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New Nikon 82mm object lens scope (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Colin
- Start date
Andrew Rowlands
Well-known member
scampo said:
Both?
Turning off notification would cure it.
Andy.
Andrew Rowlands
Well-known member
scampo said:
It would reset it.
Turn it off.
Logout.
Turn it back on.
Andy.
Edward woodwood
Member
to my eyes I can't see a difference between the ED78 (available for £450 from Warehouse Express) and the new 82 Nikon or Swarovski - both considerably more exensive. The ED78 takes the new MC eyepieces, is compact and must be the optical steal of the year.
dogfish said:Blimey, are you Scampo in disguise? oThat's supposed to be a smiley face by the way
There's only one Scampo!
I tried the Swaro 80 HD and the Nikon 82ED today. Both were lovely, but I'm sure the Nikon had the slightly better brightness and/or contrast. I would need to check that again, but there's no way I'm paying an extra £300 for the Swaro. The Nikon zoom was awesome and very useable at 75x in today's viewing conditions. Oh no. I'm starting to sound like Scampo!
scampo
Steve Campsall
Glad I'm not alone - but you are surely right, Tim. The problem is that they are now only available with 40x and 50x lenses so by the time you've bought say, the MCII zoom, or a 20 / 30 wide, the price soon climbs nearer to the ED82. - which is also completely watertight (not that I've ever once had a scope mist up in many years and with some pretty cheap scopes in my time).Tim Allwood said:
scampo
Steve Campsall
Ah well... all it takes is a fair and objective trial: and I think we would all agree that Leif is a very objective-minded individual indeed.
But my very high regard for Nikon Fieldscopes and some of their other birding optics is quite unusual as I am normally not generally impressed with Far Eastern products (I would unlikely buy one of their cars, for example, except for the superb Honda marque. Maybe such a feeling runs in the family as, after much testing of Yamaha, Kawai and the ilk, my son chose a Czech Petrov piano as at least a head if not the shoulders above the sound quality of many Far Eastern brands he spent so many hours playing).
The fact surely is that Nikon Fieldscopes - like Opticron - offer very good value for money; but unlike Opticron, Nikon is a world-renowned marque and on that basis, gets my vote. I think the quality of manufacture is better than Opticron, too - both in durability and quality control.
Yet, I know if I had to choose again, I'd have a far closer look than I did before at the wonderful Zeiss 85T*, even though I might again go for the ED82. And another thing, they're both very tough-looking scopes, whereas to my eyes, the Swaro scores less highly on this score. For me, the Leica needs new model to make it more compact, as marvellous as it is in all ways except bulkiness.
But my very high regard for Nikon Fieldscopes and some of their other birding optics is quite unusual as I am normally not generally impressed with Far Eastern products (I would unlikely buy one of their cars, for example, except for the superb Honda marque. Maybe such a feeling runs in the family as, after much testing of Yamaha, Kawai and the ilk, my son chose a Czech Petrov piano as at least a head if not the shoulders above the sound quality of many Far Eastern brands he spent so many hours playing).
The fact surely is that Nikon Fieldscopes - like Opticron - offer very good value for money; but unlike Opticron, Nikon is a world-renowned marque and on that basis, gets my vote. I think the quality of manufacture is better than Opticron, too - both in durability and quality control.
Yet, I know if I had to choose again, I'd have a far closer look than I did before at the wonderful Zeiss 85T*, even though I might again go for the ED82. And another thing, they're both very tough-looking scopes, whereas to my eyes, the Swaro scores less highly on this score. For me, the Leica needs new model to make it more compact, as marvellous as it is in all ways except bulkiness.
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Hardly, though I suspect that was said tongue in cheek! I think everyone should take reviews with a pinch of salt, and check products themselves.scampo said:
That said, I am looking for a posh scope, and the reviews and comments of the Nikon 82 and other scopes on this site have been very helpful. I have to profess a lot of ignorance when it comes to scopes.
I don't think your liking for Nikon is mis-placed. They seem to be making a concerted and successful effort to break into the territory previously dominated by the big German/Austrian names. I suspect that the market for birding optics is a growing one, though I know that Leica have been having financial problems, and Zeiss announced big profits!
scampo
Steve Campsall
Nope - I was being very straightforward, guv. I was interested in your comments on Leica and Zeiss.Leif said:
In my view, Leica have not played fair over the years. For instance, some of their photo optics are / were made in Portugal - and with no disrespect to that great country, I don't think when we buy Leica, we expect to be buying a Portuguese product (likewise, a bottle of Port, labelled "Made in Germany" would be unlikely to impress); also, Leica have, quite surprisingly, launched a few less than wonderful cameras over recent years, not quite knowing where to position the product or its pricing.
I think that Zeiss, on the other hand, are a very large and successful manufacturer of technical and industrial optics with vast R&D facilities. Interestingly, Nikon were the first Japanese manufacturer of optical glass, cameras, binoculars and scopes and have a number of innovations to their credit - including CA free lenses (despite your views - literally and metaphorically). Unlike Leica and Swarovski, so far as I know, they are also a direct competitor to Zeiss in the technical and industrial optics' markets.
Now, Swarovski make expensive and pretty glass ornaments (oh, and they also make superb, expensive birding scopes and binos)...
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dogfish
Well-known member
I've just bought a Swav ATS80 HD but it was one of the toughest optical decisions I've made; it was up against the Zeiss 85 and the Nikon 82. The Nikon had better colour (and price) but a poorer zoom than either the Swav or the Zeiss. And it is heavy, or to be precise, relatively heavy (one reason the Leica wasn't in the frame). The Zeiss zoom was better at high magnifications than either but its wide angle eyepieces were poorer and the non-sharp edges to the field of the zoom at low magnification were a distraction. But it did have what I would call the easiest view. Eye placement is esy.
I felt the Swav 30w eyepiece was the best of the wide angles, though it was a close call with Nikon. There is a crispness to the Swav 30w that I didn't quite see in the others. Perhaps the contrast is better than NIkon; as others have suggested it's hard to get really faithful colour and excellent contrast.
I would also say that Swav have tried hard to produce a birder-friendly scope in terms of size, weight and general ergonomics (and even colour), and succeeded. Shame about the price....
The new Swav zoom is just a bit brighter and with better contrast than the old version; the new 30w blows the previous Swav 30w out of the water. You'll note that I had the old Swav so that probably influenced my decision in part.
All excellent scopes though. I wanted all of them.....
I felt the Swav 30w eyepiece was the best of the wide angles, though it was a close call with Nikon. There is a crispness to the Swav 30w that I didn't quite see in the others. Perhaps the contrast is better than NIkon; as others have suggested it's hard to get really faithful colour and excellent contrast.
I would also say that Swav have tried hard to produce a birder-friendly scope in terms of size, weight and general ergonomics (and even colour), and succeeded. Shame about the price....
The new Swav zoom is just a bit brighter and with better contrast than the old version; the new 30w blows the previous Swav 30w out of the water. You'll note that I had the old Swav so that probably influenced my decision in part.
All excellent scopes though. I wanted all of them.....
scampo
Steve Campsall
I think I know what you mean by the Nikon zoom, but if you had had the chance to have lived with it for a while - and I use a Swaro zoom regularly, too - I think that the Nikon is a little beauty (the Swaro is so large in comparison) that might well have won you over. Its mechanical merits are, in themselves, worthy of the highest praise: unlike others, no use of plastics, for a start; it looks and feels as if it's made with watch-like precision - the smoothness and solidity are unparalleled.
If it falls down, it's on its comparatively somewhat narrower wide field of view - but, I just cannot agree with you (as Tim and Leif would not, I see) that it is less contrasty or less sharp; and let's be honest, no zoom (even the Zeiss) is sufficiently wide-angled to obviate the usefulness of a genuine fixed wide angle (after all, would we put up with zoom binoculars with a narrow FOV?). The Nikon zoom has much in its favour - not least, the image it crates is unusually faithful and true to the original. And, when a truly wide view is needed, the Nikon 30x wide gains high praise from all reviewers.
As for weight - well, it's a very well-constructed scope and it's on a par with both Leica and Zeiss, isn't it? Yet... it's no longer than the Swaro 65! If the Nikon has a weakness, I would point to its rather high geared focusing, which, speedy as it is, needs care at the highest magnification - which, by the way, is a very useful 75x (okay - this needs good light to give of its very best, but when the light is fine, this is very useful indeed).
If it falls down, it's on its comparatively somewhat narrower wide field of view - but, I just cannot agree with you (as Tim and Leif would not, I see) that it is less contrasty or less sharp; and let's be honest, no zoom (even the Zeiss) is sufficiently wide-angled to obviate the usefulness of a genuine fixed wide angle (after all, would we put up with zoom binoculars with a narrow FOV?). The Nikon zoom has much in its favour - not least, the image it crates is unusually faithful and true to the original. And, when a truly wide view is needed, the Nikon 30x wide gains high praise from all reviewers.
As for weight - well, it's a very well-constructed scope and it's on a par with both Leica and Zeiss, isn't it? Yet... it's no longer than the Swaro 65! If the Nikon has a weakness, I would point to its rather high geared focusing, which, speedy as it is, needs care at the highest magnification - which, by the way, is a very useful 75x (okay - this needs good light to give of its very best, but when the light is fine, this is very useful indeed).
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dogfish
Well-known member
No, Nikon is heavier than the Zeiss (Leica wasn't in my test). The Nikon 82 is variously cited as either 1610g or 1670g. The Swav is 1350g and the Zeiss 1450g.
I own a Nikon MC1 zoom (for my ED111) and have used it for some time. The MC11 strikes me as basically the same but without the annoying halo effect. A very good eyepiece, but just not quite in the same class as Swav or Zeiss. Very good at lower mags but just doesn't look as bright and sharp at 60x and up.
The size of the zoom doesn't worry me if the overall package is light. My shoulder can't see how big the zoom is.....
I own a Nikon MC1 zoom (for my ED111) and have used it for some time. The MC11 strikes me as basically the same but without the annoying halo effect. A very good eyepiece, but just not quite in the same class as Swav or Zeiss. Very good at lower mags but just doesn't look as bright and sharp at 60x and up.
The size of the zoom doesn't worry me if the overall package is light. My shoulder can't see how big the zoom is.....
Oh my. Sounds like I will have to do a bit more testing at high magnifications ...
Mind you, when I was testing the Swaro 80 HD scope, I am sure I could hear my piggy bang whispering in my ear "Nah mate, it's nice but the Nikon is nicer ..." I'm sure he won't speak to me again if I do buy the Swaro.
One thing I have noticed about Swaro bins and scopes is the superb build quality and the superb finish. I suspect that this is part of the image that Swarovski try to create. It certainly is impressive.
Mind you, when I was testing the Swaro 80 HD scope, I am sure I could hear my piggy bang whispering in my ear "Nah mate, it's nice but the Nikon is nicer ..." I'm sure he won't speak to me again if I do buy the Swaro.
One thing I have noticed about Swaro bins and scopes is the superb build quality and the superb finish. I suspect that this is part of the image that Swarovski try to create. It certainly is impressive.
Edward woodwood
Member
Current prices from our BF Sponsor!
ED78 with x30MC £649 1435g
ED82 with x30MC £939 1575g (new reduced price)
Swarovski ATS80HD with x30 £1330 1280g
Zeiss Diascope 85 with x30 £1080 1450g
With no 'real' optical diff in the x30 performance i opted for the cheapo 'old' Nikon (which was over a grand before the 'new' model)
Still don't use it as much as my little old Kowa 614 though
note that weights are witout eyepieces.....I did this quickly...there may be minor errors....so be kind if u spot one
ED78 with x30MC £649 1435g
ED82 with x30MC £939 1575g (new reduced price)
Swarovski ATS80HD with x30 £1330 1280g
Zeiss Diascope 85 with x30 £1080 1450g
With no 'real' optical diff in the x30 performance i opted for the cheapo 'old' Nikon (which was over a grand before the 'new' model)
Still don't use it as much as my little old Kowa 614 though
note that weights are witout eyepieces.....I did this quickly...there may be minor errors....so be kind if u spot one
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