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Any "compact scopes" that you like? (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter chill6x6
- Start date
Chil6x6,
I didn't realise you had your finger on the trigger, and I also missed the fact you wear glasses - which was pretty obvious from your photo
. Fortunately Hermann picked that up. Perhaps I need new contact lenses (BTW have you tried them ?). I would therefore underline Hermann's advice to look after the Nikon ED50 if it's a keeper. I would also use a paracord safety line from the scope to your tripod. If a 50mm scope works for you, but the ED50 eyepiece doesn't, then the 50mm Opticrons are more robust, and you might get on better with the eyepieces, but I get the feeling the image quality may not be as good.
Did you buy an angled or a straight ED50 ?
If you feel like trying a monopod then stopping the scope wobbling/twisting from side-to-side at more than 20X magnfication is the issue. A monopod with a simple single folddown foot which I have banged on about maybe ad nauseam on this forum is one solution. I use the maximum 40X magnfication of the ED50 zoom on a monopod with a folddown foot (light/atmospheric conditions permitting). The Monostat foot Hermann (and his mother !) use is another.
Thanks for your comments Hermann,
ER....so I considered that of course before I pulled the trigger. I have read a pile of comments on the ED50. Most of what is out there concerning the ED50 is rather old info. I'm pretty sure the standard variable power eyepiece has a fold-down eyecup to accommodate eyeglass wearers. Not CRAZY about that but it is what it is. In 2009 Michael and Diane Porter reviewed the ED50 and stated: "It comes with a 13-30x zoom eyepiece, a good match for a 50mm scope. The stated eye relief is only 12.9mm but we wondered about that since it seemed to work OK even with Michael's aviator-style glasses." So that is what I hung my hat on. Also...I looked at what eyepieces are available, mostly from Japan on eBay. Really, I don't want a fixed eyepiece. I have a fixed 30X on my 664 and at times I would like to go to 25X, 20X or below. I MIGHT try the 27X fixed eyepiece. I not going to spend a lot of money/time trying to make the ED50 WORK. If it doesn't work for me, I'll send it back and get a refund and move on to something else.
Fingers crossed!
dwatsonbirder
Well-known member
Hi again Chuck,
The 27x (or even the 20x) DS eyepieces are arguably the best eyepieces for us bespectacled folk ever produced. The zooms are tricky due to the narrow FoV and short eye-relief, but I found this slightly older iteration of the MC zoom to be the best of the three. Aside from FoV and eye-relief, they are really sharp and bright.
Hope you enjoy the ED50 (ideally with beer in hand!).
The 27x (or even the 20x) DS eyepieces are arguably the best eyepieces for us bespectacled folk ever produced. The zooms are tricky due to the narrow FoV and short eye-relief, but I found this slightly older iteration of the MC zoom to be the best of the three. Aside from FoV and eye-relief, they are really sharp and bright.
Hope you enjoy the ED50 (ideally with beer in hand!).
Hermann
Well-known member
Hermann
Well-known member
But then nothing much happened over the past decade or so. The only thing that changed was the availability of the WA eyepieces.
True.
With my glasses (and my eyes) I can use the small zoom quite easily at low magnifications ( say 13x-~ 20x). At higher magnifications I lose too much field of view. IMO the Porters were a bit too optimistic in their "review". And that's putting it politely.
I'd be interested in hearing how you get on with the eyepiece.
That eyepiece works very well indeed with glasses (and the ED50).
Hermann
Thanks for the info....I'll keep you posted.
Chuck , You have so much stuff !!!! …. at my age now I do not think it would even be possible for me and many other old timers here to even have the time left to see/try all the stuff I have seen you post pictures of over these many years here. If I were in my fifties now instead of in my seventies and renting a room in your home starting right now, maybe just maybe viewing/trying all your stuff would be possible before I would have to take a Dirt Nap.
lol! I MAY have learned this from you!
Job 14:5- A persons day are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannon exceed.
We don't know when that day is. Of course I'm in the health profession. I've hear folks decree "it could be any day."....for TWENTY YEARS! LOL! At 62, that's a mindset I don't intend on having. As most of us age, we get wiser, our relationship with Christ gets better, and our bird count goes up! Win, win, WIN! Look behind you, see how far we've come!
Gwen, may the Lord give you many more life birds to come!
Congrats on your choice Chuck. I don't have personal experience with the ED50 but it sounds like one of those unique gems in the world of optics that punches above it's weight. Went through a similar dilemma last year and ended up with the Kowa 554. So far I've been most impressed with it's overall sharpness for such a small diameter scope. To me, the big difference in field performance between the mid-grade and more premium brands is the crispness of the image at the upper end of the magnification range. That's where I find brands like Vortex falling short - at the lower end they keep pace but when cranking up to high power (is it a Western or Clark's Grebe???) the difference in image quality begins showing through.
Not a big fan of monopods but suppose some support is better than none. Or is this something you're planning on using at the Magee Marsh?
Not a big fan of monopods but suppose some support is better than none. Or is this something you're planning on using at the Magee Marsh?
Nice to see more people believing in Christ being our Lord. God bless you Chuck.
I vote for the ATC 56, although the STC 56 would be nice too.
I have the ATC 56 and even like to use it without a tripod.
Thanks!
So I have both the ED50 AND a Vortex Razor HD 13-39X56(life is short!) The ED50 came in Thurs and the Razor on Friday. I'm going to use both for a while. I'll also have a back-up larger scope with me JIC!
Of course I considered the 554, especially since the price has lowered. Actually the 554 or STC are the way I would have typically gone, the know commodity. I decided to go outside of my Swarovski/Meopta/Kowa box and see what others used and go a different direction. I'm kinda surprised no-one here said anything about the Vortex as most online reviews speak very highly of it. No doubt in my mind the 554 would be a nice scope! And YES...Grebe's, loons, peeps sometimes need all the scope one can conjure up!
Monopod/tripod...I have used a monopod before. My issue is I usually have too much going on such as panning a shoreline or beach, focusing. adjusting magnification, consulting a field guide, etc(the goal IS to see something you haven't seen before!). So I'm more than likely going to stick with a tripod.
Sadly, I won't be making it to Magee Marsh this year. I swapped that to get to see a Scarlet Ibis, red-legged honeycreeper, blue-backed manakin, et al in Trinidad and Tobago. I highly recommend going there! I may sneak down to Dauphin Island later in the year.
Absolutely!
I started to get the STC. On paper, it was a little heavier than some of the others. And I'm assuming one would still have to add the weight of a plate for tripod mounting. I'm sure it's an awesome scope. You know me....I like to try everything tho!
So I got the ED50 Wednesday night. My initial thoughts were....this is a TOY!. Small and truly feather weight. I put a ARCA plate on her and got her ready to go birding on Thursday, my off day. I mounted in on a LeoFoto 254CT with an XB-32 balll head. I didn't use it much as it's warbler season....but I did use it. AMAZING optics for its size/weight. NOT a toy. With the rubber folded down on the eyepiece I believe I'm going to be able to see the full FOV even at max magnification(30X). Function of focus and magnification adjustment was perfect. I'm not crazy about the fold down eyecup but it may have been done this way due to simplicity and weight savings. Weight of ED 50 and 254CT- 4lbs 5 ounces.... FOUR POUNDS, FIVE OUNCES....complete! The TSN-88s weights 4lbs 3oz ALONE.
And YES as I mentioned, the Vortex Razor HD 13-39X56 arrived. It felt like a scaled down typical full sized spotting scope. I mounted it on a tripod and looked thru It a little off my patio. I think this is going to be a great scope as well.
This picture shows both scopes side by side. The picture is a little misleading as it makes the Razor HD look MUCH larger than the ED50, but it's not. Dimensions are"
Nikon ED50- weight-21oz(with ARCA plate) length- 9 7/8 inches(eyecup folded down)
Vortex Razor HD- Weight- 30oz(no plate needed) length- 11 inches.
Lets compare this to the NEXT smallest scope I have which USED to be my travel scope:
TSN-664m- weight 44.4oz and length 14.75 inches! WOW! I used to think this was a small scope!
and the NEXT scope down...
Opticron MM4 77ED 18-54...weight 53.4oz!
BTY...all controls on the Razor HD performed excellent. Axial focus- smooth with about the right friction. Magnification adjustment- the same. Eye cup functioned just as it should.
Will keep you posted!
And YES as I mentioned, the Vortex Razor HD 13-39X56 arrived. It felt like a scaled down typical full sized spotting scope. I mounted it on a tripod and looked thru It a little off my patio. I think this is going to be a great scope as well.
This picture shows both scopes side by side. The picture is a little misleading as it makes the Razor HD look MUCH larger than the ED50, but it's not. Dimensions are"
Nikon ED50- weight-21oz(with ARCA plate) length- 9 7/8 inches(eyecup folded down)
Vortex Razor HD- Weight- 30oz(no plate needed) length- 11 inches.
Lets compare this to the NEXT smallest scope I have which USED to be my travel scope:
TSN-664m- weight 44.4oz and length 14.75 inches! WOW! I used to think this was a small scope!
and the NEXT scope down...
Opticron MM4 77ED 18-54...weight 53.4oz!
BTY...all controls on the Razor HD performed excellent. Axial focus- smooth with about the right friction. Magnification adjustment- the same. Eye cup functioned just as it should.
Will keep you posted!
I was able to use both the Vortex and the Nikon scopes yesterday. I went to one of my favorite "scoping" spots, below Wheeler Dam. I also went to "
The Sinks" which is another good scoping spot. Both are good spot to compare scopes...lots of distance and lots of birds. Quite honestly, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked both scopes. I bought along the Meopta S2, "just in case." There was no need. I was able to ID all birds I attempted with both scopes. I thought both scopes presented excellent imagery, clear and bright. Some CA was evident in both scopes and really to similar degree. I thought I also played with both scopes with a little "phone scoping." I think my setup(maybe all setups), aggravate/intensify CA in the photo.
I was able to snag an MC-II 13-40 eyepiece for the ED50 from Japan. I believe it is a superior eyepiece to the 13-30 that came with it. HOWEVER....I do believe I was able to use the 13-30 better with eyeglasses(with eyecup folded.) I do believe the MC-II is ever so slightly superior optically. I thought the ED50 may have been ever so slightly the better scope with the MC-II but I thought the Razor was ever so slightly better with the stock eyepiece. Still, I thought both were excellent, especially considering their size/weight. No complaints optically with either.
Both scopes have a little "issue" when focusing. The ED50 requires a little effort to start the adjustment moving. Once moving it's fine. Then when you stop, it requires the same effort again, kink of like a "plateau." Once this effort is reached it doesn't require as much to keep it moving. With the Vortex Razor the axial focus is as smooth as can be without any "slack", I think. When you go past the point of " perfectly focused" and then reverse to "fine tune", it requires move movement than it should. Both issues may fix themselves with continued use. Hopefully this will happen.
Remember...second time out with the ED50 and first time out with the Razor HD 13-39X56.
The Sinks" which is another good scoping spot. Both are good spot to compare scopes...lots of distance and lots of birds. Quite honestly, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked both scopes. I bought along the Meopta S2, "just in case." There was no need. I was able to ID all birds I attempted with both scopes. I thought both scopes presented excellent imagery, clear and bright. Some CA was evident in both scopes and really to similar degree. I thought I also played with both scopes with a little "phone scoping." I think my setup(maybe all setups), aggravate/intensify CA in the photo.
I was able to snag an MC-II 13-40 eyepiece for the ED50 from Japan. I believe it is a superior eyepiece to the 13-30 that came with it. HOWEVER....I do believe I was able to use the 13-30 better with eyeglasses(with eyecup folded.) I do believe the MC-II is ever so slightly superior optically. I thought the ED50 may have been ever so slightly the better scope with the MC-II but I thought the Razor was ever so slightly better with the stock eyepiece. Still, I thought both were excellent, especially considering their size/weight. No complaints optically with either.
Both scopes have a little "issue" when focusing. The ED50 requires a little effort to start the adjustment moving. Once moving it's fine. Then when you stop, it requires the same effort again, kink of like a "plateau." Once this effort is reached it doesn't require as much to keep it moving. With the Vortex Razor the axial focus is as smooth as can be without any "slack", I think. When you go past the point of " perfectly focused" and then reverse to "fine tune", it requires move movement than it should. Both issues may fix themselves with continued use. Hopefully this will happen.
Remember...second time out with the ED50 and first time out with the Razor HD 13-39X56.
Hermann
Well-known member
This is my experience as well. The big scopes are more comfortable to use, especially at higher magnifications, and they work better in low light. They also allow higher magnifications. But in good to decent light and at low to medium magnifications they work just fine.
I fully agree with your assessment. I've also got both zooms, and there is some difference between the two, not just on the ED50 but also on the EDIIIA and the ED82. The MCII is a bit better than the older eyepiece - but the older eyepiece works a bit better with my glasses. I actually find I use the older zoom more on the ED50, simply because it's smaller and lighter. Sort of "fits" that tiny scope better IMO.
BTW, I think you might want to try one of the WA eyepieces on the ED50, for instance the 27/40/50x DS. That's absolutely brilliant on the ED50. 27x is some sort of sweet spot for the ED50, giving you a decent exit pupil and enough magnification for most purposes. And the WA eyepieces and especially the DS eyepieces work very, very well for eyeglass wearers. If you find a 20/30/38x WA somewhere - that's a very neat eyepiece as well.
Both my ED50s are exactly the same. And none of them changed one bit over the years (and I got my first ED50 immediately after it got onto the market). The good news is other than that "plateau" the scope's focuser is just as smooth and precise as it was on the first day.
Excellent posting, Chuck.
Hermann
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Thanks for your comments Hermann. You know, I actually enjoy the lowish magnification of these scopes. Panning a shoreline or waterline with these scopes is very easy and gratifying. The WA eyepiece I have on one of my S2s STARTS at 30X which is the maximum magnification of the ED50. That's kind of crazy when you think about it.
I'll keep my eye out for a 27X eyepiece. It is nice to have the freedom to go down to 13X though.
Hi Chuck. I have done an extensive review of small scopes, including fancy Kowa and Opticrons, and ED50 is by far the best, esp with wide eyepiece. I tried four different ones, variation is substantial, order several and keep best. Epoxy central seam to avoid splitting. When it all comes together - very special scope.
Thanks for the info! I'm gonna keep these two scopes I have....and employ all the will power I have at hand to keep from trying anything else!
