Nikon prostaff 5 82a or Svbony sv406p ED? (1 Viewer)

[Zool23]

Which of these spotting scopes do you think is better? (both 20-60x) It is for recreational use, not professional use. Also to take some photos with the phone adapter.
I know that Nikon is a better brand, but a colleague told me that he has tried both for a while and has not noticed a difference, and the svbony is cheaper.

Thank you very much.

 

[nkbj]

Which of these spotting scopes do you think is better? (both 20-60x) It is for recreational use, not professional use. Also to take some photos with the phone adapter.
I know that Nikon is a better brand, but a colleague told me that he has tried both for a while and has not noticed a difference, and the svbony is cheaper.

Thank you very much.

I have the Svbony and it is optically excellent for the price. Unfortunately the focus wheel started on my copy to lock up from time to time when it was just over two years old and out of warranty (I managed to fix it myself though).

In Denmark the Nikon has a 10 year warranty (probably the same in Spain?), which might be worth the higher price. I have not tried the Nikon, so I don't know how it is optically.

Regards, Niels Kristian

 

[Zool23]

I have the Svbony and it is optically excellent for the price. Unfortunately the focus wheel started on my copy to lock up from time to time when it was just over two years old and out of warranty (I managed to fix it myself though).

In Denmark the Nikon has a 10 year warranty (probably the same in Spain?), which might be worth the higher price. I have not tried the Nikon, so I don't know how it is optically.

Regards, Niels Kristian

Thanks for the answer. How do you fix the focus wheel? Is difficult to do it?
So are you happy with the svbony? Would you buy it again?

 

[nkbj]

Thanks for the answer. How do you fix the focus wheel? Is difficult to do it?
So are you happy with the svbony? Would you buy it again?

It was not difficult to fix the focus wheel in my case. I just turned it clockwise until it tightend up. I guess some part of the focus mechanism had worked itself loose.

I am very pleased with the Svbony optically, but I don't trust the mechanical stability, so I would not buy it again.

 

[Tringa45]

Hi and welcome to birdforum.
There are many good mid-priced binoculars and even a few good cheap ones, but AFAIK there are no good cheap scopes.
This is because scope magnifications are so much higher than in binoculars and optical deficiencies will more easily be seen.
Not only is higher optical and mechanical precision necessary, but the design has to minimize spherical and chromatic aberration and provide a flat field (important for a tripod-mounted device with a true field of view of around 2° or less).
I think it highly unlikely that the Nikon Prostaff would provide a satisfactory image at higher magnifications (compared to a Monarch ED) so there would be little point in carrying such a large scope in the field.
The majority of scope owners use magnifications around 20-40x most of the time and for this a 60 mm or 65mm scope will suffice, so it might be better to look for a good secondhand scope in this range.
Recommendations would be Kowa 663, Leica Apo Televid 62, Nikon Fieldscope 60ED, Swarovski ATM/ATS65 HD or Zeiss Diascope 65.
If you don't have a reliable local dealer then it would be good to keep an eye on the classifieds on birdforum.

John

 

[Zool23]

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[besaide]

I use the sv406p with APM 12.5mm 84° 1.25".
It is a x34.
I love it for migration, both for seabirds and raptors.
I use glasses and have no problem at all.

 

[Dirk Hiemstra]

Please make sure you buy the SVBony with ED glass. It makes all the difference. I bought a SA405. great model, great optics. For recreational and professional use the optical difference is negligible from my point of view and not worth an extra 1.000 euro.

 

[Saxatilis]

Hi I have the SV406P as second spottingscope, my first being the Nikon Fieldscope ED 82A bought secondhand.

In winter I use sometimes in open lowlands for crane counting but also for seabirds and am fully satisfied with it (I bought it in autumn 2020, just after the first Covid-19 time).
So I don't "mistreat" it for heavy duty but it works well for my fields of use with its 20x-60x zoom. I then added a WF 15mm astro eyepiece for 28x magnification. As others have pointed out, the mechanical part does not seem very robust and reliable over time, but for the light use I make of it, it is perfect.