Zeiss Diascope 85 T FL (2 Viewers)

[chaos85]

Hi all.

I have the chance to buy an older Zeiss Diascope 85 T FL.

It got a 20-60 eyepiece.

It looks like it's in great condition and the price is around 1000 $.

Is this still a good spotter for that price?

I am new to spotting scopes and I want something I can use for digiscoping and that I don't have to upgrade in a few years.

 

[milvusmilvus]

Hi chaos85,

That model is exactly what I bought when I started with birdwatching lots of years ago. Then I took a rest of the hobbie (to be honest I had a chid and he was never so keen to nature, so we stopped going out). As he is now old enough to stay alone at home, we resumed the hobbie. I decided to upgrade to the latest and greatest (Swarovski Atx 115) and sell the Zeiss.

Before selling the Zeiss I have the chance to compare the newcomer with it, and to be honest, I was disappointed, because the Swaro was better, but not as much as I expected, but just a bit better.

So my answer is, sure the Zeiss will deliver very good views today and it can cope with even the biggest Swarovski very well.

As for the price, I think it is fair. I sold mine around 1000€ also (with some accessories though).

Please beware that it is not rubberised, and paint can be easily scratched and even pealed off from most exposed zones, so consider looking for a stay on case. I had both zeiss ones. The nylon one is garbage. Neoprene one was much better, but you will have to come up with something to cover focussing knobs, as they stay uncovered. Maybe you could also look for third party SOCs, but I cannot comment on their quality.

Best regards,

Antonio.

 

[PYRTLE]

Looks like the "fabric / felt" covered model which will offer some protection against light scratches and scuffs. Probably a fair price if it is in optically sound condition, particularly in regard to the coatings on the objective lens.
The 85mm is large enough for digiscoping, though I would prefer a x 30 wide eyepiece.
Good luck

 

[milvusmilvus]

Looks like the "fabric / felt" covered model which will offer some protection against light scratches and scuffs. Probably a fair price if it is in optically sound condition, particularly in regard to the coatings on the objective lens.
The 85mm is large enough for digiscoping, though I would prefer a x 30 wide eyepiece.
Good luck

That’s exactly the one I had, and it may look like it is covered with felt, but it is not. Just plane coarse paint.

 

[FVG]

The price seems fine to me. I bought a second-hand Diascope 85 (a gray one) in 2007 for about the same price here in the Netherlands. So they seem to retain their value well. Currently it is being offered here on a second-hand site for 1800 euros, with an offer of 1500 euros which I think is a lot of money for an older generation scope.
I exchanged mine in 2016 with closed wallet for a second-hand Nikon ED82 because I already had a small ED50 and could therefore exchange the different eyepieces. The new owner was very happy at the time that he had exchanged a cheaper Nikon for a more expensive Zeiss without extra payment. And I have never regretted it for a second. The Zeiss was good but the Nikon was certainly no less. The Zeiss had a more yellow image. And at 20x the Zeiss had a somewhat wider image, but you had to pay for that with a significant blurry edge outside the center which disappeared at higher magnifications.
Nikon had a whole range of different eyepieces for its Fieldscope ED82, -65 en -50 telescopes, including the DC types especially for digiscoping. At the time I had a Nikon 1 V1 system-camera that you could connect very nicely to it with an adapter.
I still use both Nikon scopes, but no longer for digiscoping. After a short time I discovered that digiscoping had too many disadvantages and I bought a very nice light and compact CX 70-300 lens for my Nikon V1 interchangeable camera which has a full-frame equivalent of 810mm. This made me a lot more flexible and faster than with digiscoping and with better results.
But I still think the Zeiss Diascope series is one of the most beautiful telescopes ever made, but that is personal.

 

[kabsetz]

Hi Chaos,

It is a good scope and the price is fair, but be sure to test the scope before committing. Individual scopes vary in their optical quality, and second-hand scopes may have been knocked about, which can compromise image quality even when there is no external signs of damage.

A simple and good enough test is to see if you can get a sharp image at maximum zoom setting. If it looks soft and it is hard to know what is the best focus, don't buy it. If it "snaps" to focus well and looks sharp, get the scope. There are more elaborate ways to test a scope, but for practical purposes this works.