What price for used Televid? (1 Viewer)

[Leif]

What price do people think would be fair for the following:

Leica APO Televid 77, 30xw, Leica SOC.

I have seen one advertised privately, supposedly in immaculate condition with no marks at all, 1 year old. The price looks okay. Thanks. Leif

 

[deboo]

Leif,
Sounds dodgy to me....Leica don't do a 30x wide angle lens.
Unless it's a sawn off zoom!
Dave.

 

[scampo]

One sold quickly in a Leicester shop around last September for £600 (with zoom).

Private sale, I would think ~£450. Make sure you closely check the optics - the one in Leicester had clouding behind the fromt objective (but still sold! With a 6-month warrantry, though). Also - if you're not trying before buying, bear in mind teh Leica's weight and length.

But... it's a beaut of a scope if you don't mind that!

 

[deboo]

Steve,
I've not noticed a great deal of difference in length, in comparison with other scopes. As regards any fogging, I don't think Leica offer a 30 year warranty with scopes, so buyer beware!
Dave.

 

[scampo]

It's one of the longest scopes around, I think - the Nikon ED82, Zeiss 85T* and Swaro 65 are all about 33cm, the Swaro 80 is 35cm and the Leica is 41cm.

 

[Blincodave]

Leif,

I believe Ace Optics are offering this scope package as a special currently for £799 - got to be a better bet than paying £650 ono!

Cheers

Dave Griffiths Cambridge

 

[Leif]

Best shop price seems to be ~£950 for 77mm APO + 32xw + SOC. (Got the eyepiece focal length wrong.) The seller is asking £650 ovno, which is high going by your comments. Thanks. Other estimates still welcome!

 

[deboo]

I doubt very much if you would get an Apo, 32xwide and a SOC for £450.....unless you were trading it in at Infocus! £650 sounds like a fair price to me. Go and see it, would be my advice.
Dave.

 

[Blincodave]

Leif,

Just checked Ace's web site: Leica 77 APO angled plus 32w plus Leica Soc is £914, or £838.50 for their own SOC.

Dave Griffiths

 

[scampo]

I doubt very much if you would get an Apo, 32xwide and a SOC for £450.....unless you were trading it in at Infocus! £650 sounds like a fair price to me. Go and see it, would be my advice.
Dave.

But a local shop sold it for less than that with a zoom!

 

[scampo]

If it was utterly mint, I would offer £550-00. The p/ex price would be ~£450.00, I reckon.

One went with zoom on eBay for £600-00 at the end of Jan - but that is a hassle for many people.

 

[deboo]

Steve,

Is that a 'local' shop, for 'local' people?!!!

David.

 

[scampo]

(-:

I couldn't remember its name - that's why I called it that! It was Youngs, Belvoir Street, Leicester.

 

[Ragna]

If its only a year old then i think £600 would be a fair price

 

[Leif]

If its only a year old then i think £600 would be a fair price

Thanks for the comments. I tend to think that £600 is not unreasonable. Certainly he would not get anything like that in part exchange. Oh well, looks like a short trip to examine said item is in order.

 

[scampo]

I would still try an offer of £550-00, Leif, as the new price seems to be falling, possibly because a new model is around the corner... and, as hs been suggested, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Ba-boom!

 

[Leif]

I would still try an offer of £550-00, Leif, as the new price seems to be falling, possibly because a new model is around the corner... and, as hs been suggested, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Ba-boom!

I'll see how it looks. I am concerned that he cleaned the optics by breathing on them and wiping with a 'clean' cloth. If there is any evidence of marking on the coatings then I'll walk. I'll never understand how someone can buy top grade optics and not learn to clean them properly. (But then again manufacturers supply those horrid cleaning cloths. Enough ranting!)

So I'm not the only one to think that Leica are bringing out a new model. Of course, Ace Cameras might just have bought a large batch at a good price. Maybe someone went bust?

I saw a Leica 62mm in use at the weekend: it looked rather dinky, almost comical. I also peeked through a Swaro HD 80 with 20-60 eyepiece set at 40. I was surprised at how poor the image was when viewing a Peregrine perched in a tree. Maybe this was because of the wind and the rain outside the hide?

 

[scampo]

I'm sure that was the reason. Leif!

Now - how do you clean that glassware? I use BP isopropanol and cotton wool when it's bad - or breath and a microfibre Pentax cloth. Oh no! Don't tell me I'm doing it wrong!!

 

[Leif]

I'm sure that was the reason. Leif!

Now - how do you clean that glassware? I use BP isopropanol and cotton wool when its bad - or breath and a microfibre Pentax cloth Oh no! Don't tell me I'm doing it wrong!!

Steve: I don't know what is right and what is wrong. All I know is that I am neurotic about looking after optics, and only ever clean them using special fluid (such as isopropyl alcohol) and sterile cotton wool stored in a dust tight bag. I think I caught this neurosis from my father who was trained as an optical engineer in a precision optics company - back when the UK had such a thing. (You might have heard of the company - Taylor Hobson - as they were/are based in Leicester.) My worry would be that a re-useable cloth would pick up microscopic grit which would scour the lens coatings. Of course I might be too careful, but I find cotton wool and lens fluid only takes a few minutes twice a year.

Incidentally there was a test in Amateur Photographer by a very interesting old chap - since deceased - who tested an old Leica lens. He found that repeated cleaning of the lens since new had re-figured the front optical surface, leading to a loss of sharpness!

BTW Would you buy a scope from someone who does not have the receipt or any kind of proof of purchase? Also, any ideas on how to check scope optics beyond looking through them to see if the image is sharp pretty much edge to edge? (I am thinking about ways to check lack of collimation.)

 

[iporali]

Also, any ideas on how to check scope optics beyond looking through them to see if the image is sharp pretty much edge to edge? (I am thinking about ways to check lack of collimation.)

You can use ...erm... chromatic aberration I guess you would have done this instinctively. Use an eyepiece which most probably shows some color fringe at the very edges of field-of-view (eg. a wide angle). Point the scope to a bright object (a lamp, moon, star...) or anything with very high contrast (flagpole against bright sky) and "scan" that object with the edges of fov. If there is something wrong with collimation, CA is not symmetrical - it may vanish on another edge and become stronger on another, or even worse - it may change colour (purple<->yellow).
BUT REMEMBER THAT THE EFFECT IS MIRRORED around the center! If you watch THE SAME house corner against sky, it may be purple on the left and yellowish on the right - THIS IS OK!

If you find a perfect apochromat (hopefully), I think collimation is OK if you don't see any CA. The lack of collimation in an APO very probably causes asymmetrical CA.

Ilkka