scope dilemma! (4 Viewers)

[salty]

well, my scope came in the post today, dont know how he got it through the letter box, but anyway..........

i was up in scotland all day today, so i aint had the chance to use my new kit yet. tomorrow i will be out and about, mainly kite watching and maybe some hide work, just to get the feel of things.

i would like to thank warehouse express for a speedy delivery and for everything to be in one piece etc, pat on the back deserved methinks!

 

[matt green]

can we look forward to some pics of you kites in the not to distant future salty?.i too have delt with warehouse express in the past and they do the business at very good prices,ie before price upgrages became the fashion!.
matt

wayalookenffffthembirdsbor [ancient norfolk proverb]?

 

[salty]

yo matt.

when i get my camera, expect some awesome close up pics of the kites

the scope was superb today, my first day with it. we tried a couple of hides and also open farmland, and finished with mixed woodland, and it handled brilliantly.

brightness and detail were spot on, and watching feeding snipe at 30ft away on full zoom was breathtaking. we also watched red kites, and i was able to comfortably watch them at a long way off, and still read there number tags through the dark and gloomy tree branches.

the tripod also performed as i wished, despite the strong wind at times, scope shake was kept to a minimum. that why i prefer a slightly heavy tripod like my manfrotto 055, they are really stable to use. as for the 701rc2 head, what a performer this is! - the sliding plate lets you balance the scope on the tripod, then the fluid head keeps every little movement precise and exact, no sudden jumps when following birds, im very impressed.

i would say a good tripod is the difference between a good and not so good performing scope. they really do make all the difference, especially at a distance, and when following birds in flight at various stages of magnification.

tomorrow i will be doing a spot of sea watching, as well as more hide and open land work - cant wait!!!

 

[salty]

wow, after 2 days testing out my new zeiss 85FL, i can safely say i picked the right scope for me.

saturday was a mixed affair, with plenty of hide work and sea watching thrown in the mix, and the scope performed brilliantly all day.

monday was a long day at a raptor viewpoint in yorkshire, where i used the scope pretty much non-stop for 5 1/2 hrs!

i was totally at home, and suffered no eye strain, even though the weather was bright and sunny, and the birds at times, miles away!

20x is superb, i was able to quickly scan and find birds well in the distance, then once i was 'locked on' i simply zoomed in for the detailed ID shots, exellent.

the image at 60x is the best i have ever witnessed, truly a top end scope thats for sure, the image is very gentle on the eye, unlike some scopes where you have to strain your eyes to make things out.

here are a few pics of my new scope, in green, for a change.

 

[hornet]

Fantastic. I love a happy ending :clap:

 

[scampo]

here are a few pics of my new scope, in green, for a change.

Glad you went for green - silver makes it look a bit like an astro-scope. It is a stunning scope, without doubt. The unusually wide view at 20x simply makes it the birding scope to own and makes it the easiest scope for spotting a bird in flight bar none in my experience. Unlike any other scope, you don't really benefit that much from buying a fixed lens - I rarely fit my 30x to it.

...And as you say - a 'walk-in view' that causes no eye strain.

 

[salty]

thanks folks, im a happy man again!

 

[Sc0tty]

thanks folks, im a happy man again!

.....until Leica bring out a new model!!

 

[postcardcv]

wow, after 2 days testing out my new zeiss 85FL, i can safely say i picked the right scope for me.

Very glad to hear that you are happy with your new scope.

I got my new one last week too (well a secondhand one), a Leica APO62, was hoping to do similar testing to you but ended up ill in bed from Thursday afternoon, until Monday... :-C

Fortunately I was a lot better by Tuesday morning when a birding friend suggested going for a white stork about 6 miles away (I hadn't even heard that it was around...) We got there to hear that it had flown off a few minutes earlier, but could still see it in flight. Ended up watching it for about 15mins, amazingly it didn't flap once the whole time! I can't really say much about the scope as it didn't get much of a test, but a great first bird for it.

 

[salty]

nice one postie, glad to here your back in fine fettle.

the little APO packs a big punch, i was impressed at the birdfair when i tested it next to its big brothers!

 

[mcapper]

Congrats on the scope. Glad you like it.

I'm not go to revisit views or reviews but suffice to say I have the Zeiss 85 and it has always been superb. And I love it for digiscoping too!

M