Opticron HR66? (1 Viewer)

[slingworks]

A friend of mine wants to purchase a spotting scope he's come across in a classified ad..And asked my opinion about it. Trouble is, I know almost nothing!

It's an Opticron HR 66 angled scope, not ED. He does a bit of casual target shooting and is looking for a reasonably priced used scope.

I do know at least that Opticron has a decent selection of eyepieces that are pretty affordable....But how do these scopes perform? Anyone have any experience to share? How do they compare to lets say, a Kowa TNS 601? Do they suffer from any serious faults?

 

[lmans66]

A couple of years ago I was in the mood for a 65 power scope...I tested several as I would order from B and H or Eagle optics and send back if I didn't want. I tested the following side-by-side. Opticron 66, Swaro 65, Kowa 601, Pentax.

Eventually I selected the Opticron. The Kowa is good and light, but you need to have one of those ugly 'scope covers' on it at all times since they never put any rubber armor on it. Go figure.... The Kowa was 'lighter' so more light coming in. But the Opticron with the 18-54 eye-piece was sharper in my thinking. The pentax was close and believe or not, the Swaro 65 didn't have much on it's competition even though the price was high. So I picked up the Opticron with the 18-54 eye-piece.

I sold it a year down the road..... I longed for an 80mm with more light, for better digiscoping etc, so I bought a Swaro 80mm ATS with 25-50 eyepiece. Much better.

But the opticron for the money, was excellent. It was larger than I expected and heavier, which was a draw back. In fact, my 80mm Swaro is lighter and less bulky than that Opticron although the price of the Opticron was probably $900 all told? Really good. The rubber armor was great, the eye--piece was good all the way to 54. The light coming in was okay for a smaller scope but not enough for digital-scoping. The focus'ing was fine. I had no problems with it, other than wanting a bigger scope for shore birding.

I have to admit, I was surprised. Not only by comparing it to the competition of the Kowa and Swaro, but the finished product was very good. I know I contacted the Opticron people here in the states about something or another, and they were very helpful ( I believe his name was Pete and he gets on this forum from time to time) ...

So my advice...get it.... jim

 

[pete_gamby]

There is an archive page for the older HR models here:

https://www.opticron.eu/ukhtml/Pages/hr_scope.htm

Hope that is useful.

Best regards, Pete

 

[jring]

Hi,

I'd be surprised if the HR66 would not be up to giving a good image at the 20 or 25x used for target shooting...
As always with used optics, being able to buy in person or with a no questions asked return policy is strongly recommended.

Joachim

 

[slingworks]

Thanks for the replies gents. I told him to pick it up. I'm actually looking forward to checking it out myself.

 

[lmans66]

Thanks for the replies gents. I told him to pick it up. I'm actually looking forward to checking it out myself.

Make sure the eye-piece is the 18-54.... Some scopes do not always come with that eye-piece. Of course you can always buy it separately if you want but a solid scope and eye-piece, jim

 

[slingworks]

Imans66

The one he ordered has a 27x EP on it. I think it might work ok for what he'll do with it. I'm almost positive he'd prefer a zoom but his budget is expended for now

You know, like you I wish more spotters were rubber armored. The only one I've owned so far that was fully armored was an Optolyth TBS 80. I liked the full rubber armor, it was the best feature I think. Optically, even being the Florite model it was just average.

 

[jring]

The one he ordered has a 27x EP on it. I think it might work ok for what he'll do with it. I'm almost positive he'd prefer a zoom but his budget is expended for now

You know, like you I wish more spotters were rubber armored. The only one I've owned so far that was fully armored was an Optolyth TBS 80. I liked the full rubber armor, it was the best feature I think. Optically, even being the Florite model it was just average.

Hi,

a wide angle EP with around 30x is the best you can do with a plain glass body... ok, for shooting maybe make that an LER EP and forget about wide angle.

A zoom will only remind you of the plain glass each time you crank up the mognification...

As for the Optolyth - I have only looked through one (80mm angled with fluorite) - I was not impressed.

Joachim

 

[jlw0017]

I have the Opticron HR66 GA ED with SDLv2 eyepiece. I have always found the image to be clear and bright but as you zoom in there is obviously some loss of clarity.