Excellent optics at an affordable price
I've owned this Pentax PF80ED for four years now and I've found it to be a relative bargain in the world of high end spotting scopes. In fact I like it more and more all the time.
It's a matter of personal preference but I have always preferred fixed power eyepieces over zooms. Fixed eyepieces are almost always better optically than zooms though of course you are stuck with only one magnification unless you choose to swap lenses in the field.
For some time I was happy using the fixed XW14 eyepiece which offers 37x with the angled version of this scope. Eventually I decided I'd like the option of a brighter image and wider field and I recently started using the XW20 eyepiece which offers 26x. I've found that for most birding applications 26x is more than adequate. It is an excellent eyepiece- wide very sharp and bright- and will show you all the detail you need 90% of the time. Atmospheric distortion and vibration are also minimized at this magnification.
Certianly there are times you might want more magnification and the XW14 eyepiece will fit the bill (and of course you can always opt for the zoom eyepiece). Eye relief of these XW eyepieces is very good- about 20mm which is more than adequate for those who wear eyeglasses as I do.
I also like the position of the offset (as opposed to right in the middle) focus wheel on this scope which is easy to reach- even though I am a lefty- and very smooth in operation. The scope and eyepieces are obviously very well made. Weight is the only negative. Together the scope eyepiece and tripod are on the heavy side but equal to or not much more than other comparable high end scopes. A very decent nylon case is included which can be left on while the scope is in use.
This is a very nice sotting scope with a wide array of eyepiece options. Optical quality is excellent and at a very reasonable price (comparatively anyway). I wouldn't hesitate to make this purchase again.
More detail ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment