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Pentax PF80ED
I've been thinking about your post David. Spending less money is desirable of course, but I am concerned about making the mistake (again) of not just buying the best fit for me in the first place. I also thought about the eye relief. The truth is, I am used to the Nagler now, but it would be... -
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Pentax PF80ED
So far I have mainly used my scope for water viewing (either lakes or ocean). In that scenario, I feel the PF80ED is wasted using less magnification. Honestly, it is a great scope, and there is nothing about it I feel is lacking for my needs. -
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Pentax PF80ED
Just thought I would leave an update, since I have been using my scope a bit lately. A little while back I found an amazing deal on a Pentax XW 14mm (I gave a lowball offer to someone on ebay who took it). However, as I suspected, I don't seem to want less magnification. The view is... -
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Pentax PF80ED
Thanks, that could be a good idea. Then it is not much of an investment to see if I will want the less magnification ever. -
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Pentax PF80ED
Of course Eagle Optics has it on sale for $670 (going out of business sale) now, so my timing is excellent as always ;). I got a chance to use the 9mm Nagler at a large lake this week. The clarity is perfect. I can see great detail at enormous distances. However, the field curvature is a... -
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Pentax PF80ED
OK, I attempted a star test. First off, I can not actually get to infinity with the Panoptic - very close but not quite. I should still be able to use it for most birding I guess (although I honestly see myself leaving the Nagler on most of the time anyway). Second, as far as I can tell, the... -
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Pentax PF80ED
Woot, you guys (and Televue) are the best! I unscrewed the barrel, then the 2" from the 1.25" and then re-screwed in the 1.25" separately and it appears to focus just fine now. I can't test all distances because it is getting very dark now here but from the way it jsut worked normally like my... -
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Pentax PF80ED
It does unscrew easily enough, but there is a loose lens there once the barrel is removed. However, it does focus if I balance it all together. If I cut away the metal surrounding the 1.25" extension, I bet I could get it close enough to focus, but I'm not sure I want to mess up a ~$300 eyepiece. -
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Pentax PF80ED
I'm not sure how to do that. I will take a look and see if I can figure it out. I just spent some time with it looking at an Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, and a Northern Mockingbird and can honestly say I have never before seen such detail in a bird. It is quite amazing (I have not spent... -
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Pentax PF80ED
It arrived. I have to say, I really like the legs and mount, very nice stuff. The scope itself looks great through the 9mm Nagler, although its a good thing I don't wear glasses since there is next to no eye relief. Unfortunately the 22mm Panoptic will not focus except very close. Its a... -
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Pentax PF80ED
Well, it is arriving today. I'm not much good at star testing but I will try (if I can stay up that late ;) ). -
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Pentax PF80ED
Well, I decided to stop researching and just pull the trigger, so we'll see how it looks soon I hope. The Televue eyepieces I have are both amazing eyepieces so I'm hopeful to get more use out of them. I also bought a Manfrotto MVH500AH head and a used Gitzo GT2531 - hopefully I didn't overdo... -
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Pentax PF80ED
Thanks guys, this sounds like pretty good news. With the value of the Pentax plus not having to buy an eyepiece to start off, this could be a great savings for me. Hopefully 57x won't be too much for normal use, but then I do have those excellent 18x binos so for less magnification they might... -
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Pentax PF80ED
Thanks, that's good. What about using that magnification in general for birding? Is it too much? I've never owned a spotting scope before (have tended to use my 18x50 IS binos that I originally bought for astronomy). -
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Pentax PF80ED
I am looking to buy a scope in the next 3 months and want something with good optics but don't really want to spend the $2000 for a swaro or similar. The Pentax looks like it gets good reviews and I am wondering if I can save some money by using my existing eyepieces. I currently have a 9mm...