. So if there is better available, it would be very much of interest.

 

[Ries]

What does it take to adapt the Baader zoom to the Fieldscope series?
Is there an adapter available for purchase?
I use both the ED50 as well as the EDIII and agree that that the Nikon zooms are niggardly in terms of eye relief. So if there is better available, it would be very much of interest.

I'm curious about this too; what other zooms are compatible with the FS screw bajonet, with adapter or not? For myself looking for an (non Monarch)ed82 Read much about the fov and eye relief but also many people not minding it and just enjoying the sharp view.

Read the Mark III doesn't fit but there's a Mark IV now, maybe it has changed? What's the thread on the old and new Fieldscopes?

 

[mayoayo]

The Fieldscopes dont have bayonet,they use a 37.5 internal thread ,with narrow pitch..They wont accept any other zoom than their own,due to the narrow channel of the light path..I used astro eyepieces on the ED50,but none had a long "neck".Nikon Eyepieces all have barlow pieces but the bottom lens is super small in diameter,to fit this narrow path.I wonder if this narrow Field stop affects the fov of the zoom.

 

[Ries]

Thank you for that info, mayoayo Too bad nothing else will fit besides their scarce own ep's

 

[etudiant]

The Fieldscopes dont have bayonet,they use a 37.5 internal thread ,with narrow pitch..They wont accept any other zoom than their own,due to the narrow channel of the light path..I used astro eyepieces on the ED50,but none had a long "neck".Nikon Eyepieces all have barlow pieces but the bottom lens is super small in diameter,to fit this narrow path.I wonder if this narrow Field stop affects the fov of the zoom.

Thank you for this clear explanation.
Guess the Nikon design is not readily compatible with other offerings. :C
How did you manage to use astro eye pieces despite that and how well does it work?

 

[Binastro]

24.5mm or 0.965 inch fit eyepieces work on most scopes.

B.