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New Diamondback spotting scopes (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter qwerty5
- Start date
Maybe a little late but I tried one a couple of months ago and returned them pretty quickly.
Not so bright, not so sharp, glare, and most of all terrible ca. I'd say they are not much usefull for birding.
I don't know if the Vipers are any better, they don't seem to cost a lot more
Not so bright, not so sharp, glare, and most of all terrible ca. I'd say they are not much usefull for birding.
I don't know if the Vipers are any better, they don't seem to cost a lot more
qwerty5
Controversial opinion generator
Compared to what? I heard the old Diamondbacks were quite good, is this compared to them?
Hi Qwerty,
I have never looked through the older Diamondback 65. All I can say is that, at least to my 'birding' needs, those Diamondback HD's are not good enough.
Let's say that, when putting them side by side with my Opticron mm3 50mm sdlv2, the latter just blows them away! No excuses!
The Opticron mm3 (4 now) are in a different categorie when comparing. They do cost 250€ more but ar smaller and lighter and have way better sharpness and resolution even at highest magnification, wich is 36x. The 60mm's have a reach of 15-45x I believe.
If I were you, I'd spent a little more and get something better. But that is only my opinion ofcours.
I have never looked through the older Diamondback 65. All I can say is that, at least to my 'birding' needs, those Diamondback HD's are not good enough.
Let's say that, when putting them side by side with my Opticron mm3 50mm sdlv2, the latter just blows them away! No excuses!
The Opticron mm3 (4 now) are in a different categorie when comparing. They do cost 250€ more but ar smaller and lighter and have way better sharpness and resolution even at highest magnification, wich is 36x. The 60mm's have a reach of 15-45x I believe.
If I were you, I'd spent a little more and get something better. But that is only my opinion ofcours.
qwerty5
Controversial opinion generator
There isn't an 82mm version. The older version was 80mm, the new HD version is 85mm.
Manolito
Well-known member
True, my bad. Just checked and the one I own is the 80mm.
In my previous work, I used to use a Swarovski ATX and I have to admit that it was tough at the beggining when using this scope. With patagonian light, it's not sharp at all around the corners. As they mentioned before, lots of CA and IQ suffered a lot when zoomed. With good light, it's a different story.
In my previous work, I used to use a Swarovski ATX and I have to admit that it was tough at the beggining when using this scope. With patagonian light, it's not sharp at all around the corners. As they mentioned before, lots of CA and IQ suffered a lot when zoomed. With good light, it's a different story.
You may want to audition the Svbony SV406P. There are several happy owners of the 80mm version on this forum, including me. The 65mm version was just announced recently and I have not seen any reviews, but it appears to be exactly the same, just scaled down, so the odds are good that optical quality has been maintained.
It comes with a 7.2-21.6mm zoom (16-48x), but takes standard 1.25" astronomical eyepieces, so you can use different eyepieces if you want a wider field of view, higher magnification etc. One obvious accessory is the 23mm aspheric eyepiece, less than US$10 but gives a good wide (57 degrees) low power view. A more premium eyepiece is the UFF 18mm (available under many brands, the Svbony version is the cheapest), excellent 65 degree field of view.
Buy from a place like Amazon that allows easy returns.
The 65mm Svbony doesn’t explicitly say the eyepiece is removable unlike the 80mm model. Be worth asking them to clarify. Also we’ve not had any more news of the imminent sv401 “apo” spotter or whether it’s eyepieces can be swapped for 1.25”…. Know better about SA401 85mm APO spotting scope
Peter
Peter
The 65mm SV406P is also sold on Lazada and explicitly shown there to have a removable eyepiece:
SVBONY SV406P ED Spotting Scope 16-48x65 telescope Monocular Waterpoof and Fogproof with Soft Carrying Case for bird watching moon | Lazada Singapore
ED Spotting Scope; Extra-low dispersion (ED) glass lenses minimizes chromatic aberration,; accurate color reproduction; increased resolution and contrast Powerful Spotting Scope; versatile 16-48x zoom eyepiece to provide views that range from wide vistas at low power to tight detail-orientated...
www.lazada.sg
The SA401 is by all appearances a clone of the Vortex Viper 85mm scope ie removable but proprietary eyepieces. One of my friends asked his contact at Svbony... apparently the contact had heard of the SA401 since last year, so perhaps it is delayed (or may never arrive). Quite possibly, the higher cost might require a price point that the brand cannot support at this point. After all, if it cost $700 many people would just buy the Vortex ($900) for the better warranty and resale value.
qwerty5
Controversial opinion generator
Thanks, it sounds interesting, I'll look into it.
nkbj
Niels Kristian Bech Jensen
According to Svbony the 65mm scope has a “Standard 1.25 inch Eyepiece Port” SV406P 16-48x65 ED Dual Speed Focusing Spotting Scope.
qwerty5
Controversial opinion generator
So does the Viper take other eyepieces besides those provided by Vortex?
I have not come across any discussions that suggest the Viper takes non-Vortex EPs. The Razor supposedly takes some Swarovski EPs, but it's priced significantly higher than the Viper.
If you want a spotting scope with lots of eyepiece choices, get the Svbony SV406P, Pentax, or Celestron Regal. The Orion Grandview ED is the same as the Svbony SV406P, if you prefer an American reseller (they're clearly from the same OEM).
There are a number of Chinese made scopes that can use the “Swarovski adapter” (sold by APM), but there may be others that people haven’t explicitly tested. I really wish companies didn’t use proprietary eyepiece adapters. People who don’t t et wide angle astro eyepieces don’t know what they’re missing.
Peter
Peter
Peregrine Took
Well-known member
My experience exactly. Worst CA of any scope I've used. Returned next day.
The Viper is almost the same as the Razor, that is to say almost perfect optically, but has a VERY narrow field of view... so it feels like looking down a tube.
I bought an Opticron MM4 60, with SDLv3 eyepiece, instead.
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