Kevin Conville
yardbirder
It’s been about three weeks now since I’ve received my Nikon ED50 and thought I’d post my thoughts and a mini review.
It took awhile to get one of these once I decided I wanted one, as Nikon only produces these with the zoom bundled with it, which I didn’t want, and nobody had the angled body only new. I finally found one in new condition with the 20XW EP on the unmentionable auction site. I also found a used 27XW EP at B&H in mint condition and ordered that at the same time.
This scope is small, and light! It weighs 24.5 oz with the 27x EP attached. My Pentax PF80ED with XW14 EP weighs 61 oz. for comparison. Because of it’s angled design, low weight, and short length it handles perfectly on a small carbon fiber tripod with ball head. I use an Arca Swiss compatible plate and clamp for quick coupling and is very secure. I’ve tried using a ballhead (Markins M10) for my larger scope and didn’t much care for it, going back to a heavy fluid head. The ED50 handles like a dream on a medium size ballhead however and makes for significant weight savings there also. The entire setup weighs just 4 1/2 lbs. My 80mm scope with Manfrotto MF4 carbon tripod and Manfrotto 3130 fluid head weighs 10 1/2 lbs.
So how does it work? Great. Both eyepieces have their charms but I seem to have the 27X on more. I guess I like that 30ish magnification point. The view is very sharp and contrasty with both EPs, and comes to focus quickly and positively. I like the way the eyepieces thread on to attach. You can feel the o-ring compressing as it tightens and is reassuring that this seal is indeed waterproof and that the eyepiece won’t come loose.
During daylight hours and even well into twilight the scope performs admirably, at least with the eyepieces I have. So where’s the downside? Frankly I don’t know because as a hiking / travel scope it’s hard to imagine anything better and for anyone who currently owns a larger Fieldscope (that shares the same EPs) it would seem a natural. I can even see having an ED50 as one’s only scope as long as you can live with it’s limitations.
Nikon is doing their customers a disservice by not offering the ED50 as “body only” however.
I think the ED50 perfectly compliments an 80mm or larger scope. The weight and size savings far exceed most 60-70mm scopes and yet it delivers brilliantly. And when you need optical horsepower, you’ll probably want a large scope anyway. I find I almost always take the ED50 with me in the field now where I used to find reasons not to take the big Pentax. It packs easy into a daypack or in the tankbag of my motorcycle and the much smaller tripod makes packing easier also. Beyond the 6lb. weight savings the Nikon setup offers over my other scope, it “carries” even lighter. I think it's partly because it’s small size (centralized mass) greatly reduces the pendulum effect a large scope has while carrying.
So there you are, I’m a fan. With my Leica 8x32s and the ED50 I’m carrying less and enjoying it more. Life’s good!
It took awhile to get one of these once I decided I wanted one, as Nikon only produces these with the zoom bundled with it, which I didn’t want, and nobody had the angled body only new. I finally found one in new condition with the 20XW EP on the unmentionable auction site. I also found a used 27XW EP at B&H in mint condition and ordered that at the same time.
This scope is small, and light! It weighs 24.5 oz with the 27x EP attached. My Pentax PF80ED with XW14 EP weighs 61 oz. for comparison. Because of it’s angled design, low weight, and short length it handles perfectly on a small carbon fiber tripod with ball head. I use an Arca Swiss compatible plate and clamp for quick coupling and is very secure. I’ve tried using a ballhead (Markins M10) for my larger scope and didn’t much care for it, going back to a heavy fluid head. The ED50 handles like a dream on a medium size ballhead however and makes for significant weight savings there also. The entire setup weighs just 4 1/2 lbs. My 80mm scope with Manfrotto MF4 carbon tripod and Manfrotto 3130 fluid head weighs 10 1/2 lbs.
So how does it work? Great. Both eyepieces have their charms but I seem to have the 27X on more. I guess I like that 30ish magnification point. The view is very sharp and contrasty with both EPs, and comes to focus quickly and positively. I like the way the eyepieces thread on to attach. You can feel the o-ring compressing as it tightens and is reassuring that this seal is indeed waterproof and that the eyepiece won’t come loose.
During daylight hours and even well into twilight the scope performs admirably, at least with the eyepieces I have. So where’s the downside? Frankly I don’t know because as a hiking / travel scope it’s hard to imagine anything better and for anyone who currently owns a larger Fieldscope (that shares the same EPs) it would seem a natural. I can even see having an ED50 as one’s only scope as long as you can live with it’s limitations.
Nikon is doing their customers a disservice by not offering the ED50 as “body only” however.
I think the ED50 perfectly compliments an 80mm or larger scope. The weight and size savings far exceed most 60-70mm scopes and yet it delivers brilliantly. And when you need optical horsepower, you’ll probably want a large scope anyway. I find I almost always take the ED50 with me in the field now where I used to find reasons not to take the big Pentax. It packs easy into a daypack or in the tankbag of my motorcycle and the much smaller tripod makes packing easier also. Beyond the 6lb. weight savings the Nikon setup offers over my other scope, it “carries” even lighter. I think it's partly because it’s small size (centralized mass) greatly reduces the pendulum effect a large scope has while carrying.
So there you are, I’m a fan. With my Leica 8x32s and the ED50 I’m carrying less and enjoying it more. Life’s good!
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