The ED50 with the 13-30x is still on Amazon, so readily available.
Imho, the 13x30 is just fine, wonderfully compact as befits the ED50, sharp and clear, albeit with limited FoV and eye relief.
The 27x MC or DS offer the same FoV as the 13x30x at 13x, so obviously preferable, at the price of a much larger size.
You pay up for the Nikon eyepieces, even on Ebay, where they are still widely available. As a compact scope, the ED50 with the 13x30 eye piece remains the standard.
...The 27x MC or DS offer the same FoV as the 13x30x at 13x, so obviously preferable, at the price of a much larger size... ...As a compact scope, the ED50 with the 13x30 eye piece remains the standard.
I would argue that the 27x WF on the ED50 remains the standard for peak (and most convenient) performance. The 27x WF (an older design) has the same glass as the 27x MC and 27x DS but is much smaller than either of those eyepieces. The bulk of those later designs comes from their housings not the optics. My 27x WF has multicoatings which may not be technically as good as later coatings but they are very very close.
You will have to watch eBay a while to find the older eyepieces. The trick is to search for all Fieldscope items that might include the eyepiece that you want; don't just search for eyepieces (they rarely come up that way excepting the DS designs). I have found that you can buy a scope body with desired eyepiece(s) for almost the same price as the eyepiece alone, usually ~$300.
--AP
Imho, the 13x30 is just fine, wonderfully compact as befits the ED50, sharp and clear, albeit with limited FoV and eye relief.
The 27x MC or DS offer the same FoV as the 13x30x at 13x, so obviously preferable, at the price of a much larger size.
I would argue that the 27x WF on the ED50 remains the standard for peak (and most convenient) performance. The 27x WF (an older design) has the same glass as the 27x MC and 27x DS but is much smaller than either of those eyepieces. The bulk of those later designs comes from their housings not the optics. My 27x WF has multicoatings which may not be technically as good as later coatings but they are very very close.
Thanks. Anything wrong with sourcing a new design, new-made one from Japan? I wear glasses and I suspect if the eye relief is too small I'll want to fix the problem quickly, or return the scope within its 30 day return period. I plan to buy a new ED50 tomorrow.
...I've read here of users who wear glasses and still use the zoom EP happily...
That is a very rare phenomenon. I'm a great lover of Nikon Fieldscopes but I despise the zooms for their narrow FOV and poor eye relief with glasses. With a 20x or 27x fixed eyepiece, your ED50 will be a _completely_ different experience. I buy everything from Japan through Amazon USA or eBay.
--AP
Well, after resisting buying yet another eyepiece for a long time I finally succumbed to Alexis' persistent arguments and got myself a 27/40/60 DS eyepiece.
And all I can say is "Wow". This will be my preferred eyepiece on the ED50 in the future despite its size and weight. At 27x the exit pupil is still large enough, the field of view makes the use in the field a lot easier, and the optical performance is excellent.
I can even foresee that eyepiece to get some serious use on my other two Nikon Fieldscopes. Scanning flocks of shorebirds at large distances at 50x on the ED82 sounds good.
Great stuff. Thank you, Alexis.
Hermann