opticron IS WP 50

[Firefox]

hello,

i was looking for a good bird watching scope and came across the opticron IS WP 50. if anybody knows if its good please give advice. does anbody know of a good case for it?

thanks in advance,

firefox

[squishy]

I tried one at a bird fair and ended up with the MM2 ED 52 45 and HDF zoom eyepiece (which has a magnification of 12x-36x on the MM2). I dont know if it was a bad individual model, but the IS WP 50 I looked through was incredibly murky whatever I did with it.

I had originally dismissed the MM2, because I thought it focused on being cheap and small, but out of all the 'budget' scopes I tried, it was the best to look through, the easiest to carry and also built very well.

I have a stay-on water proof case for the MM2 (opticrons own) because its not weatherproofed (due to the sliding parts).

[Firefox]

is the mm2 that you have relaiable? and i dont get all the eyepieces, what are they and which ones are good for birdwatching?

thanks for the reply!

[squishy]

do a bit of research on eyepieces, it's where half your image quality comes from

mine is very well made and reliable.

you probably want a zoom eyepiece, i have the HDF zoom (the highest quality in that range). it goes from 12x-36x. 12x is about the same mag as binoculars, and great for scanning around and quickly locating things. the 36 end is very sliiightly softer, but still very sharp although it does dim the image slightly on dark days (that is more to do with the relatively small objective). 36x shows alot more detail than binoculars, making it far easier to comfortable watch/identify distant subjects.

although i can and do sometimes hand hold it a 12x, a tripod or hide clamp is essential (or at least a bean bag or something to rest on, to keep it stable at 36x.

you can get 50x or 60x fixed eyepieces, but i wouldn't recommend those with a cheaper small objective scope, you start to lose a lot of light with a small scope at 60x, and the image would be quite murky on a dim day.

i never go birdwatching without my scope, and nearly always with the tripod, but if going light, a Jessop's 'pod' works well enough.

[Firefox]

thanks for your advice!

[Firefox]

by the way which hdf eyepiece do you have?

40810M* 40809M* 40858M* 40859M 40860M 40861M 40862M

[squishy]

the 40862M*.

go try some stuff at an optic shop before buying

[eeyore]

My feeling would be that you definitely dont want a zoom eyepiece particularly on a cheap scope - zoom eyepieces are much more difficult to build and most of the cheap ones are dreadful. (they are fine if you can afford top end scopes but not at the budget end of the market) - also zooming to high mag tends to make the image very dark

I would suggest that on a MM2 or such like you get either a 20x or 32x fixed mag eyepiece - you dont need the low power for scanning arround because thats what your binoculars are for.

I would also suggest that you definitely need a tripod

[squishy]

i would normally agree, but i did a thorough test of the eyepieces (sharpness in centre and edges, checking high contrast areas for CA, looking in very dim spots from light loss) and the HDF zoom performed as well as the fixed zooms. it actually costs abit more, and i decided to pay that extra (it was reduced at a bird fair so it seemed reasonable) for the low zoom, and it is very useful. the DOF is huge at 12x. Whenever i'm in a hide now i barely use my binoculars at all. for me it was well worth the slight extra.

like i said, go and try it out (some different scopes as well, something else might suit you better) and try the eyepieces. i can say you would NOT be disappointed with the HDF zoom I am using it on the ED body. (it worked out at about the same price as you would normally pay for a fixed HDF and a none ED body because of reductions.

having said that, eeyore does have a point - for most cheap scopes, zoom eyepieces are a bad idea. i can just say that is not the case for this particular one (but i would only get the zoom if you pay abit more for the HDF one. the MM2 zoom eyepiece isn't particularly good.

[Firefox]

by the way what is the diff. between the mm2 52/45 and the mm2 52ED/45?
and what is CA and DOF?

you were saying that i should try other scopes, so i wanted to ask if there are any other good but not too expensive ones? thanks

[squishy]

there are an awful lot of scopes. just go to an optics shop and ask to try some budget scopes, and they'll show you their selection.

The ED model has extra low dispersion glass elements to reduce CA and loss of light.

CA - chromatic aberration. its where you get purple or pink fringes around the edges of high contrast areas. CA example

DoF - depth of field. its the sharp area that is in focus. a large DoF is where there is more of the image in focus

[Firefox]

thanks!!

[Firefox]

looked around a bit more and found the opticron HR ED which i liked but it turned out to be over 800 quid. way over budget. but then i found a good bt cheaper one from opticron, the ES 80 GA SD/45 which is still over budget but what can i do?, i am thinking of buying it after i get enough money! lol

let me know what you think about it please!

thanks,
firefox

[squishy]

the only thing i can recommend now is trying them


only you can decide which is going to work best for you. dont let other people do it for you

[Firefox]

where can i test them? and where are thse birdfairs?

thanks

[squishy]

you'll need to have a search around, find a optical equipment shop near you.

bird fairs are just birdwatching fairs, usually at bigger reserves held annually.

[nigel_b]

I think firefox has a point. I've quite a bit of experience with optics but cant decide for love nor money whether anything is any good at a birdfair or open day. To be honest most optics look reasonably good in good light.

I've trusted others' recommendations in the past and its been very valuable.

It took me a good 3 months to settle down with the Nikon HGs I bought last year and its only now I can really understand what the previous owner was saying about them. If I'd picked them up in a shop I probably would have said something like "yeah they're OK but a bit on the heavy side for me" instead of discovering how brilliant they are in most circumstances.

I think personal recommendation, for a lot of people, is probably better than going to a shop to try and select something. That said, it is always worth taking a look and trying out, you never know whether the handling is to your personal liking otherwise.

[Firefox]

ok thanks

[squishy]

but dont buy something you havent tried