Hi, I’ve been searching for reviews, or at least some more information than Pentax’s own, on this new 85 mm spotter but there seem to be almost nothing out there. Except for a very short review, or more like initial impressions, at Cloudy Nights.
So if anyone here has something to share would be really great.
I know that the best would be to try before you buy. Unfortunately that’s not possible where I live in the north of Sweden.
To give some background to my interest for the new 85 mm Pentax, I’ve been using the Celestron Regal 80 ED with the Baader Hyperion 8-24 mk lV eyepiece. It’s been a descent scope with good clarity and sharpness, and thanks to the BH zoom a wide field of view. However it could be more contrasty and sharper, or should I say easier to dial in sharpness, in the range of 50-60x. Especially when the light is fading. I’ve had the opportunity to compare it to top scopes from Swaro, Kowa, Leica and Zeiss (but these are all out of my budget) and to mid tiers like Vortex Razor and some older good scopes from Kowa and Leica. What I’ve found is that as good as my scope is I want something better that doesn’t completely brake the bank.
The Pentax seems like it could be what I’m looking for based on specs and Pentax’s good track record. I also like the fact that 1,25 eyepieces can be used on it. It is also right now available as a kit at a fairly good price at some European dealers which makes it feasible within my budget of about 2000$.
I initially went searching for used scopes of good quality but the market here in Sweden, and as it seems Europe, is really slim. Either you can find a lot of cheap scopes of now interest or practically new top scopes that cost almost as much as brand new. So, I’ve more or less decided to go for a brand new mid priced scope and right now the Pentax is the one I’m most interested in specs wise.
us.ricoh-imaging.com
