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Message: <blockquote data-quote="stevetb" data-source="post: 1299423" data-attributes="member: 45611">UpdateWell, I have had a miserable time in upgrading. I've gone from this scope to that, nearly bought one, ordered another that turned out to be misadvertised and am completely scopeless atm. On saturday I lined up the Opticron HR66ED / ES80ED / Swarovski ATS 65HD for a comparison. The conditions were sunny, so less than ideal. I was trying the SDL zoom - this is the only guaranteed waterproof eyepiece of opticrons. When I compared it to the HDF a while ago, the field of view was better, and it looked nicer at higher magnifications. The only bad things are that it is more expensive than the HDF, and that the eyecup needs to be repositioned whilst zooming. Both Opticrons were very sharp - only a little less than the swarovski. The latter allowed a lot closer focussing, which meant a gull a few metres away could be viewed a 60X. Whilst the Opticron was excellent, the swarovski made me look twice. The swarovski maintained a brighter image than the HR66, even though it has more power and less object. lens. All in all, the swarovski was bound to be better, but the opticrons hold their own extremely well - and when you consider that the new 66 can be had for £690 new if you shop around, it is a very viable option.  Im still undecided tho!</blockquote>